[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 241 (Thursday, December 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75335-75336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27487]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV-050-5853-EU]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Las Vegas Valley Disposal Area

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
    Cooperating Agencies: U.S. Air Force, Nellis Air Force Base; U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex; 
Clark County Regional Flood Control District; Clark County 
Comprehensive Planning; City of Henderson; City of Las Vegas; City of 
North Las Vegas.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976, 
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final Environmental 
Impact Statement (FEIS) with the specific purpose to enable BLM to 
transfer title or authorize uses of public land in the Las Vegas 
Valley. The project area consists of public lands identified for 
disposal within the boundary established by the Southern Nevada Public 
Lands Management Act

[[Page 75336]]

(SNPLMA) (Pub. L. 105-263), and as expanded/amended by the Clark County 
Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 (Clark 
County Act) (Pub. L. 107-282).

DATES: BLM will sign the Record of Decision (ROD) for the FEIS the same 
day the Notice of Availability for the FEIS is published by the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal Register. The ROD 
will be provided with the FEIS and the signed copy of the ROD will be 
posted on the official Web site on the day of signature. Therefore, the 
30-day period of availability will also serve as the appeal period for 
the entire FEIS, as provided for by 40 CFR 1506.10(b)(2). Appeal rights 
will be explained in the ROD as well as the cover page of the FEIS. No 
actions can occur until the 30-day period expires.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the FEIS for the official record 
to: E-mail: [email protected]. Fax: (702) 515-5155. Mail: Bureau of 
Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 4701 North Torrey Pines Drive, 
Las Vegas, NV 89130-2301. 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, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written 
comment. Such requests will be honored 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. Copies of the FEIS are available in the BLM Las Vegas Field 
Office at the above address during office hours (7:30 to 4:15 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays). Interested persons may also 
review the FEIS on the Internet at http://www.nv.blm.gov/lvdiseis.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Steinmetz, BLM Las Vegas Field 
Office, telephone (702) 515-5097; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS complies with NEPA, FLPMA, and BLM 
management policies as defined in the Las Vegas RMP of 1998. The FEIS 
contains a summary of the alternatives and resulting impacts of 
implementing land disposal actions, identifies the preferred 
alternative (Conservation Transfer), and contains a summary of written 
and verbal comments received during the 60-day public review period for 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and responses to the 
substantive issues raised during the review. The DEIS was released for 
public review on September 10, 2004.
    Shortly after approval of SNPLMA, the BLM received a rapid increase 
in the requests for public land disposal. The Clark County Act 
significantly increased the amount of land available for disposal by 
adding approximately 22,000 acres to the Las Vegas Valley Disposal Area 
by amending the boundary defined and approved in SNPLMA. The rapid 
disposal rate and additional lands created the need to augment the 
impact analysis conducted for the Las Vegas Resource Management Plan 
(RMP), signed October 5, 1998. The FEIS addresses the intent of 
Congress, as manifested in the SNPLMA and the Clark County Act, to 
provide public land for local community development. This does not 
preclude other authorized uses of public lands such as applications for 
Rights-of-Way, Leases, and Recreation and Public Purpose uses pending 
disposal of public lands located in Clark County, Nevada.
    The FEIS analyzes three alternatives. The alternatives include 
complete disposal, a disposal implementation option (Conservation 
Transfer) that addresses sensitive environmental resources, and a no 
action alternative as required by NEPA. The no action alternative to 
land disposal is a continuation of realty management as specified in 
the RMP. Comments that were received on the DEIS from the public and 
internal BLM review comments were incorporated into the FEIS where 
appropriate. Major resource issues addressed in the FEIS include air 
quality, surface water hydrology and water quality, water supply and 
demand, protected and sensitive plant and wildlife species, 
archaeological and historic sites, paleontological resources, socio-
economics, recreation opportunities, and visual characteristics.
    BLM intends to proceed with the land sale scheduled for February 2, 
2005 (see Notice of Realty Action, Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 218, 
Friday, November 12, 2004, Notices, pages 65450-65454), based in part 
on the Record of Decision for the Land Disposal FEIS. Copies of the Las 
Vegas Valley Disposal FEIS have been sent to affected Federal, State 
and local government agencies and to interested parties.

Mark T. Morse,
Field Manager, Las Vegas.
[FR Doc. 04-27487 Filed 12-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P