[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33697-33701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11888]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[LLWO210000.L1610000]
National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures for the
Bureau of Land Management (516 DM 11)
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces the Department of the Interior's
(Department) proposal to revise the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) implementing procedures for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
at Chapter 11 of Part 516 of the Departmental Manual (DM) with a
proposed new categorical exclusion (CX) for authorization of the
salvage harvest of dead or dying trees.
DATES: Comments must be postmarked (for mailed comments), delivered
(for personal or messenger delivery comments), or filed (for electronic
comments) no later than July 2, 2020.
[[Page 33698]]
ADDRESSES: The public can review the proposed changes to the DM and the
new proposed CX Verification Report online at: https://tinyurl.com/w8t4jx2. Comments can be submitted using:
--BLM National NEPA Register: https://go.usa.gov/xvPfT. Follow the
instruction at this website.
--Mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,
Attention: WO-210-SLVGCX, 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, CO 80215.
--Personal or messenger delivery: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Attention: W0-210-SLVGCX, 2850 Youngfield
Street, Lakewood, CO 80215.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Bernier, Acting Division
Chief, Decision Support, Planning, and NEPA, at (202) 912-7282, or
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
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:
Background
Compliance with NEPA requires Federal agencies to consider the
potential environmental consequences of their decisions before deciding
whether and how to proceed. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
encourages Federal agencies to use CXs to protect the environment more
efficiently by reducing the resources spent analyzing proposals which
normally do not have potentially significant environmental impacts,
thereby allowing those resources to be focused on proposals that may
have significant environmental impacts. The appropriate use of CXs
allows NEPA compliance to be concluded, in the absence of extraordinary
circumstances that merit further consideration, without preparing
either an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact
statement (EIS) (40 CFR 1500.4(p) and 40 CFR 1508.4).
The Department's revised NEPA procedures were published in the
Federal Register on October 15, 2008 (73 FR 61292), and are codified at
43 CFR part 46. These procedures address policy as well as procedure in
order to assure compliance with the spirit and intent of NEPA.
Additional Department-wide NEPA policy may be found in the DM, in
chapters 1 through 4 of part 516. The procedures for the Department's
bureaus are published as chapters 7 through 15 of this DM part 516.
Chapter 11 of 516 DM covers the BLM's procedures. The BLM's current
procedures can be found at: https://elips.doi.gov/ELIPS/DocView.aspx?id=1721. These procedures address policy as well as
procedure in order to assure compliance with the spirit and intent of
NEPA.
Rationale
Proposed CX number C (10) covers harvest of dead or dying trees
impacted by biotic or abiotic disturbances commonly referred to as
``salvage harvest'' on harvest areas of up to 5,000 acres. Salvage
harvest can help to recover economic value from timber, contribute to
rural economies, accelerate reestablishment of native resilient forest
tree species, and reduce future wildfire fuel loads and hazards to
wildland firefighters, the public, and infrastructure from dead and
dying trees. This CX would allow the BLM more flexibility to quickly
respond to disturbances across larger areas to provide for public and
infrastructure safety, reduce hazardous fuel loads that impact
firefighter and public safety, and contribute to one of the six
principal or major uses of the public lands identified in the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, which recognizes ``the Nation's
need for domestic sources of timber and fiber.'' In addition to
analysis through EAs and EISs, the BLM already relies upon its existing
CX (C.8) that addresses salvage harvest not to exceed 250 acres and
intends to retain that CX; the BLM is proposing this additional CX to
increase its flexibility to respond to disturbances across larger
areas. Based on review of the existing CX C.8 as part of this process,
the BLM does not intend to pursue removal of the 250-acre CX nor revise
that CX to encompass the proposed scope of actions described in this
proposal. The BLM sees a need for both CX categories. The 250-acre CX
provides a more limited scope of actions that are useful, and the BLM
has used the CX about 10 times a year for the last 5 years. The BLM
expects existing CX C.8 would still be used for smaller areas where the
BLM has no need for the additional tools this proposed CX would
provide. Following years of experience in conducting salvage harvest
without significant effects, the BLM has identified that establishing a
CX for the action is necessary to increase the BLM's flexibility to
respond to disturbances across larger areas, while keeping the tailored
focus of the action. The BLM has completed review of scientific
literature and previously analyzed and implemented actions in the
Verification Report on the results of a Bureau of Land Management
analysis of NEPA records and field verification for salvage harvest of
timber (Salvage CX Verification Report), which is incorporated by
reference here and summarized in Justification for Change below, and
has found that the establishment of a CX is appropriate because of the
evidence of no significant effects from salvage harvest at the
parameters proposed. Establishing the new proposed CX would enable the
BLM to ensure a timely process for a timber salvage project prior to a
new fire season and in preparation for the subsequent fire season.
