[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75030-75031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25958]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLAK930000.L16100000.LXSSL0290000.PN0000.20X]


Notice of Intent To Amend the 2007 East Alaska Resource 
Management Plan and Prepare the Associated Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), as amended; the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (FLPMA), as amended; the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA), as amended; and the John D. Dingell, 
Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 (Dingell Act), 
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Glennallen Field Office, 
Glennallen, Alaska, intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) 
for a proposed Amendment to the 2007 East Alaska Resource Management 
Plan (RMP) to analyze which lands could be made available for one or 
more land exchanges, as directed in the Dingell Act.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the EA and 
proposed RMP amendment. Comments on relevant issues may be submitted in 
writing by December 24, 2020. The BLM will conduct virtual public 
scoping meetings, and the date(s) and location(s) of scoping meetings 
will be announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, 
newspapers, and the BLM Alaska website at: www.blm.gov/alaska and 
through BLM Alaska social media channels.
    If required, ANILCA subsistence hearings will be held concurrently 
with the Draft RMP Amendment/EA public involvement meetings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues related to the proposed 
project by any of the following methods:

 ePlanning Website: [TBD]
 Mail: East Alaska RMP Amendment/EA, 222 W 7th Ave., Stop 13, 
Anchorage, Alaska 99513

Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM Alaska 
Public Room, Glennallen Field Office, Mile Post 186.5 Glenn Highway, 
Glennallen, Alaska 99588; and at the BLM Alaska Public Information 
Center, Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 
99513.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina McMaster-Goering, Project Lead; 
907-271-1310, [email protected]. Please contact the project lead 
to be added to the mailing list and receive further information about 
this project. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to 
contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FRS is 
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to leave a message or 
question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during 
normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The State and Federal governments acquired 
surface estate and/or conservation easements to nearly 250,000 acres of 
lands for which Chugach Alaska Corporation owns the subsurface or 
mineral estate. These acquisitions occurred under the Exxon Valdez Oil 
Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC) Habitat Protection and Land Acquisition 
Program. Pursuant to Sec. 1113 of the Dingell Act, the BLM is to 
identify ``accessible and economically viable Federal land'' within the 
Chugach Region that can be offered in exchange for those lands acquired 
through the

[[Page 75031]]

EVOSTC Habitat Acquisition Program. Lands being considered are near 
Thompson Pass in the vicinity of Valdez, Alaska, and are not identified 
as available for exchange under the current East Alaska RMP. The 
proposed amendment to the RMP would analyze making additional lands 
near Thompson Pass available for potential exchanges in accordance with 
the Dingell Act. At present, the BLM has identified the following 
preliminary issues for evaluation in the RMP Amendment/EA: Recreational 
activities, social and economic impacts, rural and traditional 
lifestyles, subsistence use and access, public access, wildlife and 
biological resources, special status species, fish and aquatic species, 
water, wilderness characteristics, cultural resources and reasonably 
foreseeable future activities.
    The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA scoping process to 
help fulfill the public involvement process under the National Historic 
Preservation Act (NHPA), as amended, and as provided in 36 CFR 
800.2(d)(3). The information about historic and cultural resources 
within the area potentially affected by the proposed action will assist 
the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources.
    The BLM will offer consultation to potentially affected Federally 
recognized tribes on a government-to-government basis, and with 
affected Alaska Native corporations, in accordance with Executive Order 
13175 and other policies. Native concerns, including impacts on Indian 
trust assets and potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given 
appropriate consideration. Federal, State, and local agencies, along 
with tribes and other stakeholders that may be interested in or 
affected by the proposed RMP Amendment/EA, are invited to participate 
in the scoping process and, if eligible, may request or be asked by the 
BLM to participate in the development of the RMP Amendment/EA as 
cooperating agencies.
    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, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2.

Chad B. Padgett,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-25958 Filed 11-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P