[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37020-37022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15602]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-060-03-1610-DO]


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

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Casper planning area. The planning 
area, encompassing approximately 1.4 million acres of BLM-administered 
public land surface and 4.7 million acres of BLM-administered Federal 
mineral estate, is located in Converse, Goshen, Natrona, and Platte 
counties, Wyoming. The Platte River RMP (1985) will continue to guide 
management actions and decisions for the planning area until the Casper 
RMP is completed and approved.
    Preparation of the Casper RMP and associated EIS will fulfill the 
obligations set forth by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
(FLPMA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and Federal 
regulations.

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.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments and resource information 
submissions via mail to the BLM, Casper Field Office, 2987 Prospector 
Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82604; or electronically to [email protected]">c[email protected]. Members of the public may examine documents pertinent 
to this proposal in the Casper Field Office. To be considered, all 
comments must include legible full name and address on the envelope, 
letter, postcard, facsimile, or e-mail. Comments, including names and 
street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at 
the Casper 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: For further information or to have your name 
added to the Casper RMP mailing list, contact Linda Slone at the above 
address or by telephone at (307) 261-7600, 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, provide for public comment 
on the proposed planning criteria, and provide an opportunity to 
comment on documents published throughout the RMP revision process.
    The Cedar Ridge-Badwater Creek area, located along the southern 
border of the Big Horn Mountains in Natrona County, has been evaluated 
as a traditional cultural property (TCP). The TCP is a sensitive 
cultural resource of high significance eligible for inclusion in the 
National Register of Historic Places. During the Casper RMP planning 
process, the Cedar Ridge-Badwater Creek area will be evaluated as a 
Special Management Area (SMA.)

1. Preliminary Issues

    Emerging resource issues and changing laws necessitate preparation 
of the Casper RMP. Preliminary issues and management concerns have been 
identified by BLM personnel, other

[[Page 37021]]

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 current management. 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 the cumulative effect of land uses and human 
activities on threatened, endangered, candidate, and sensitive species 
and their habitats;
    F. Vegetation, including impacts of invasive non-native species;
    G. Management of cultural and paleontological resources, including 
national historic trails;
    H. Landownership adjustments;
    I. Fire management;
    J. Livestock grazing;
    K. Visual resource management; and
    L. Air and water quality.
    These preliminary issues are not final and may be added to and 
refined throughout the public participation process. The BLM is 
requesting the help of the public in identifying additional issues to 
be addressed in the planning effort. Decisions in the RMP will adhere 
to the goals and objectives of the President's National Energy Policy.

2. Categorization of Issues

    After gathering public comments on what issues the Casper RMP 
should address, the BLM will place suggested issues in one of three 
categories: issues to be resolved in the RMP, issues resolved through 
policy or administrative action, and issues beyond the scope of the 
RMP.
    Rationale will be provided in the EIS for the Casper RMP for issues 
to be resolved through policy or administrative action and issues 
beyond the scope of the EIS. In addition to major issues, a number of 
management concerns will be addressed in the RMP. The public is 
encouraged to help identify these concerns throughout the public 
scoping process.

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 valid existing rights.
    B. The revised RMP will comply with all applicable laws, 
regulations, policy, and guidance.
    C. Planning decisions 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.
    D. The RMP planning effort will be collaborative and multi-
jurisdictional in nature. 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 the principles of 
multiple use and sustained yield.
    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. The Wyoming Standards for Healthy Rangelands will apply to all 
activities and uses.
    H. The BLM will address socioeconomic conditions and environmental 
justice.
    I. The BLM will provide for public safety and welfare relative to 
fire, hazardous materials, and abandoned mine lands.
    J. Visual Resource Management (VRM) class designations will be 
analyzed and modified to reflect present conditions and future needs.
    K. The BLM will consider present and potential uses of the public 
lands through the development of reasonably foreseeable future 
development and activity scenarios based on historical, existing, and 
projected levels of use.
    L. Planning decisions will include the preservation, conservation, 
and enhancement of cultural, historical, paleontological, and natural 
components of public land resources, while considering energy 
development and other surface-disturbing activities.
    M. The BLM will coordinate with Native American tribes to identify 
sites, areas, and objects important to their cultural and religious 
heritage.
    N. Planning decisions will comply with the Endangered Species Act 
and the BLM interagency agreements with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife 
Service regarding consultation.
    O. Areas potentially suitable for ACECs or other special management 
designations will be identified, and where appropriate, brought forward 
for analysis in the EIS.
    P. Waterway segments have been classified and determinations of 
eligibility and suitability made in accordance with Section 5(d) of the 
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Appropriate management prescriptions for 
maintaining or enhancing the outstanding remarkable values and 
classifications of waterway segments meeting suitability factors will 
be part of the RMP revision.
    Q. OHV management decisions in the revised RMP will be consistent 
with the BLM's National OHV Strategy.
    R. Decisions in the revised RMP will adhere to the goals and 
objectives of the National Energy Policy as well as the Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act.
    S. Known areas in the Casper planning area with coal development 
potential are located in northeastern Converse County. Coal screening 
determinations were made on these areas during planning efforts for the 
Buffalo RMP and the Thunder Basin National Grasslands Land and Resource 
Management Plan. No additional coal screening determinations or coal 
planning decisions are planned for the Casper RMP, unless public 
submissions of coal resource information or surface resource issues 
indicate a need to update these determinations.

4. Call for Coal and Other Resource Information

    Parties interested in leasing and development of Federal coal in 
the planning area should provide coal resource data for their area(s) 
of interest. Specifically, information is requested on the location, 
quality, and quantity of Federal coal with development potential, and 
on surface resource values related to the 20 coal unsuitability 
criteria described in 43 CFR part 3461. This information will be used 
for any necessary updating of coal screening determination (43 CFR 
3420.1-4) in the area and in the environmental analysis for the Casper 
RMP.
    In addition to coal resource data, the BLM seeks resource 
information and data for other public land values (e.g., air quality, 
cultural and historic resources, fire/fuels, fisheries, forestry, lands 
and realty, non-energy minerals and geology, oil and gas (including 
coalbed methane), paleontology, rangeland management, recreation, soil, 
water, and wildlife) in the planning area. The purpose of this request 
is to assure that the planning effort has

[[Page 37022]]

sufficient information and data to consider a reasonable range of 
resource uses, management options, and alternatives for the public 
lands.
    Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted in 
response to this call for coal and other resource information. Please 
submit all proprietary information submissions to the Casper 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.

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 
Casper Field Office Web site, http://www.wy.blm.gov/cfo/info.htm, at 
least 15 days prior to the event. Meetings will tentatively be held in 
the fall of 2003 in Casper, Douglas, Torrington, and Wheatland, 
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: May 2, 2003.
Robert A. Bennett,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 03-15602 Filed 6-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P