Description of Change
The Department proposes to add one CX to the BLM chapter of the
Departmental Manual 516 DM 11 at Section, C. Forestry. The language of
the proposed new CX citation at 516 DM 11.9 C. (10) Forestry is:
(10) Harvesting dead or dying trees resulting from fire, insects,
disease, drought, or other disturbances not to exceed 1,000 acres for
disturbances of 3,000 acres or less. For disturbances greater than
3,000 acres, harvesting shall not exceed \1/3\ of a disturbance area
but not to exceed 5,000 acres total harvest.
(a) Covered actions:
(i) Cutting, yarding, and removal of dead or dying trees and live
trees needed for landings, skid trails, and road clearing. Includes
chipping/grinding and removal of residual slash.
(ii) Jackpot burning, pile burning, or underburning.
(iii) Seeding or planting necessary to accelerate native species
re-establishment.
(b) Such actions:
(i) May include construction of permanent roads not to exceed 1
mile in order to facilitate the covered actions. Permanent roads are
routes intended to be part of the BLM's permanent transportation
system.
(ii) If a permanent road is constructed to facilitate the covered
actions, the segments shall conform to all applicable land use planning
decisions for permanent road construction in the land use plan; and if
travel management planning has been completed, the route specific
designations related to the new segments shall be disclosed.
(iii) May include temporary roads, which are defined as roads
authorized by contract, permit, lease, other written authorization, or
emergency operation not intended to be part of the BLM's permanent
transportation system and not necessary for long-term resource
management. Temporary roads shall be designed to standards appropriate
for
[[Page 33699]]
the intended uses, considering safety, cost of transportation, and
impacts on land and resources.
(iv) Shall require the treatment of temporary roads constructed or
used so as to permit the reestablishment, by artificial or natural
means, or vegetative cover on the roadway and areas where the
vegetative cover was disturbed by the construction or use of the road,
as necessary to minimize erosion from the disturbed area. Such
treatment shall be designed to reestablish vegetative cover as soon as
practicable, but at least within 10 years after the termination of the
contract.
(v) Shall require inclusion of project design features pertaining
to the land use plan decisions providing for protections of the
following resources and resource uses in the documentation of the CX:
(1) Level of snag and downed wood creation/retention, and retention
level of live trees;
(2) Specifications for erosion control features such as water bars,
dispersed slash;
(3) Criteria for minimizing or remedying soil compaction;
(4) Types and extents of logging system constraints (e.g.,
seasonal, location, extent, etc.);
(5) Extent and purpose of seasonal operating constraints or
restrictions;
(6) Criteria to limit spread of weeds;
(7) Size of riparian buffers and/or riparian zone operating
restrictions;
(8) Operating constraints and restrictions for underburning or pile
burning; and
(9) Revegetation standards for temporary roads.
(c) For this CX, a dying tree is defined as a standing tree that
has been severely damaged by forces such as fire, wind, ice, insects,
or disease, and that in the judgement of an experienced forest
professional or someone technically trained for the work, is likely to
die within a few years. Examples include, but are not limited to:
(i) Harvesting a portion of a stand damaged by a wind or ice event.
(ii) Harvesting fire damaged trees.
The intent of this CX is to improve the efficiency of routine
environmental review processes for the harvest of dead or dying trees
impacted by biotic or abiotic disturbances. Each proposed action must
be reviewed for extraordinary circumstances that would preclude the use
of this CX. The Department's list of extraordinary circumstances under
which a normally excluded action would require further analysis and
documentation in an EA or EIS is found at 43 CFR 46.215. If a timber
salvage project is within the activity described in this CX, then these
``extraordinary circumstances'' will be considered in the context of
the proposed project to determine if they indicate the potential for
effects that merit additional consideration in an EA or EIS. If any of
the extraordinary circumstances indicate such potential, the CX would
not be used, and an EA or EIS would be prepared.
The public is asked to review and comment on the newly proposed CX.
To be considered, any comments on this proposed addition to the list of
CXs in the DM must be received by the date listed in the DATES section
of this notice at the location listed in the ADDRESSES section.
