[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 169 (Friday, August 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 50983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19951]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[ES-020-08-1610-DQ-028M]


Notice of Availability of the Alabama and Mississippi Proposed 
Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed Resource Management 
Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement (PRMP/FEIS) for Alabama and 
Mississippi.

DATES: The BLM planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any 
person who meets the conditions as described in the regulations may 
protest the BLM's Proposed RMP. A person who meets the conditions and 
files a protest must file the protest within 30 days of the date that 
the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Alabama and Mississippi PRMP/FEIS have been 
sent to affected Federal, State, and local government agencies and to 
interested parties. Copies of the Proposed RMP/FEIS are available for 
public inspection at the BLM-ES Jackson Field Office, 411 Briarwood 
Drive, Suite 404, Jackson, Mississippi 39206. Interested persons may 
also review the Proposed RMP/FEIS on the Internet at http://www.es.blm.gov/AL_MS_RMP. All protests must be in writing and must be 
mailed to:

Regular Mail: Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 
66538, Washington, DC 20035.
Overnight Mail: Director (210), Attention: Brenda Williams, 1620 L 
Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20036.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Gary Taylor, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States, 
Jackson Field Office, 411 Briarwood Drive, Jackson, Mississippi 39206. 
Mr. Taylor may also be contacted by telephone: (601) 977-5413.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This PRMP/FEIS covers all the public land 
resources administered by the BLM in the States of Alabama and 
Mississippi. The issues addressed in the PRMP/FEIS are mineral leasing 
and ownership adjustment of the scattered surface tracts. Within the 
two States combined, the BLM administers approximately 333 acres of 
public land surface and mineral estate and 621,090 acres of Federal 
minerals where the surface estate is in non-Federal ownership. The BLM 
also has responsibility for 2,081,880 acres of mineral estate where the 
surface is managed by other Federal agencies, including 1,871,550 acres 
of National Forest lands. On these lands, leasing of Federal minerals 
is subject to management as directed by the surface managing agency, 
and the decisions of this RMP will pertain only to the BLM's role in 
administering the minerals. The RMP will not make decisions on oil and 
gas leasing of National Forest acreage, because by regulation the U.S. 
Forest Service (USFS) is responsible for land use planning decisions on 
oil and gas leasing. Within the two States, there are also 9,788 acres 
of lands with uncertain title. These are public domain lands according 
to General Land Office records, but may have private claims of 
ownership. The RMP will not make management decisions on these lands 
per se; however, these lands will be available for disposal to 
qualified applicants under the Color-of-Title Act. Public participation 
was solicited during the formation of the Draft RMP/EIS through public 
meetings in Gulf Shore, AL; Birmingham, AL; and Jackson, MS.
    Comments on the Draft RMP/EIS received from the public and internal 
BLM review were incorporated into the proposed plan. Public comments 
resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not significantly 
change proposed land use decisions.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the PRMP/FEIS may be found in the Dear Reader Letter of the 
Alabama and Mississippi PRMP/FEIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5. E-mail and 
faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the 
protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular or 
overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under 
these conditions, the BLM will consider the e-mail or faxed protest as 
an advance copy and it will receive full consideration. If you wish to 
provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed 
protests to the attention of the BLM protest coordinator at 202-452-
5112, and e-mails to [email protected]. All protests, 
including the follow-up letter (if e-mailing or faxing) must be in 
writing and mailed to the address(es) set forth in the ADDRESSES 
section, above.
    Before including your phone number, e-mail address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Dated: March 25, 2008.
Juan Palma,
State Director, Eastern States.

    Editorial Note: This document was received at the Office of the 
Federal Register on August 25, 2008.
[FR Doc. E8-19951 Filed 8-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-GJ-P