[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34387-34388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9253]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-070-1610-DP-011J]


Notice of Availability of Supplemental Information and Analysis 
for the Draft Price Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement; Notice of Potential Areas of Critical Environmental Concern 
and Specific Associated Resource Use Limitations for Public Lands in 
Carbon and Emery Counties, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of Supplemental 
Information and Analysis to the Price Field Office Draft Resource 
Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (Price Draft RMP/EIS) 
for Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). This information 
includes four potential ACECs inadvertently omitted from the Price 
Draft RMP/EIS and prior notices.

DATES: To assure that public comments will be considered, BLM must 
receive written comments on the supplemental information and impact 
analysis to the Price Draft RMP/EIS for the potential ACECs within 90 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the Notice of Availability of the supplemental ACEC information in the 
Federal Register.
    Public comments regarding the designation of the four potential 
ACECs will be accepted for 60 days (43 CFR 1610.7-2) following the date 
this Notice of Availability is published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by mail to the Bureau of 
Land Management, Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, UT 
84501. E-mail comments may be submitted to the following address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Floyd Johnson, Assistant Field 
Manager, BLM Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, UT 84501, 
phone 435-636-3600, or visit the project Web site at http://www.blm.gov/rmp/ut/price.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The supplemental information provides 
additional documentation regarding the disposition of ACEC nominations, 
provides a description of the four additional potential ACECs, and 
analyzes any potential impacts relating to the inclusion of these ACECs 
in Alternative C of the Price Draft RMP/EIS. The original notice of 
availability for the Price Draft RMP/EIS for the Price Field Office 
planning area in Carbon and Emery Counties, Utah was published in the 
Federal Register, volume 69, number 136, Friday, July 16, 2004. A 
supplement to that Notice with information on existing and potential 
ACECs considered within the Price Draft RMP/EIS was published in the 
Federal Register, volume 70, number 238, Tuesday, December 13, 2005.
    The Price Field Office planning area encompasses all of the public 
land managed by the Price Field Office in Carbon and Emery Counties, 
Utah. This area includes approximately 2.5 million acres of BLM-
administered surface lands and 2.8 million acres of Federal mineral 
lands underlying Federal, State, and private surface ownership in the 
area. The decisions of the Price RMP will apply only to BLM-
administered public lands, including Federal mineral estate.
    The Price Draft RMP/EIS addresses five alternatives of proposed 
management decisions and analyzes the impacts of each. There are 
presently 13 existing designated ACECs (289,629 total acres) in the 
Price Field Office, which were established by the San Rafael RMP 
(1991). These are reflected in the No Action Alternative of the Draft 
RMP/EIS.
    Nine potential ACECs (286,416 total acres) were considered in at 
least one action alternative in the Draft RMP/EIS. In some cases, the 
number and acres and the resource use limitations applied to the nine 
potential ACECs also varied by alternative. These nine potential ACECs 
were described in the Notice published in the Federal Register, volume 
70, number 238, Tuesday, December 13, 2005.
    In addition to the nine potential ACECs, four potential ACECs were 
inadvertently omitted from the Price Draft RMP/EIS released July, 2004. 
The four additional potential ACECs described and analyzed in the 
supplemental information include:
     Desolation Canyon Area--(159,246 acres) Values of concern 
include outstanding scenery, Fremont, Archaic and Ute cultural sites, 
and fisheries and wildlife habitats;

[[Page 34388]]

     Mussentuchit Badlands Area--(58,398 acres) Values of 
concern include cultural resources such as prehistoric quarrying area;
     White-Tailed Prairie Dog Complex--(9,204 acres) Values of 
concern include protection of habitat and other species dependent on 
prairie dog colonies; and
     Lower Muddy Creek Area--(29,854 acres) Values of concern 
include outstanding scenery and threatened and endangered plants.
    These four potential ACECs are considered for designation in 
Alternative C of the Price Draft RMP/EIS. Potential resource use 
limitations related to ACEC management of all of these areas include 
limitations to OHV use, leasing for oil and gas, disposal of mineral 
materials, and locatable mineral entry. Additionally, ACEC management 
for the Desolation Canyon potential ACEC would exclude right-of-way 
(ROW) grants. The supplemental information and analysis has been 
prepared for public review to facilitate the inclusion of these four 
potential ACECs into the Price RMP/EIS. The information includes:
     The incorporation of the specific ACEC proposals, 
including resource use limitations, in Chapter 2:
     A description of potential impacts in Chapter 4;
     A summary of nominations matrix in Appendix 26; and
     A description of relevant and important values found in 
these four potential ACECs, also in Appendix 26.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the Price Field Office during regular 
business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
holidays and will be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). They may be published as part of the EIS and 
other related documents. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street address 
from public review and disclosure under FOIA, 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 or businesses will be made available for public 
inspection in their entirety. The supplemental information is available 
upon request at the Price Field Office and on the Internet at the 
addresses provided above.

    Dated: May 26, 2006.
Gene Terland,
Acting State Director.
 [FR Doc. E6-9253 Filed 6-13-06; 8:45 am]
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