Comments received after that date will be considered only to the extent
practicable. Comments, including names and addresses of respondents,
will be part of the public record and available for public review at
the BLM address shown in the ADDRESSES section, during business hours,
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Before
including your address, telephone 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, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Justification for Change
The BLM proposes CX C (10) after reviewing existing NEPA analysis
and available scientific research on the effects of these types of
routine actions over time and over different geographic areas. The BLM
has documented in detail the justification for establishing this new CX
in the Verification Report, which is incorporated by reference here and
available to review in full at the websites shown in ADDRESSES.
As described in the Verification Report, over the past three
decades, forests in the western United States have experienced
landscape-scale mortality events caused by wildfire, insect infestation
and disease, drought, and other disturbances. From 2000 to 2017, an
average of 6.8 million acres has burned annually in the U.S. (https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html). For BLM-managed
forests, fire has affected an average of 279,630 acres annually from
2009 to 2018. Insect and disease survey data collected in 2015 by the
Forest Health Protection Program of the U.S. Forest Service identified
70 different mortality-causing agents and complexes on 5.2 million
acres in the conterminous United States (Potter and Conkling 2017). The
BLM assembled data from the U.S. Forest Service Aerial Detection Survey
from 2008 to 2017 and found nearly two million acres of forest
mortality were observed over that period on BLM lands.
Responsive to these larger, landscape-scale mortalities, the BLM
has determined a need to be able to harvest dead and dying trees at
larger scales than is currently authorized by the existing CX C.8.
Salvage harvest is essential on portions of BLM-administered lands to
provide for safety, meet legal mandates for land management, and
conform to applicable land use plans. The BLM is pursuing the addition
of this proposed CX to serve as a complement to the existing CX, and to
provide the suite of actions often necessary when conducting salvage
harvest at the scale the proposed CX would allow. This new proposed CX
includes higher acreage limitations, but also includes actions to more
comprehensively manage salvage harvest operations at a larger acreage
scale, including permanent road construction, temporary road
construction, and fuels management of harvested areas through jackpot
burning and underburning. By including these additional actions for the
larger scale of this proposed CX, the BLM would be able to address the
full range of needs, including access and post-harvest fuels
management, associated with salvage harvesting. Permanent roads are
sometimes needed in salvage projects for the reforestation and forest
development activities that occur over the years following the harvest
activity. The effects of a permanent road are the same whether the road
is transporting salvage wood or green wood in a thinning or a
regeneration harvest. Since the salvage EAs reviewed for this analysis
contained only one project describing a permanent road, the BLM looked
at additional timber harvest EAs where permanent roads were included
and resulted in findings of no significant impacts. As summarized
below, and described in more detail in the Verification Report, the BLM
used existing NEPA analysis and peer-reviewed research to determine the
extent of both the actions to include and acreage on which to allow
those actions that would ensure significance would not occur.
The BLM's review of the available literature demonstrates that the
activities proposed for this new CX would not cause significant
environmental effects, whether the
[[Page 33700]]
activities were to be implemented individually or in combination. As
discussed in detail in the Verification Report Methods section, the
research informed the development of this CX by providing evidence to
suggest the need for the CX, both to facilitate the timely
authorization of projects that can realize the long-term benefits that
salvage harvest can provide, as well as to take advantage of the
effectiveness of project design features to minimize adverse impacts.
For example, several studies evaluate post-fire salvage harvest for
soil disturbance, soil compaction, soil movement and soil deposition
into stream systems. James and Krumland (2018) found that salvage
logging with proper practices can reduce erosion when implemented
immediately post fire. Research also demonstrates that soil disturbance
during salvage operations can be minimized through effective project
design. For example, partial harvest and skid trail layout can limit
the extent of soil disturbance. Soil microbes have been shown to have
no significant difference between sites that were post-fire logged and
not logged (Smith et al. 2001).
As discussed in the Methods section of the Verification Report, the
BLM currently implements timber salvage sales supported by EAs, EISs,
and (since 2007) the existing timber salvage CX (C.8), and conducts
post-harvest monitoring on all sales. The BLM has implemented salvage
sales in response to insects and disease, windthrow, drought, and
wildfires through commercial harvest using helicopter, cable yarding,
and ground-based methods. A sampling of associated NEPA documents were
reviewed to determine the scope of environmental consequences
anticipated to result from the proposed actions. In the EAs reviewed,
no significant individual or cumulative impacts were predicted to
result from the kinds of activities included in the proposed CX for
salvage harvest, nor were any unanticipated impacts observed after
treatments were implemented. Actual impacts were the same as predicted
impacts in all cases. There were no instances where any of the projects
evaluated in EAs would have required completion of an EIS had these
measures not been applied as a feature of the proposed action or
alternatives.
