[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 116 (Friday, June 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35299-35300]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-11858]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-220-1020-24 1A]
RIN 1004-AD42


Grazing Administration--Exclusive of Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for regulatory amendments of grazing regulations for the 
public lands.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to support 
amendments of the regulations governing grazing administration. The 
analysis provided in the FEIS is intended to inform the public of the 
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects on the human environment of 
the proposed action and each alternative.

DATES: The Final Environmental Impact Statement is available for review 
through July 18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS are available at BLM State Offices in 10 
western states and the BLM Washington DC office. See the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION for a table of BLM State Offices.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bud Cribley at 202-785-6569 for 
information relating to the FEIS or Ted Hudson at 202-452-3042 for 
information relating to the rulemaking process. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may contact these 
individuals through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8330, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the FEIS are available at the 
following BLM State Offices:

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       BLM state offices               Address           Phone numbers
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Arizona.......................  222 North Central         (602) 417-9500
                                 Ave., Phoenix, AZ
                                 85004-2203.
California....................  2800 Cottage Way,         (916) 978-4600
                                 Room W-1834,
                                 Sacramento, CA 95825.
Colorado......................  2850 Youngfield St.,      (303) 239-3700
                                 Lakewood, CO 80215-
                                 7093.
Idaho.........................  1387 S. Vinnell Way,      (208) 373-4001
                                 Boise, ID 83709-1657.
Montana.......................  5001 Southgate Drive,     (406) 896-5012
                                 Billings, MT 59101.
Nevada........................  1340 Financial Way,       (775) 861-6590
                                 Reno, NV 89502.
New Mexico....................  1474 Rodeo Rd., P.O.      (505) 438-7501
                                 Box 27115, Santa Fe,
                                 NM 87507-0115.
Oregon........................  P.O. Box 2965,            (503) 808-6024
                                 Portland, OR 97208-
                                 2965.

[[Page 35300]]

 
Utah..........................  324 South State           (801) 539-4010
                                 Street, P.O. Box
                                 45155 Salt Lake
                                 City, UT 84145-0155.
Wyoming.......................  5353 Yellowstone          (307) 775-6001
                                 Road, P.O. Box 1828,
                                 Cheyenne, WY 82003.
Washington DC.................  1849 C Street NW.,        (202) 452-7749
                                 Washington DC 20040.
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    If you have Internet access, you can download the FEIS by going to 
http://www.blm.gov/grazing and follow the directions found at that 
site.
    During the nine years since implementation of the 1995 grazing 
reforms, a number of discrete concerns have been raised regarding the 
administration of grazing management. The purpose of the rulemaking is 
to address a variety of these discrete issues related to the current 
regulatory scheme without altering the fundamental structure of the 
grazing regulations. In other words, we are adjusting rather than 
conducting a major overhaul of the grazing regulations. Fundamental 
changes such as modifications to the grazing fee provisions; the 
addition of new regulatory topics; or the removal of substantial 
portions of the regulations do not meet this limited purpose.
    The key amendments of the regulations governing grazing 
administration are intended to: make clear that BLM managers will 
document their consideration of the relevant social, cultural, and 
economic consequences of decisions affecting grazing, consistent with 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; 
allow the BLM and a grazing permittee to share title of certain 
permanent range improvements--such as a fence, well, or pipeline--if 
they are constructed under what is known as a Cooperative Range 
Improvement Agreement; phase in livestock grazing decreases (and 
increases) of more than 10 percent over a five-year period unless a 
livestock operator agrees to a shorter period, or unless a quicker 
phase-in is necessary under existing law to protect the land's 
resources; expand the definition of ``grazing preference'' to include 
an amount of forage on public lands attached to a rancher's private 
``base'' property, which can be land or water; require both standards 
assessments and monitoring of resource conditions to support BLM 
evaluations of whether an allotment is meeting rangeland health 
standards; allow up to 24 months, instead of prior to the start of the 
next grazing season, for the BLM to analyze and formulate an 
appropriate course of action that will correct a grazing allotment's 
failure to meet rangeland health standards; remove the current three-
consecutive-year limit on temporary non-use of a grazing permit by 
allowing livestock operators to apply for non-use for up to one year at 
a time, whether for conservation or business purposes, with no limit on 
the number of consecutive years; eliminate, in compliance with Federal 
court rulings, existing regulatory provisions that allow the BLM to 
issue long-term ``conservation use'' permits; make clear how the BLM 
will authorize grazing if a BLM decision affecting a grazing permit is 
``stayed'' (postponed) pending administrative appeal; clarify that if a 
livestock operator is convicted of violating a Federal, State, or other 
law, and if the violation occurs while he is engaged in grazing-related 
activities, the BLM may take action against his grazing permit or lease 
only if the violation occurred on the BLM-managed allotment where the 
operator is authorized to graze; improve efficiency in the BLM's 
management of public lands grazing by focusing the role of the 
interested public on planning decisions and reports that influence 
daily management, rather than on daily management decisions themselves; 
provide greater flexibility to the Federal government to negotiate with 
cooperators and States when developing stock water and acquiring 
livestock water rights by removing the current requirement that the BLM 
seek ownership of these rights where allowed by state law; clarify that 
a biological assessment of the BLM, prepared in compliance with the 
Endangered Species Act, is not a decision of the Bureau and therefore 
is not subject to protests and appeals; and increase certain service 
fees to reflect more accurately the cost of grazing administration.
    On March 3, 2003, BLM published an Advance Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (ANPR) and Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) in the Federal Register (68 FR 
9964-9966 and 10030-10032) on proposed revisions to BLM's grazing 
regulations. These notices requested public comment and input to assist 
BLM with the scoping process for the proposed rule and the EIS. The 
comment period on the ANPR and the NOI ended on May 2, 2003.
    During the scoping process, BLM held four public meetings to 
solicit comments and suggestions for the proposed rule and development 
of the draft environmental impact statement. The meetings were held 
during March 2003 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Reno, Nevada; Billings, 
Montana; and Washington DC BLM received approximately 8,300 comments on 
the ANPR and the NOI.
    The BLM published the proposed rule on December 8, 2003 (68 FR 
68452), inviting public comments until February 6, 2004. On January 2, 
2004, the BLM issued the Draft EIS for a 60 day public comment period. 
On January 16, 2004, BLM published a notice to extend the comment 
period on the proposed rule to March 2, 2004 (69 FR 2559). BLM held six 
public meetings in January and early February, 2004, to provide the 
public an opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. Meetings were 
held in Salt Lake City, Utah; Phoenix, Arizona; Boise, Idaho; Billings, 
Montana; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Washington DC. Approximately 250 
individuals attended the public meetings and 95 people provided oral 
comments. We received more than 18,000 comment letters and electronic 
communications. The BLM reviewed and analyzed all public comments and 
prepared the Final EIS. It is a full text Final EIS and incorporates 
responses to the public comments.

Chad Calvert,
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 05-11858 Filed 6-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P