[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58740-58741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23823]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNM004400. L16100000.DO0000.LXSSG0690000 19XL1109AF]


Notice of Availability of the Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas Final 
Joint Environmental Impact Statement, Bureau of Land Management 
Proposed Resource Management Plan and Bureau of Indian Affairs Proposed 
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 Final Joint Environmental Impact 
Statement (FJEIS) for the BLM Proposed Resource Management Plan (P-
RMP), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Proposed Integrated Resource 
Management Plan (P-IRMP) for the BLM Oklahoma Field Office, the BIA 
Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, and the BIA Southern Plains Regional 
Office, and by this Notice is announcing the opening of the protest 
period.

DATES: Pursuant to the BLM planning regulations at 43 CFR 1610.5-2, any 
person who participated in the land use planning process associated 
with the development of these proposed land use plans and has an 
interest that could be adversely impacted by these management decisions 
can protest the management decisions within 30 days of the date the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of 
Availability of the Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-
IRMP.

ADDRESSES: The Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-IRMP 
is available online in the Documents and Reports section of the BLM e-
Planning project website at: https://go.usa.gov/xVPk3.
    Protests must be made 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 e-Planning website listed above. To submit an electronic protest, 
go to the project website and select the ``Documents & Reports'' link 
at the left, then select ``Submit Protest'' next to the Final Joint 
Environmental Impact Statement (FJEIS). Upon selection of the ``Submit 
Protest'' button, a new window will open that will guide you through 
the submission process. Printed ``hard copy'' protest submissions must 
be mailed to one of the following addresses, and postmarked by the end 
of the protest period. Via mail: Director (210), Attn: Protest 
Coordinator, P.O. Box 71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383; Via Overnight 
Delivery: Director (210), Attn: Protest Coordinator, 20 M Street SE, 
Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.
    Copies of the Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-
IRMP are available upon request from:
     The Bureau of Land Management, Oklahoma Field Office, 
Attn.: Patrick Rich, RMP Team Lead, 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, 
Norman, OK 73072.
     BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, Attn.: Mosby 
Halterman, P.O. Box 8002, Muskogee, Oklahoma 74402-8002.
     BIA Southern Plains Regional Office, Attn.: David 
Anderson, P.O. Box 368, Anadarko, Oklahoma 73005-0368.
     The Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, 
301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87508.
     Copies of the Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/
BIA P-IRMP are also available for public inspection at the BLM New 
Mexico State Office, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508 and 
at the BLM Oklahoma Field Office, 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, 
Norman, OK 73072.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Rich, RMP Team Lead, telephone 
(405) 579-7154; address 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 1200, Norman, OK 
73072; 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 the above individual during 
normal business hours. The FIRS 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 Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM 
P-RMP/BIA P-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 surface estate, including approximately 11,833 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. 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 269,650,000-acre planning area, to include 
approximately 4,012,400 acres underlying surface estate managed by 
other Federal surface management agencies, such as U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service, and 
approximately 785,300 acres of split-estate, where Federal minerals 
underlie private surface estate.
    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 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 for development of the land use plan, 
while the BIA Regional Offices are co-lead planning partners on this 
joint, integrated land use planning effort. The Oklahoma, Kansas, and 
Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-IRMP provides a comprehensive, integrated 
land use plan that will replace the BLM's current 1994 Oklahoma RMP, as 
amended; the 1991 Kansas RMP; and the 1996 Texas RMP, as amended. Land 
use plan revision and consolidation is necessary due to numerous 
changes, including renewable

[[Page 58741]]

energy, recreation, special status species, visual resources, and 
wildlife habitat which have occurred across the Oklahoma, Kansas, and 
Texas planning area since previous plan publications. New resource data 
are available for consideration, and new policies, guidelines, and laws 
have been established.
    The four alternatives analyzed in the Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas 
FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-IRMP are as follows:
     Alternative A (No Action Plan) is a continuation of 
existing land use management actions under the current Kansas, 
Oklahoma, and Texas RMPs and associated amendments;
     Alternative B (Proposed Alternative) represents a mix of 
resource use and resource value conservation stewardship principles and 
management decisions that address current and reasonably foreseeable 
future land use management issues, including provisions for energy 
development, recreational opportunities, and conservation of natural 
resources;
     Alternative C (Environmental Focused Plan) represents a 
land use management strategy intended primarily to preserve and protect 
ecosystem health and resource values across the planning area; and
     Alternative D (Resource Use Focused Plan) represents a 
land use management strategy intended primarily to develop resources 
and promote economic development across the decision area, such as 
livestock grazing, energy and mineral development, and recreation.
    This land use planning effort 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 and soliciting 
public participation. 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 this 
external scoping period, the public provided the BLM Oklahoma Field 
Office with input on relevant issues to consider during the land use 
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 three action 
alternatives for consideration and analysis in the Draft Oklahoma, 
Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-IRMP.
    The public comment period for the Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas 
FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-IRMP was initiated on November 19, 2018, through 
a Federal Register Notice of Availability (83 FR 58283), notifying the 
public of the release of the draft land use plan for an extended 125-
day public comment period, which occurred from November 19, 2018, until 
March 24, 2019, and solicitation of public comments. Seventy-two 
cooperating agencies expressed interest in collaborating with the BLM 
and BIA during the NEPA process and signed a formal cooperating agency 
agreements.
    The BLM and BIA held six public meetings between February 2019 and 
March 2019, throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, with stakeholders, 
interest groups, and the public. Public meetings were hosted to solicit 
public input on the Draft Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/
BIA P-IRMP as follows: Wichita, KS, on February 26, 2019; Muskogee, OK, 
on February 27, 2019; Norman, OK, on February 28, 2019; Amarillo, TX, 
on March 4, 2019; Fort Worth, TX, on March 5, 2019; and Corpus Christi, 
TX, on March 8, 2019. In total, 110 attendees participated in the six 
public meetings and offered oral and written comments to the BLM and 
BIA. Following the closing of the 125-day public comment period, the 
BLM and BIA held an internal 5-day conference at the BLM Oklahoma Field 
Office where an interdisciplinary team of resource management experts 
reviewed the 150 substantive comment submissions for potential revision 
of the Draft Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA P-IRMP in 
preparation for release of the OKT Final Joint EIS, BLM P-RMP and BIA 
P-IRMP. All comments on the Draft EIS/RMP were given careful 
consideration, with necessary revisions incorporated into the FJEIS and 
plans, as appropriate. Public comments and BLM responses are available 
in Appendix O of the Final EIS.
    At the close of the 30-day protest period, the BLM and BIA will 
resolve protests on the Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas FJEIS/BLM P-RMP/BIA 
P-IRMP in preparation for the Approved BLM RMP, Approved BIA IRMP, 
three Records of Decision (ROD) to include one ROD for the BLM Oklahoma 
Field Office; one ROD for the BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office; and 
one ROD for the BIA Southern Plains Regional Office.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your protest, you should 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.

Timothy R. Spisak,
BLM New Mexico State Director.
Eddie Streater,
BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Director.
Jim Schock,
BIA Southern Plains Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-23823 Filed 10-31-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-FB-P