[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10711-10712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04075]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCOS01000.L16100000.DR0000]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Tres 
Rios Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental 
Impact Statement, Colorado

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management 
Plan (RMP) for the Tres Rios Field Office located in Archuleta, 
Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Montezuma, Montrose, San Juan and San 
Miguel counties in southwest Colorado. The document also serves as the 
BLM's decision to adopt the U.S. Forest Service oil and gas leasing 
decisions for Federal mineral estate administered by the San Juan 
National Forest in Archuleta, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, 
Montezuma, Rio Grande and San Juan counties. The Colorado State 
Director signed the ROD on February 27, 2015, which constitutes the 
final decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP effective 
immediately.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD/Approved RMP are available upon request 
from the Field Manager, BLM Tres Rios Field Office, 29211 Highway 184, 
Dolores, CO 81323; or via the internet at http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/sjplc/land_use_planning.html. The ROD/Approved RMP are available for 
public inspection at the Tres Rios Field Office, and the San Juan 
Public Lands

[[Page 10712]]

Center, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Jones, Southwest District NEPA 
Coordinator; telephone 970-240-5381; address 2465 South Townsend 
Avenue, Montrose, CO 81401; email [email protected]. 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, seven days a week, to leave a message or question with the above 
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RMP provides management for 503,589 
acres of BLM land in southwest Colorado. The RMP describes the actions 
to meet desired resource conditions for upland and riparian vegetation; 
fish and wildlife habitat; water resources; air quality; cultural, 
paleontological and visual resources; as well as livestock grazing; 
mineral and alternative energy; and recreation.
    The BLM and the U.S. Forest Service initiated scoping for the RMP 
in 1999. The agencies sought public input via meetings and interviews, 
including an intensive year of facilitated public meetings in 2005, in 
order to develop the Draft Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP)/
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Draft was published for a 90-
day public comment period in December 2007. Based on public comments, 
the agencies identified the need to prepare a Supplement to the Draft 
EIS to consider the Reasonable Foreseeable Development potential of oil 
and gas in the Gothic Shale Gas Play, which was published in August 
2011. The preferred alternative for the Draft LRMP was carried forward 
into the Proposed LRMP/Final EIS, which was published in September 
2013, initiating the protest period and Governor's Consistency Review. 
During the protest period for the Proposed LRMP, the BLM received 14 
valid protest submissions. The BLM granted one protest in part and 
dismissed the remaining protests. The BLM granted in part one protest 
regarding 15 potential Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) 
that BLM determined met both the relevance and importance criteria, but 
were not analyzed in the range of alternatives in the Draft EIS due to 
a procedural error. The BLM will evaluate these areas, as well as the 
two existing ACECs that will continue to be designated as ACECs in the 
Approved RMP, in a future plan amendment. The decisions in the Approved 
RMP will protect these areas from impairment of their identified 
relevant and important values.
    As a result of the Governor's Consistency Review, the BLM modified 
its direction to maintain minimum instream flow levels for the benefit 
of fisheries from a standard to a guideline. The BLM has also made 
minor editorial modifications to the Approved RMP to provide further 
clarification of some of the decisions.
    The ROD also serves as the BLM's decision to adopt the U.S. Forest 
Service oil and gas leasing decision for Federal mineral estate 
administered by the San Juan National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service 
outlined its decision in the San Juan National Forest's September 2013 
Record of Decision, Oil and Gas Leasing Availability. The BLM concurs 
with the selection of Alternative B as described in the U.S. Forest 
Service Record of Decision. In the Approved RMP, the BLM also 
designates routes for mechanized travel in the Phil's World and Mud 
Springs portion of the planning area that were analyzed in the 2008 
Cortez-Mancos Travel Management Plan Environmental Assessment (CO-800-
2006-090-EA). These route designations are implementation decisions and 
are appealable under 43 CFR part 4. These decisions are contained in 
Section 2.13 of the Approved RMP. Any party adversely affected by the 
proposed route designations may appeal within 30 days of publication of 
this Notice of Availability pursuant to 43 CFR part 4, subpart E. The 
appeal should state the specific route(s), as identified in Appendix A 
of the Approved RMP, for which the decision is being appealed. The 
appeal must be filed with the Tres Rios Field Manager at the above 
listed address. Please consult the appropriate regulations (43 CFR part 
4, subpart E) for further appeal requirements.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Ruth Welch,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-04075 Filed 2-26-15; 8:45 am]
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