[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11661-11662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4071]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of Intent To Prepare the Caliente Resource Management Plan 
and Environmental Impact Statement for the Bakersfield Field Office, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Bakersfield Field 
Office intends to revise the Resource Management Plan (RMP) for public 
lands and mineral estate within the Bakersfield Field Office, and 
prepare an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The RMP 
revision will update the existing Caliente Resource Management Plan. 
This notice initiates the public scoping process and provides 
information regarding public scoping meetings.

DATES: The public scoping process is initiated upon the date of 
publication of this notice. Formal scoping will end 60 days after 
publication of this notice; however, collaboration with the public will 
continue throughout the planning process. The BLM will hold public 
scoping meetings to identify relevant issues, and will announce these 
meetings at least 15 days in advance of the meetings through local news 
media, newsletters, and the BLM Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield.html. Formal opportunities for public participation will 
also be provided upon publication of the Draft RMP/EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Web Site: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield.html.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (661) 391-6041.
     Mail: Caliente RMP, Bureau of Land Management, 3801 
Pegasus Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the 
Bakersfield Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Steve Larson: Telephone 
(661) 391-6022; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
office in Bakersfield, California, intends to revise an RMP and prepare 
an associated EIS for the BLM managed public lands and interests within 
the Bakersfield Field Office--exclusive of the California Coastal 
National Monument and the Carrizo Plain National Monument. This 
document also announces public scoping meetings.
    The planning area is located in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San 
Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura Counties in California. 
This planning area encompasses approximately 400,000 acres of public 
land and an additional 450,000 acres of federal mineral estate. The 
plan will fulfill the needs and obligations set forth by the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act (FLPMA), and BLM management policies. The BLM will work 
collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management 
decisions that are best suited to local, regional, and national needs 
and concerns.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant 
issues that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis and 
EIS alternatives. These issues also guide the planning process. You may 
submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing to the BLM 
at any public scoping meeting, or you may submit them to the BLM using 
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section above. To be most 
helpful, you should submit formal scoping comments within 30 days after 
the last public meeting. Before including your address, phone number, 
email address, or other personal identifying information in your 
comment, you should be aware that your entire

[[Page 11662]]

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. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, are available for public inspection in their entirety. The 
minutes and list of attendees for each scoping meeting will be 
available to the public and open for 30 days after the meeting to any 
participant who wishes to clarify the views he or she expressed.
    Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified by 
BLM, other agencies, and in meetings with individuals and user groups. 
They represent the BLM's knowledge to date regarding the existing 
issues and concerns with current land management. The major issues that 
will be addressed in this planning effort include: Oil & gas leasing 
and development; management of threatened & endangered plant and animal 
species; land tenure adjustment; and recreation management.
    After public scoping comments are gathered, issues that are 
identified will be placed in one of three categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action; 
or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the plan as to why issues 
are placed in categories two or three. In addition to these major 
issues, a number of management questions and concerns will be addressed 
in the plan. The public is encouraged to help identify these questions 
and concerns during the scoping phase.
    Preliminary planning criteria have been identified as:
    1. The plan will establish new guidance and identify existing 
guidance upon which the BLM will rely in managing public lands within 
the Bakersfield Field Office.
    2. The plan will be completed in compliance with the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and all other applicable laws.
    3. The planning process will include an environmental impact 
statement that will comply with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) standards.
    4. The RMP/EIS will incorporate by reference the Standards for 
Rangeland Health and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing Management.
    5. The RMP/EIS will incorporate by reference all prior wilderness 
designations and wilderness study area findings that affect public 
lands in the planning area.
    6. The plan will provide determinations as required by special 
program and resource specific guidance detailed in Appendix C of the 
BLM's Planning Handbook.
    7. Decisions in the plan will strive to be compatible with the 
existing plans and policies of adjacent local, State, Tribal, and 
Federal agencies as long as the decisions are in conformance with 
Bureau policies on management of public lands.
    8. The scope of analysis will be consistent with the level of 
analysis in approved plans and in accordance with Bureau-wide standards 
and program guidance.
    9. Resource allocations must be reasonable and achievable within 
available technological and budgetary constraints.
    10. The lifestyles and concerns of area residents will be 
recognized in the plan.
    11. All lands within the California Coastal National Monument and 
the Carrizo Plain National Monument--both of which will be covered 
under separate resource management plans--will be dropped from the 
revised Caliente Resource Management Plan.
    12. Decisions and management actions within the existing plan will 
be evaluated; those that are determined to still be valid will be 
carried forward into this revised RMP.
    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan 
in order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified. Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines 
will be involved in the planning process: Outdoor recreation, 
archaeology, wildlife biology, botany, rangeland management, oil & gas, 
geology, realty, and fire management.

    Dated: January 29, 2008.
Timothy Z. Smith,
Bakersfield Field Office Manager.
 [FR Doc. E8-4071 Filed 3-3-08; 8:45 am]
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