[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 125 (Friday, June 29, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35718-35719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12533]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-220-07-1020-JA-VEIS]


Notice of Availability of Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement and Environmental Report for Vegetation Treatments on Public 
Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the Western 
United States, Including Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hereby 
gives notice that the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
and Final Environmental Report on vegetation treatments involving the 
use of chemical herbicides and other methods on the public lands 
administered by 11 BLM State offices in 17 western States, including 
Alaska, is available for public review and comment. The BLM is the lead 
Federal agency for the preparation of this Final Programmatic EIS in 
compliance with the requirements of NEPA. If it is approved, the BLM 
would:
    1. Approve the use of four new herbicide formulations on public 
lands.
    2. Decide which of 20 currently approved herbicides will continue 
to be used on public lands.
    3. Decide on a protocol to follow that adds new EPA-registered 
chemical formulations to the BLM list of approved herbicides.
    4. Identify which best management practices should be used with all

[[Page 35719]]

applications of herbicide and other types of vegetation treatment 
methods (mechanical, fire, biological, etc).

DATES: The document will be available for July 30, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The Final Programmatic EIS and associated documents will be 
available for review in either hard copy or on compact disks (CDs) at 
all BLM State, District, and Field Office public rooms. The entire 
document can also be reviewed or downloaded at the BLM National Web 
site http://www.blm.gov. Written comments should be sent to Project 
Manager, National Vegetation EIS, BLM Nevada State Office, P.O. Box 
12000, Reno, NV 89520-0006. Before including your address, phone 
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Amme, Project Manager at (775) 
861-6645 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Final Programmatic EIS provides a 
comprehensive analysis of the BLM's use of chemical herbicides in its 
various vegetation treatment programs related to hazardous fuels 
reduction, invasive terrestrial and aquatic plant species management, 
noxious weeds, and resource rehabilitation following catastrophic 
fires, and other disturbances.
    In addition, an accompanying environmental report for vegetation 
provides an assessment of the expected effects of the use of 
herbicides, in addition to other vegetation treatment methods (fire, 
mechanical, manual, and biological) on up to approximately 5,030,000 
acres of public lands per year. Together, these documents:
     Consider reasonably foreseeable activities, particularly 
hazardous fuels reduction treatments, emergency stabilization and 
rehabilitation efforts, noxious weeds, and invasive terrestrial plant 
species management.
     Address human health and ecological risk for proposed use 
of chemical herbicides on public lands.
     Provide a cumulative impact analysis for the use of 
chemical herbicides in conjunction with other treatment methods.
    The Final Programmatic EIS is neither a land-use plan nor a land-
use plan amendment. The Final Programmatic EIS and Environmental Report 
will provide a comprehensive, programmatic NEPA document and 
environmental report that allows effective tiering and incorporation by 
reference, environmental effects and baseline cumulative impact 
assessments for other new, revised, or existing land use and activity 
level plans and implementation projects that involve vegetation 
modification or maintenance. This Final Programmatic EIS does not 
affect the status of the herbicide court injunction in Oregon. The 
analysis area includes only surface estate public lands administered by 
11 BLM State offices: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
Montana (North Dakota/South Dakota), New Mexico (Oklahoma/Texas/
Nebraska), Nevada, Oregon (Washington), Utah, and Wyoming.
    The BLM issued a Notice of Availability of the Draft Vegetation 
Treatments Using Herbicides Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
and Draft Programmatic Environmental Report on November 10, 2005. The 
BLM held ten public hearings in late 2005, and extended the public 
comment period an additional 30 days to February 10, 2006.
    The BLM responded to over 3,000 individual public comments during 
the Draft Programmatic EIS public review period. Comment responses and 
resultant changes in the impact analysis are documented in this Final 
Programmatic EIS and Environmental Report per requirements under 40 CFR 
1503.4. Additional information and analysis is included in the Final 
Programmatic EIS addressing comments related to chemical degradates, 
use of surfactants and risks associated with endocrine disrupting 
chemicals. In addition, the Final Programmatic EIS contains subsistence 
analysis required under Section 801(a) of the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The BLM will prepare a Record of 
Decision (ROD) for the EIS after July 30, 2007.

Bud Cribley,
Deputy Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning.
 [FR Doc. E7-12533 Filed 6-28-07; 8:45 am]
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