[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 96 (Friday, May 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22516-22517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10288]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[L16100000 DS0000 LXSS036E0000 19X LLMTC020000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Amendment to the Approved 
Resource Management Plan for the Miles City Field Office, Montana, and 
the Associated Supplemental Draft 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, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Montana Miles 
City Field Office has prepared a Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for the 2015 Miles City Field Office Approved 
Resource Management Plan (RMP). This effort is in response to a United 
States District Court of Montana opinion and order (Western 
Organization of Resource Councils, et al. v. BLM). By this notice, the 
BLM is announcing the opening of the comment period.

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

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Supplemental Draft 
EIS by any of the following methods:
     Website: https://go.usa.gov/xmbE4.
     Mail: Miles City Field Office; Irma Nansel; 111 Garryowen 
Road, Miles City, MT 59301.
    Copies of the Supplemental Draft EIS are available at the Miles 
City Field Office at the above address, or may be viewed at: https://go.usa.gov/xmbE4.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irma Nansel, RMP Supplemental EIS 
Project Manager, Miles City Field Office, at (406) 233-3653, or at the 
above mailing address or website. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 to contact Ms. Nansel during normal business hours. The 
FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or 
question. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 2015 Miles City Approved RMP provides a 
single, comprehensive land use plan that guides management of BLM-
administered lands and minerals in the Miles City Field Office, which 
consists of approximately 2.7 million acres of BLM surface land and 
10.6 million acres of BLM mineral estate across 17 counties in eastern 
Montana.
    Based on the above-referenced court decision, feedback from 
cooperating agencies and stakeholders, and public scoping, the BLM 
developed and analyzed a No Action Alternative and two Action 
Alternatives, which are detailed in the Supplemental Draft EIS.
    The No Action Alternative represents the decision area from the 
2015 RMP and brings forward all management decisions that precluded 
coal development in the 2015 RMP. It relies on the decisions from the 
1985 Power River RMP and 1996 Big Dry RMP coal screening process. The 
No Action Alternative includes a total area of approximately 1,581,240 
acres available for further consideration for leasing of BLM-
administered coal.
    The Action alternatives applied the coal screens (43 CFR 3420.1-
4(e)) using current data and evaluate the issues identified through 
internal and public scoping. The Action alternatives also address the 
NEPA deficiencies identified by the court order associated with the 
application of the multiple-use screen. Alternative B considers the 
development of air resources as a multiple-use screen in accordance 
with

[[Page 22517]]

the Clean Air Act. Alternative C applies an air resource multiple-use 
screen that encompasses greenhouse-gas emission criteria limited to 
coal development tied to existing mining areas. Based on these factors, 
Alternative B area contains approximately 990,815 acres available for 
further consideration for leasing of BLM-administered coal; and 
Alternative C area contains approximately 144,877 acres available for 
further consideration for leasing of BLM-administered coal.
    The BLM revised the reasonable-foreseeable development scenario 
used in the 2015 Miles City RMP using current coal production from 
existing mines to forecast development over the 20-year planning 
period. The revised scenario was applied to all alternatives.
    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, the BLM cannot guarantee that it will 
be able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR 1610.2.

Donato J. Judice,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-10288 Filed 5-16-19; 8:45 am]
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