[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 223 (Monday, November 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58283-58285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25130]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Indian Affairs

[LLNM004400. L16100000.DO0000. LXSSG0690000 18XL1109AF]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas 
Joint Environmental Impact Statement/Bureau of Land Management Resource 
Management Plan and Bureau of Indian Affairs Integrated Resource 
Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; and Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of 
Indian Affairs (BIA) have prepared a Draft Joint Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS)/BLM Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and BIA 
Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) for the BLM Oklahoma Field 
Office, BIA Southern Plains Region, and BIA Eastern Oklahoma Region, 
and by this Notice is announcing the opening of the public comment 
period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM and BIA must 
receive written comments on the Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP 
within 90-days of the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its Notice of Availability for the Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP 
and BIA IRMP in the Federal Register. The BLM and BIA will announce 
future public meetings, hearings, or other public participation 
activities at least 15 days in advance, through public notices, media 
releases, and/or direct mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Draft Joint EIS/BLM 
RMP and BIA IRMP through either of the following methods:
     Project Website: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-in-development/new-mexico/oklahoma-rmp.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 405-579-7101, Attn.: Mr. Patrick Rich, RMP Team Lead.
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Oklahoma Field Office, 
Attn.: Patrick Rich, RMP Team Lead, 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, 
Norman, Oklahoma 73072.
     Mail: BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, Attn.: RMP 
Comments, P.O. Box 8002, Muskogee, Oklahoma 74402-4600.
     Mail: BIA Southern plains Regional Office, Attn.: RMP 
Comments, P.O. Box 368, Anadarko, Oklahoma 73005-0368.

    Copies of the Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP are available 
from the BLM and the BIA at the following locations:

 BLM Oklahoma Field Office, 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, 
Norman, Oklahoma 73072
 BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, 3100 Peak Blvd., 
Muskogee, Oklahoma 74401
 BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, 100 Riverside Drive, 
Anadarko, Oklahoma 73005
 BLM New Mexico State Office, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New 
Mexico 87508

    The Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP background documents are 
available on the ePlanning website at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-in-development/new-mexico/oklahoma-rmp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Rich, RMP Team Lead; 
telephone: 405-579-7154; address: 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, 
Norman, Oklahoma 73072; or email: [email protected]. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay 
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during 
normal business hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a 
week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP, 
the BLM and BIA analyze the environmental consequences of four 
alternatives under consideration for managing Federal lands and 
minerals within the Oklahoma-Kansas-Texas planning area. The BLM 
Oklahoma Field Office administers approximately 15,100 acres of public 
lands, including approximately 11,800 acres at the Cross Bar Management 
Area near Amarillo, Texas; about 3,300 acres of small tracts scattered 
across the planning area; and Federal lands along the 116-mile stretch 
of the Red River between the North Fork of the Red River and the 98th 
Meridian (Red River area). No exact acreages of Federal lands along the 
Red River are available at this time, because the full 116-mile stretch 
of land has not been surveyed. The Oklahoma Field Office also 
administers approximately 4,810,900 acres of subsurface Federal mineral 
estate across the planning area, including approximately 3,991,100 
acres underlying surface estate managed by other Federal agencies, such 
as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and National 
Park Service, and approximately 408,000 acres of split-estate, where 
Federal minerals underlie private surface estate. The RMP only pertains 
to Federal lands and has no effect on the boundary of the Federal 
lands.
    The BIA decision area includes approximately 394,200 surface acres 
and 2,033,500 mineral estate acres for the BIA Eastern Oklahoma 
Regional Office. Approximately 1,474,500 acres of the BIA Eastern 
Oklahoma Regional Office jurisdictional area is limited to

[[Page 58284]]

coal or other minerals in Osage County. The BIA decision area also 
includes approximately 457,500 surface acres and 632,000 mineral estate 
acres for the BIA Southern Plains Regional Office. This includes lands 
and mineral estate in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Richardson County, 
Nebraska.
    The BLM is the lead agency in developing the land use plan, while 
the BIA is a co-lead partner in this joint, integrated planning effort. 
The Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP provides a land use plan that 
will replace the BLM's current 1994 Oklahoma RMP, the 1991 Kansas RMP, 
and the 1996 Texas RMP, as amended. RMP revision and consolidation is 
necessary due to the numerous changes, including renewable energy, 
recreation, special status species, visual resources, and wildlife 
habitat that have occurred across the BLM Oklahoma Field Office 
planning area since publication. New resource data are available for 
consideration, and new policies, guidelines, and laws have been 
established.
    Land use planning and NEPA regulations require the BLM and BIA to 
formulate a reasonable range of alternatives to consider different 
management scenarios and different means of addressing resource or 
resource-use conflicts. Established planning criteria, as outlined in 
43 CFR part 1610, guide the alternatives-development process. This 
pursuit provides the BLM, BIA, and the public with an understanding of 
the various ways in which challenges associated with resources and 
resource uses might be resolved. This draft land use plan offers the 
BLM State Director for New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas; the BIA 
Eastern Oklahoma Regional Director; and the BIA Southern Plains 
Regional Director a reasonable range of alternatives from which to make 
informed decisions. The four alternatives analyzed in the Draft Joint 
EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP are generally described as follows:
     Alternative A (No Action) is a continuation of existing 
land use management actions under the current Kansas, Oklahoma, and 
Texas RMPs and associated amendments;
     Alternative B (Agency Preferred) represents a balanced mix 
of land use management actions intended to address current and future 
land use management issues, including provisions for energy 
development, recreational opportunities, and conservation of natural 
resources;
     Alternative C represents land use management strategies 
intended primarily to preserve and protect ecosystem health and 
resource values across the planning area; and
     Alternative D represents land use management strategies 
intended primarily to develop resources and promote economic 
development across the decision area, such as livestock grazing, energy 
and mineral development, and recreation.
    The BLM is considering areas of critical environmental concern 
(ACEC) during this planning process, and has proposed one ACEC in the 
Draft RMP to protect certain resource values. Pertinent information 
regarding this ACEC, including proposed designation acreage, resource-
use limitations, if designated, and the alternatives affected are 
summarized below.
    Cross Bar Management Area ACEC: Alternative C proposes a 10,500-
acre ACEC for the Cross Bar Management Area. This ACEC would be managed 
to protect important biological, cultural, scenic, and historic 
resources that meet the criteria for relevance and importance. The 
resource use limitations which would occur if this ACEC is formally 
designated are as follows:
     Closed to off-highway vehicle use and mechanized travel, 
except for the main access road and administrative use;
     Non-mechanized trail use limited to designated trails;
     No surface occupancy stipulation for fluid minerals 
development;
     Closed to mineral material disposal and non-energy 
leasable mineral development;
     Managed as a right-of-way exclusion zone;
     Visual resources would be managed as visual resource 
management class II and III (camping areas);
     Vegetation management would emphasize high-priority 
habitats identified in state wildlife action plans;
     Maintain cover for wildlife and migratory birds;
     Reduce impacts on paleontological resources from ground 
disturbance and access; and
     Available for livestock grazing.
    The land use planning process was initiated on July 26, 2013, 
through a Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register (78 FR 
45266), notifying the public of a formal scoping period.
    Seventy-two cooperating agencies expressed interest in 
collaborating with the BLM and BIA during the NEPA process, and the 
following agencies signed a formal cooperating agency agreement:

