[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 236 (Monday, December 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63529-63531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26702]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWO200000.18X L11100000.PH0000.LXSCPL000000]
Notice of Availability of the Idaho Proposed Resource Management
Plan Amendment 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 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared the Idaho Proposed Resource
[[Page 63530]]
Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation for the Idaho
Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Region. By this notice, the BLM is announcing
its availability and the opening of a protest period concerning the
Proposed RMP Amendment.
DATES: The BLM's planning regulations state that any person who meets
the conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM's
Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS. A person who meets the conditions
outlined in 43 CFR 1610.5-2 and wishes to file a protest must do so
within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency
publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. A protest
regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment announced with this notice must be
filed by January 9, 2019.
ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS is available on the
BLM ePlanning project website at https://go.usa.gov/xPc3a. Click the
Documents and Report link on the left side of the screen to find the
electronic version of these materials. Hard copies of the Proposed RMP
Amendment and Final EIS are available for public inspection at the
Boise, Idaho Falls, and Twin Falls District Offices.
All protests must be in writing (43 CFR 1610.5-2(a)(1)) and filed
with the BLM Director, either as a hard copy or electronically via the
BLM's ePlanning project website listed previously. To submit a protest
electronically, go to the ePlanning project website and follow the
protest instructions highlighted at the top of the home page.
If submitting a protest in hard copy, it must be mailed to one of
the following addresses:
U.S. Postal Service Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Protest
Coordinator, WO-210, P.O Box 71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383
Overnight Delivery: BLM Director (210), Attention: Protest
Coordinator, WO-210, 20 M Street SE, Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Beck, Greater Sage-Grouse
Implementation Coordinator, telephone, (208) 373-3841; address, 1387
South Vinnell Way, Boise Idaho 83709; email, [email protected]. Persons
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS) at (800) 877-8339 to contact Mr. Beck. The
FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or
question with Mr. Beck. You will receive a reply during normal business
hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM prepared the Idaho Greater
SageGrouse Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS to enhance cooperation
with the States by improving alignment with state management plans and
strategies for Greater Sage-Grouse, while continuing to conserve,
enhance, and restore Greater Sage-Grouse and its habitat. The Proposed
RMP Amendment and Final EIS also addresses the issues remanded to the
agency by a March 31, 2017 Order by the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada, which determined that the BLM had violated
the NEPA when it finalized the 2015 Nevada plan.
The BLM developed the proposed land use plan amendment in
collaboration with Idaho Governor Butch Otter, state wildlife managers,
and other concerned organizations and individuals, largely through the
Western Governors Association's Sage-Grouse Task Force. Using its
discretion and authority under the FLPMA, the BLM proposes amending
land use plans that address Greater Sage-Grouse management to improve
alignment with State of Idaho plans and management strategies, in
accordance with the BLM's multiple use and sustained yield mission.
This Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS is one of six separate
planning efforts that are being undertaken in response to the
Secretary's Order (SO) 3353 (Greater Sage-grouse Conservation and
Cooperation with Western States) and in accordance with SO 3349
(American Energy Independence). The proposed plans refine the previous
management plan adopted in 2015 and aims to strike a regulatory balance
and build greater trust among neighboring interests in Western
communities. The Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS proposes to amend
the resource management plans for field offices on BLM-administered
lands within Idaho. The current management decisions for resources are
described in the following RMPs:
Bennett Hills/Timmerman Hills Management Framework Plan
(MFP) (BLM 1980)
Big Desert MFP (BLM 1981)
Big Lost MFP (BLM 1983)
Bruneau MFP (BLM 1983)
Cascade RMP (BLM 1988)
Cassia RMP (BLM 1985)
Challis RMP (BLM 1999)
Craters of the Moon National Monument RMP (BLM 2006)
Jarbidge RMP (BLM 1988)
Jarbidge RMP (Revised) (BLM 2015)
Kuna MFP (BLM 1983)
Lemhi RMP (BLM 1987)
Little Lost-Birch Creek MFP (BLM 1981)
Magic MFP (BLM 1975)
Medicine Lodge MFP (BLM 1981)
Monument RMP (BLM 1985)
Owyhee RMP (BLM 1999)
Pocatello RMP (BLM 2012)
Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area RMP
(BLM 2008)
Sun Valley MFP (BLM 1981)
Twin Falls MFP (BLM 1982)
The Idaho planning area includes approximately 39.5 million acres
of BLM, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation, State, local, and private lands in 28 counties: Ada,
Adams, Bear Lake, Bingham, Blaine, Bonneville, Butte, Camas, Caribou,
Cassia, Clark, Custer, Elmore, Fremont, Gem, Gooding, Jefferson,
Jerome, Lemhi, Lincoln, Madison, Minidoka, Oneida, Owyhee, Payette,
Power, Twin Falls, and Washington. Within the planning area, the BLM
administers 11,470,301 acres of public land, providing 8,809,326 acres
of Greater Sage-Grouse habitat. Surface management decisions resulting
from this Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS will apply only to BLM-
administered lands in the planning area.
The formal public scoping process for the RMP Amendment/EIS began
on October 11, 2017, with publication of a Notice of Intent in the
Federal Register (82 FR 47248). The scoping period ended on December 1,
2017. The BLM in Idaho held three public scoping meetings:
--Twin Falls, Idaho; November 2, 2017
--Idaho Falls, Idaho; November 6, 2017
--Marsing, Idaho; November 7, 2017
The Notice of Availability for the Draft EIS published in the
Federal Register (83 FR 19801) on May 4, 2018, and the BLM accepted
public comments on the range of alternatives, effects analysis and
draft RMP amendments for 90 days, ending on August 2, 2018. During the
public comment period, the BLM held three additional public meetings:
--Marsing, Idaho; June 21, 2018
--Twin Falls, Idaho; June 26, 2018
--Idaho Falls, Idaho; June 28, 2018
The Idaho Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS focused on the issues of
the designation of sagebrush focal areas, mitigation standards, lek
buffers, disturbance and density caps, and adjustments to habitat
boundaries to reflect new information. The Draft RMP Amendment/Draft
EIS evaluated two alternatives in detail: The No Action Alternative
(Alternative A) and an action alternative (Management Alignment
Alternative). Comments on the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS received
from the public and internal
[[Page 63531]]
BLM review were considered and incorporated as appropriate into the
proposed plan amendment. Alternative A would retain the current
management goals, objectives, and direction specified in the current
RMPs, as amended, for each field office. The BLM identified the
Management Alignment Alternative as the Preferred Alternative.
Identification of this alternative, however, does not represent final
agency direction. Instructions for filing a protest with the Director
of the BLM regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS may be
found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All
protests must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as
set forth in the ADDRESSES section above or submitted electronically
through the BLM ePlanning project website as described above. Protests
submitted electronically by any means other than the ePlanning project
website protest section will be invalid unless a protest is also
submitted in hard copy. Protests submitted by fax will also be invalid
unless also submitted either through ePlanning project website protest
section or in hard copy.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your protest, please 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 comment to 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, 43 CFR
1610.5
Peter J. Ditton,
Acting BLM Idaho State Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-26702 Filed 12-7-18; 8:45 am]
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