[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56790-56791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23481]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCA9300000 L14300000 EU0000; CACA 52334, CACA 52759, CACA 52764]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Amendment to the Caliente Resource 
Management Plan and Associated Environmental Assessment

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, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976

[[Page 56791]]

(FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bakersfield 
Field Office, Bakersfield, California, intends to prepare an amendment 
to the 1997 Caliente Resource Management Plan (RMP) and an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) to identify three parcels of public land 
totaling 83.02 acres for possible direct sale. By this notice the BLM 
is announcing the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public 
comments and identify issues.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the EA. 
Comments on issues may be submitted in writing until October 14, 2011. 
The date(s) and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be announced 
at least 15 days in advance through the local news media. In order to 
be included in the EA, all comments must be received prior to the close 
of the scoping period or 15 days after the last public meeting, 
whichever is later. The BLM will provide additional opportunities for 
public participation upon publication of the EA.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Tim Smith, BLM Bakersfield 
Field Manager, 3801 Pegasus Drive, Bakersfield, California 93308. 
Documents pertinent to this notice will be available for public review 
at this address during regular business hours (7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.) 
Monday through Friday, except holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: And/or to have your name added to our 
mailing list, contact Diane Simpson, Realty Specialist, BLM Bakersfield 
Field Office, telephone (661) 391-6125; address 3801 Pegasus Drive, 
Bakersfield, California 93308. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during 
normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a 
week, to leave a message or question for the above individual. You will 
receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM has received requests from the City 
of Maricopa, the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, and ARC 
Vineyards, LLC to purchase the following public lands, respectively, by 
direct sale, under the authority of Section 203 of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 
1713):
    Parcel 1, requested by the City of Maricopa, is described as:

San Bernardino Meridian

T. 11 N., R. 23 W.,
    Sec. 7, lot 3 in the NW1/4.

    The area described contains 15.81 acres in Kern County.

    Parcel 2, requested by the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation 
District, is described as:

Mount Diablo Meridian

T. 17 S., R. 28 E,
    Sec. 4, lots 3 and 4.

    The area described contains 61.28 acres in Tulare County.

    Parcel 3, requested by ARC Vineyards, LLC, is described as:

San Bernardino Meridian

T. 9 N., R. 33 W.,
    Sec. 20, lot 1.

    The area described contains 5.93 acres in Santa Barbara County.

    Parcels one and two are located in the Valley Management Area and 
the South Sierra Management Area, respectively, of the Caliente RMP. 
The Caliente RMP identifies parcels one and two for land tenure 
adjustment through land exchanges to consolidate natural resource 
values. Under the Caliente RMP, public lands identified for land tenure 
adjustment may also be disposed of by sale, but sales were to be 
considered infrequently and limited to those small parcels where the 
value would not warrant inclusion of the parcel in a land exchange 
process. Parcel three is located in the Coast Management Area of the 
Caliente RMP, but does not appear on the RMP maps as public land due to 
an error in mapping. The Caliente RMP provides that newly recognized 
public lands would be managed consistent with adjacent public lands, if 
any, and may be suitable for land tenure adjustment. All public lands 
in the Coast Management Area were identified as possibly being suitable 
for management by other agencies (e.g., for conservation purposes) or 
land tenure adjustment in the Caliente RMP. This plan amendment will be 
limited to an analysis of whether the public lands described above meet 
the Section 203 sales criteria of FLPMA. The proposed amendment would 
allow for the sale of the lands described above, regardless of their 
potential value in any land exchange to consolidate natural resource 
values. This notice initiates the public scoping process to identify 
specific issues related to the proposed amendment and associated 
environmental analysis. The BLM anticipates that the EA will consider 
both a plan amendment and the subsequent sale of the land and has 
identified the following preliminary issues of concern: Mineral 
resources, special status species, and cultural resources. The BLM 
anticipates that the EA will include input from the disciplines of 
geology, biology and archaeology as a minimum.
    The planning process begins with the publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register. The BLM will follow its planning regulations (43 
CFR 1600) in processing this plan amendment.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised 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 from public review your personal indentifying 
information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2(c).

Thomas Pogacnik,
Deputy State Director, Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 2011-23481 Filed 9-13-11; 8:45 am]
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