[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 9 (Thursday, January 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3179-3180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00661]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[212.LLWO230000. L11700000.PH0000.LXSGPL000000]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for Greater 
Sage-Grouse Management, Colorado

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the management of Greater Sage-
Grouse habitat in Colorado. The BLM has determined that its decade-long 
planning and NEPA processes have sufficiently addressed Greater Sage-
Grouse habitat conservation and no new land use planning process to 
consider additional alternatives or new information is warranted. This 
determination is not a new planning decision. Instead, it is a 
determination not to amend the applicable land use plans. Thus, it is 
not subject to appeal or protest. The BLM's decision remains as 
identified in the 2019 Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment for 
Greater Sage-Grouse conservation in Colorado.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available for public inspection at the 
Colorado Bureau of Land Management State Office at 2850 Youngfield 
Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215. Interested persons may also review 
the ROD on the internet at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/105596/510.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leah Waldner, Colorado Sage-Grouse 
Coordinator, at 970-244-3045; Colorado Grand Junction Field Office, 
2815 H Rd., Grand Junction, CO 81506; [email protected]. 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. Waldner 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 BLM issued this ROD to document the 
agency's determination regarding the analysis contained in the final 
supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (85 FR 74378). With 
the issuance of this ROD, the BLM has now completed several planning 
and NEPA processes for Greater Sage-Grouse management in Colorado over 
roughly the last decade, which include the processes that culminated in 
the 2015 ROD and the Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment (the 
2015 planning process), the 2019 ROD and Approved Resource Management 
Plan Amendment (the 2019 planning process), and this 2020 ROD (the 2020 
supplemental EIS process). Together, these processes represent a 
thorough analysis of Greater Sage-Grouse management, substantial public 
engagement, and important coordination with state wildlife agencies, 
other federal agencies, and many others in the range of the species 
have been collaborating to conserve Greater Sage-Grouse and its 
habitats.
    The BLM prepared the final supplemental EIS in order to review its 
previous NEPA analysis, clarify and augment it where necessary, and 
provide the public with additional opportunities to review and comment. 
It also helped the BLM determine whether its 2015 and 2019 land use 
planning and NEPA processes sufficiently addressed Greater Sage-Grouse 
habitat conservation or whether the BLM should initiate a new land use 
planning process to consider additional alternatives or new 
information.
    The final supplemental EIS addressed four specific issues: The 
range of alternatives, need to take a hard look at environmental 
impacts, cumulative effects analysis, and the BLM's approach to 
compensatory mitigation. Rationale to support BLM's determination, with 
respect to each of these topical areas, is summarized below and 
described further in the ROD:
    (1) Range of Alternatives: Throughout the decade-long planning and 
NEPA processes, the BLM has analyzed in detail 143 alternatives across 
the range of Greater Sage-Grouse. Additionally, the BLM has continued 
to review new science as it is published, which affirms that the BLM 
has considered a full range of plan-level conservation measures in the 
alternatives already analyzed.
    (2) Hard Look: The BLM has continued to take a hard look at 
environmental impacts every step of the way in planning for Greater 
Sage-Grouse habitat conservation. In the 2015 planning process, the 
2019 planning process, and in the 2020 supplemental EIS process, the 
BLM incorporated detailed analysis of environmental impacts into our 
decision-making processes and disclosed these expected impacts to the 
public. As scientific information has continued to evolve, the BLM has 
closely reviewed and considered any changes from such science to 
expected environmental impacts, both at the land use plan scale and in 
site-specific analyses. To address public comments raised during the 
supplemental EIS process, the BLM convened a team of biologists and 
land use planners to evaluate scientific literature provided to the 
agency. The BLM found that the most up-to-date Greater Sage-Grouse 
science and other information has incrementally increased, and built 
upon, the knowledgebase of Greater Sage-Grouse management evaluated by 
the BLM most recently in its 2019 land use plan amendments, but does 
not change the scope or direction of the BLM's management; however, new 
science does suggest adaptations to management may be warranted at 
site-specific scales.
    (3) Cumulative Effects Analysis: The BLM considered cumulative 
impacts on a rangewide basis, organizing that analysis at the 
geographic scale of each Western Association of Fish and Wildlife 
Agencies (WAFWA) management zone, in order to consider impacts at 
biologically meaningful scales. In the 2019 planning process, the BLM 
incorporated by reference cumulative effects analysis conducted in the 
2015 planning process and other environmental impact statements. Since 
the nature and context of the cumulative effects scenario has not 
appreciably changed since 2015, and the 2015 analysis covered the 
entire range of the Greater Sage-Grouse, the BLM's consideration of 
cumulative effects in the 2015 planning process adequately addresses 
most, if not all, of the planning decisions made through the 2019 
planning process.
    While the 2019 planning process largely incorporated by reference 
the analysis from the 2015 planning process, and updated it where 
needed to account for current conditions, the 2020 supplemental EIS 
process elaborated on this information in greater detail and updated 
the analysis to ensure that the BLM appropriately evaluated cumulative 
effects at biologically meaningful scales.

[[Page 3180]]

    (4) BLM's Approach to Compensatory Mitigation: In the 2019 planning 
process, the BLM requested public comments on a number of issues, 
including the BLM's approach to compensatory mitigation. As part of the 
2015 Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments, the BLM selected a 
net conservation gain standard in its approach to compensatory 
mitigation, which the 2019 land use plan amendments modified to align 
with the BLM's 2018 policy on compensatory mitigation. Through the 2020 
supplemental EIS process, the BLM requested further comments about the 
BLM's approach to compensatory mitigation. After reviewing the comments 
that the BLM received about compensatory mitigation, the BLM determined 
that its environmental analysis supporting the 2019 land use plan 
amendments was sound. The public has now had substantial opportunities 
to consider and comment on the BLM's approach to compensatory 
mitigation at the land use planning level, including the approach taken 
in the 2019 land use plan amendments.
    Based on the final supplemental EIS, the BLM has determined that 
its decade-long planning and NEPA processes have sufficiently addressed 
Greater Sage-Grouse habitat conservation and no new land use planning 
process to consider additional alternatives or new information is 
warranted. This determination is not a new planning decision. Instead, 
it is a determination not to amend the applicable land use plans. Thus, 
it is not subject to appeal or protest. The BLM's decision remains as 
identified in the 2019 Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment for 
Greater Sage-Grouse conservation in Colorado.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1505.2; 40 CFR 1506.6; References to the CEQ 
regulations are to the regulations in effect prior to September 14, 
2020. The revised CEQ regulations effective September 14, 2020, are 
not cited because this supplemental EIS process began prior to that 
date.)

Jamie E. Connell,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2021-00661 Filed 1-13-21; 8:45 am]
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