The BLM has implemented elements of the salvage actions proposed
for this new CX in the current salvage CX and has not found significant
impacts or instances where the presence of extraordinary circumstances
prevented reliance on the existing salvage CX. In the two circumstances
where the BLM completed EISs for salvage harvest, the specific
combination of actions proposed and the scale of the proposals
warranted analysis through EISs. The scale and scope of the actions
proposed for categorical exclusion here are readily distinguishable
from those evaluated in the EISs.
All proposed actions and alternatives evaluated in the EAs reviewed
included project design features that minimize environmental
consequences. Often, through application of locally appropriate project
design features, environmental effects are minimized to the level of
non-significant, whereby resource issues were eliminated from further
analysis due to application of these elements incorporated into project
design. Development of lists of standard project design features as
required components of this proposed CX would not be appropriate given
the variability in specifications by region and land use planning area.
The BLM identifies actions required to manage BLM-administered lands
for specific purposes through land use planning as appropriate to the
resource conditions and legal framework specific to the planning area
and region. The BLM will often also identify project design features in
the development of environmental analysis documents that are
appropriate to consider when designing actions implementing the land
use plan's direction in land use planning documents. All actions
approved or authorized by the BLM must conform to the existing land use
plan (43 CFR 1610.5-3), including those relying on a CX to comply with
NEPA. To capture the project design features appropriate to working in
a particular region or planning area, this proposed CX requires
specific inclusion of project design features pertaining to the
specific environmental considerations that the applicable land use
plans require for forestry treatments. Reinforcing that activities
covered by the proposed CX must conform to the applicable land use plan
and requiring application of the protections specified by the land use
plan through project design features developed for the areas required
by the CX (section (b)(v) of proposed text) allows the CX to be applied
as appropriate in varying site conditions. The BLM proposes through the
establishment of this CX to require inclusion of project design
features pertaining to the land use planning decisions related to the
resources and activities listed in part (b)(v) of the proposed CX to
both ensure documentation of conformance and that protective measures
required to meet land use planning decisions applicable to the
planning/action area are incorporated into the design of any project
supported by the proposed CX.
While there are long-term benefits of conducting salvage harvest to
reduce fuel loads that result in neutral or no-effect findings, there
are documented instances of adverse, residual environmental
consequences associated with implementation of these actions. However,
as discussed in the Methods section of the Verification Report, these
adverse environmental consequences are not considered individually or
cumulatively significant due to low to moderate intensity of the
treatments, as discussed, and the limited extent of treatment area
relative to the extent and intensity of the disturbed area. The BLM's
post-implementation observations align with the literature reviewed and
summarized in the Methods section of the Verification Report.
As described in the Verification Report, the BLM has experience
analyzing and implementing the harvest of salvage timber in an
environmentally sustainable manner and considers the activities
described in this proposal to be routine and non-significant.
Expediting the immediate removal of dead and dying trees is essential
to maximize economic returns as wood deterioration and value begins to
drop immediately after the disturbance occurs. Establishment of a new
CX covering these actions associated with salvage harvest will
facilitate implementation of other BLM land management priorities and
will contribute economic benefit to communities by providing timber for
the forest product manufacturing sector.
The BLM's experience with implementing and monitoring these types
of projects mirrors the scientific literature; taken together, they
support establishment of this proposed CX, providing the evidence that
this type and scope of action can be categorically excluded from
further detailed analysis. As described in detail in the Verification
Report, establishment of this proposed new CX would not individually or
cumulatively have significant impacts on the human environment, and its
use, like that of other administratively established CXs, would be
subject to extraordinary circumstances review. Salvage harvest on the
scale and scope that would be supported by this proposed CX is a
common, effective tool that BLM uses to meet multiple forest and fuels
management objectives as well as human health and safety and economic
objectives.
[[Page 33701]]
Authorities: NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); E.O. 11514, March 5, 1970, as
amended by E.O. 11991, May 24, 1977; and CEQ regulations (40 CFR
1507.3).
Stephen G. Tryon,
Acting Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2020-11888 Filed 6-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-84-P