[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 115 (Monday, June 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35690-35691]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15057]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-090-03-1610-DO]


Notice of Intent To Revise the Kemmerer Resource Management Plan 
and Prepare an Associated Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to revise the Kemmerer Resource Management 
Plan (RMP) and prepare an associated Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS); solicitation of public comments on resource issues and 
preliminary planning criteria; and call for coal resource information 
and other resource information for the Kemmerer planning area, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: This document (1) provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) intends to prepare a revised RMP with an associated 
EIS; (2) solicits public comments regarding resource issues and 
preliminary planning criteria; and, (3) solicits resource information 
for coal and other resources for the Kemmerer planning area. The 
planning area encompasses approximately 1,422,000 acres of public land 
and is located in Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta Counties, Wyoming.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. The BLM can 
best utilize public comments and resource information submissions 
submitted within 60 days of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments and resource information 
submissions via mail to the BLM, Kemmerer Field Office, 312 Highway 189 
North, Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101; or electronically to [email protected]. Members of the public may examine documents pertinent 
to this proposal in the Kemmerer Field Office. Comments, including 
names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public 
review at the Kemmerer Field Office during regular business hours (7:45 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays, and may be 
published as part of the EIS process. Individual respondents may 
request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street 
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act, please state this prominently at the beginning of your 
written comment. The BLM will honor such requests to the extent allowed 
by law. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection in 
their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or to have 
your name added to the RMP mailing list, contact Tom Davis at the above 
mentioned address or by telephone at (307) 828-4500, or electronically 
to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM will work collaboratively with 
interested parties to identify the management decisions that are best 
suited to local, regional, and national interests. The public scoping 
process will help identify planning issues and planning criteria, 
including an evaluation of the existing RMP in the context of the needs 
and interests of the public and provide opportunities for commenting on 
documents published throughout the RMP revision process.

1. Preliminary Issues

    Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified by 
BLM personnel, other agencies, and in meetings with individuals and 
user groups. These issues represent the BLM's knowledge to date on the 
existing issues and concerns with the current RMP. The major issue 
themes that may be addressed in the planning effort include:
    A. Energy and mineral resource exploration and development;
    B. Access to and transportation on BLM lands;
    C. Recreation and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) management;
    D. Wildlife habitat and management of crucial habitat and migration 
corridors;
    E. Management and cumulative effect of land uses and human 
activities on Threatened, Endangered, Candidate, and Sensitive species 
and their habitats;
    F. Vegetation, including impacts of invasive species;
    G. Management of cultural and paleontological resources, including 
National Historic Trails;
    H. Land ownership adjustments;
    I. Fire management;
    J. Livestock grazing;
    K. Visual Resource Management;
    L. Potential establishment of special management areas; and,
    M. Air and water quality.

2. Categorization of Issues

    After gathering public comments on what issues the RMP should 
address, the BLM will place suggested issues in one of three 
categories: issues to be resolved in the RMP revision, issues resolved 
through policy or administrative action, and issues beyond the scope of 
the RMP revision. Rationale will be provided in the RMP for issues to 
be resolved through policy or administrative action and issues beyond 
the scope of the RMP.

3. Preliminary Planning Criteria

    The BLM identified the following preliminary planning criteria to 
guide resolution of the issues considered in the planning effort (the 
BLM may revise these criteria during the planning process or in 
response to public comment):
    A. The revised RMP will recognize the existence of valid existing 
rights.
    B. The decisions in the revised RMP will cover BLM-administered 
public lands, including split-estate lands where the subsurface 
minerals are severed from the surface right, and the BLM has legal 
jurisdiction over one or the other.
    C. The BLM will use a collaborative and multi-jurisdictional 
approach to determine the desired future condition of public lands.
    D. The BLM will strive to ensure that its management decisions are 
complimentary to other planning jurisdictions and adjoining properties, 
within the boundaries described by law and regulation.
    E. The environmental analysis will consider a reasonable range of 
alternatives that focus on the relative values of resources and respond 
to the issues. Management prescriptions will reflect multiple use 
resource principles.

[[Page 35691]]

    F. The BLM will use current scientific information, research, new 
technologies, and the results of resource assessments, monitoring, and 
coordination to determine appropriate local and regional management 
strategies that will enhance or restore impaired ecosystems.
    G. Revised RMP decisions will comply with all applicable laws, 
regulations, policy, and guidance.

4. Call for Coal Resource Information and Other Resource Information

    Parties interested in coal leasing and development should provide 
coal resource data for their area(s) of interest. Identification of 
interests in future coal leasing, substantiated with adequate coal 
resource data, allows the BLM to address development potential during 
the RMP revision process and helps avoid unnecessary work, delays, or 
RMP amendments.
    Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted in 
response to this call for coal resource information and other resource 
information. Please submit all proprietary information submissions to 
the Kemmerer Field Manager at the address listed above. The BLM will 
treat submissions marked as ``Confidential'' in accordance with the 
laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information.
    In addition to coal resource data, the BLM seeks resource 
information and data for other public land values (e.g., air quality, 
archaeology, fire/fuels, fisheries, forestry, geologic hazards, lands 
and realty, oil and gas (including coalbed methane), paleontology, 
rangeland management, recreation, trona, water quality, and wildlife.

5. Public Participation

    The BLM will announce public meetings and comment periods through 
one or more of the following: Local news media, newsletters, and the 
Kemmerer Field Office Web site, http://www.wy.blm.gov/kfo/info.htm, at 
least 15 days prior to the event. Meetings will tentatively be held in 
the fall of 2003 in Evanston, Green River, and Kemmerer, Wyoming. The 
minutes and list of attendees for each meeting will be available to the 
public and open for 30 days so that attendees may clarify the views 
they expressed. The BLM will also provide additional opportunities for 
public participation throughout the RMP revision process.

    Dated: April 29, 2003.
Robert A. Bennett,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 03-15057 Filed 6-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P