1. Adair County Commissioners, OK
2. Barton County Commissioners, KS
3. Bureau of Reclamation Nebraska-Kansas Area Office
4. Brazos River Authority
5. Caddo County Commissioners, OK
6. Choctaw County Commissioners, OK
7. Citizen Potawatomi Nation
8. Clay County, TX
9. Cleveland County Commissioners, OK
10. Coal County Commissioners, OK
11. Cotton County Commissioners, OK
12. Creek County Commissioners, OK
13. Denton County Commissioners, TX
14. Douglas County Commissioners, KS
15. Hamilton County Commissioners, KS
16. Hughes County Commissioners, KS
17. Kansas Corporation Commission
18. Kansas Water Office
19. Latimer County Commissioners, OK
20. Lincoln County Commissioners, OK
21. Love County Commissioners, OK
22. Marion County Commissioners, TX
23. Montague County Commissioners, TX
24. Moore County Commissioners, TX
25. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
26. Scurry County Commissioners, TX
27. Wichita County, TX
28. Kansas Corporation Commission
29. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2
30. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma by and through the 
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
31. Young County Commissioners, TX
32. Sequoyah County Commissioners, OK
33. Sumner County Commissioners, KS
34. Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma
35. Red River Authority of Texas
36. Muscogee (Creek) Nation
37. Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
38. Texas General Land Office
39. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Mid-Continent 
Region
40. Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
41. Oklahoma Department of Mines
42. Okfuskee County Commissioners, OK
43. Oklahoma Geologic Survey
44. Osage Nation
45. Payne County Commissioners, OK
46. Pontotoc County Commissioners, OK
47. Pushmataha County Commissioners, OK
48. Tulsa County Commissioners, OK
49. Collin County Commissioners Court
50. Natural Resources Conservation Service Meade Service Center
51. LeFlore County Commissioners, OK
52. United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 6

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53. Wilbarger County, TX
54. Murray County Commissioner, District 2
55. National Forest and Grasslands of Texas
56. Johnson County, KS
57. Texas Railroad Commission
58. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth
59. Cooke County Commissioners, TX
60. Cherokee Nation
61. Cherokee County Commissioners, KS
62. Jackson County Commissioners, KS
63. McConnell Air Force Base
64. Altus Air Force Base
65. Vance Air Force Base
66. The Kansas Natural Resource Coalition
67. Tinker Air Force Base
68. Dyess Air Force Base
69. Goodfellow Air Force Base
70. Joint Base San Antonio, TX
71. Laughlin Air Force Base
72. Sheppard Air Force Base

    The BLM and BIA held 17 scoping meetings between November 2013 and 
January 2014, throughout Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, with 
stakeholders, interest groups, and the public.
    During the scoping period, the public provided the BLM Oklahoma 
Field Office with input on relevant issues to consider in the planning 
process. Additional information was collected during three additional 
workshops, one each in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas with the public and 
cooperating agencies. Based on these issues, conflicts, information, 
and the BLM and BIA goals and objectives for this planning effort, the 
BLM-BIA Interdisciplinary Team formulated action alternatives for 
consideration and analysis in the Draft Joint EIS/BLM RMP and BIA IRMP. 
Following the close of the public comment period, the BLM and BIA will 
use any substantive public comments to revise the Draft Joint EIS/BLM 
RMP and BIA IRMP in preparation for its release to the public as the 
Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (Proposed RMP/Final EIS). The BLM and BIA will respond to 
each substantive comment received during the public review and comment 
period by making appropriate revisions to the document, or by 
explaining why the comment did not warrant a change. Notice of the 
Availability of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS will be published in the 
Federal Register.
    Please note that public comments and other submitted information, 
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons 
submitting comments will be available for public review and disclosure 
by using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice during regular business hours 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday through 
Friday, except holidays. To be included in the analysis, all comments 
must be received before the close of the 90-day public comment period 
or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is later.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, and/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 
request in your comment that we withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2.

Aden L. Seidlitz,
Acting BLM New Mexico State Director.
Eddie Streater,
BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Director.
James Schock,
BIA Southern Plains Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-25130 Filed 11-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-FB-P