[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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