[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 111 (Thursday, June 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32962-32963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13949]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNMP02000 16100000.DN0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the 
Carlsbad Field Office, New Mexico and Associated Environmental Impact 
Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976, as amended, (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
Carlsbad Field Office, Carlsbad, New Mexico, intends to prepare a 
Resource Management Plan (RMP) with an associated Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Carlsbad Field Office and by this notice is 
announcing the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public 
comments and identify issues. The RMP will replace the existing 1988 
Carlsbad RMP.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the RMP and 
the associated EIS. In order to be included in the Draft EIS, comments 
on issues and planning criteria may be submitted in writing by any of 
the methods described in the ADDRESSES section below, until July 12, 
2010 (the 30-day scoping period). Alternatively you may submit comments 
at any public scoping meeting or 30 days after the last public meeting, 
whichever is later. The date(s) and location(s) of any scoping meetings 
will be announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, 
newspapers, and at the following BLM Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/fo/Carlsbad_Field_Office.html. We will provide additional 
opportunities for public participation upon publication of the Draft 
EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria by 
any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/fo/Carlsbad_Field_Office.html.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 575-885-9264.
     Mail: BLM, Carlsbad Field Office, RMP Project Manager, 620 
E. Greene St., Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the 
Carlsbad Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact James B. Smith, Planning 
and Environmental Coordinator, telephone 575-234-5986; address BLM, 
Carlsbad Field Office, Attention: James B. Smith, 620 E. Greene St., 
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Carlsbad Field Office, New Mexico, intends to prepare an RMP with an 
associated EIS for the Carlsbad Field Office, announces the beginning 
of the scoping process, and seeks public input on issues and planning 
criteria. The planning area is located in Eddy, Lea, and Chaves 
counties, New Mexico, and encompasses approximately 2.2 million surface 
acres of public land and 4.1 million acres of mineral estate (1.9 
million acres is split estate). The purpose of the public scoping 
process is to determine relevant issues that will influence the scope 
of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and guide the 
planning process. Preliminary issues for the planning area have been 
identified by BLM personnel, Federal, state, and local agencies, and 
other stakeholders. The issues include:
    1. What management actions, best management practices (BMP), and 
mitigation measures are necessary to protect or enhance resources, such 
as: visual resources, air quality, groundwater and karst aquifers, 
watersheds and riparian areas, recreational areas, wilderness areas, 
vegetation, soils, cultural sites, cave/karst, specially designated 
areas, wildlife habitat, and rangeland health?
    2. What areas should be identified as open, limited, or closed to 
travel to meet resource and recreational demands? What major roads and 
ways should be identified in the transportation

[[Page 32963]]

management plan for closure and reclamation?
    3. How should the BLM facilitate energy development, both renewable 
and non-renewable, while allowing for multiple uses and appropriate 
protection of public lands and resources?
    4. How should the RMP facilitate rights-of-ways within the planning 
area through designation of exclusion and avoidance areas, 
stipulations, BMPs, and mitigation measures while balancing the need to 
protect sensitive resources?
    5. How should the RMP address new technologies such as potash 
solution mining?
    6. What public lands should be identified for retention, 
withdrawal, disposal (e.g., parcels, historic landfill sites) or 
acquisition?
    7. What management actions, BMPs, and mitigation measures will be 
necessary to reduce impacts to reclaimed and restored lands?
    Preliminary Planning Criteria Include:
    1. The RMP will be in compliance with FLPMA, NEPA, and all other 
applicable laws and regulations;
    2. Land use decisions in the RMP will apply to the surface and 
subsurface estate managed by the BLM;
    3. The RMP process will follow BLM policies in the Land Use 
Planning Handbook, H-1601-1;
    4. Public participation and collaboration will be an integral part 
of the planning process;
    5. The BLM will strive to make decisions in the plan compatible 
with the existing plans and policies of adjacent local, state, and 
Federal agencies and local American Indian tribes, as long as the 
decisions are consistent with the purposes of the Federal laws, 
policies, and programs applicable to public lands;
    6. The RMP will recognize valid existing rights;
    7. The RMP will incorporate, where applicable, management decisions 
brought forward from existing planning documents;
    8. The BLM will work cooperatively and collaboratively with 
cooperating agencies and all other interested groups, agencies, and 
individuals;
    9. The planning process will provide for ongoing consultation with 
American Indian tribes and strategies for protecting recognized 
traditional uses;
    10. Where practicable and timely for the planning effort, the best 
available scientific information, research, and new technologies will 
be used; and
    11. Planning decisions must comply with all applicable regulations 
and must be reasonably achievable, and allow for flexibility while 
supporting adaptive management principles.
    The Preparation Plan developed for the RMP Revision is available on 
the Carlsbad Field Office Web site. This document contains pertinent 
and descriptive information regarding planning issues, management 
concerns, planning criteria and scheduling. Please refer to this 
document for the detailed list of planning issues and criteria.
    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 comments by the close of the 30-day 
scoping period or within 30 days after the last public meeting, 
whichever is later. Before including your address, phone number, email 
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. 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. The BLM will evaluate identified issues to be 
addressed in the plan, and will place them into 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 Draft RMP/EIS as to why 
an issue was placed in category two or three. The public is also 
encouraged to help identify any management questions and concerns that 
should be addressed in the plan. 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 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: Wildlife and fisheries, 
threatened and endangered species, vegetation and native plants, 
riparian and wetlands, invasive and noxious weeds, rangeland 
management, fire and fuels management, cultural resources and Native 
American concerns, paleontology, geology and fluid minerals, lands and 
realty, outdoor recreation, hydrology, soils, visual resource 
management, wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, sociology and 
economics, and forest management.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7; 43 CFR 1610.2

Linda S.C. Rundell,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-13949 Filed 6-9-10; 8:45 am]
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