[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 222 (Monday, November 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66331-66333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25393]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[223.LLHQ230000.L11700000.PI0000.LXSGCO000000]


Notice of Intent To Amend Land Use Plans Regarding Greater Sage-
Grouse Conservation and Prepare Associated Environmental Impact 
Statements

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
intends to address the management of Greater sage-grouse (GRSG) and 
sagebrush habitat on BLM-managed public lands in the States of 
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, 
South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming through a land use planning initiative. 
The BLM will prepare environmental impact statements to support the 
planning initiative, and by this notice is announcing the beginning of 
the scoping process to solicit public comments on the planning 
initiative.

DATES: Comments may be submitted in writing until February 7, 2022. The 
date(s) and location(s) of any public meetings associated with this 
land use planning initiative will be announced at least 15 days in 
advance through local news media, newspapers, and the BLM website at: 
https://go.usa.gov/xMtJQ. To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider 
issues raised by commenters in its analysis, please ensure that your 
comments are received prior to the close of the 75-day scoping period 
or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is later. The BLM 
will provide further public involvement opportunities as appropriate, 
consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes, including a 
90-day comment period on any draft land use plan amendment/
environmental impact statement (EIS); and a 30-day public protest 
period and 60-day Governor's consistency review on any proposed land 
use plan amendment/final EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the BLM's intent to amend 
land use plan decisions regarding management of GRSG and sagebrush 
habitat on BLM-managed public lands on the BLM website at: https://go.usa.gov/xMtJQ, where pertinent documents may also be examined.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Deibert, National Sage-grouse 
Coordinator (Acting); email: [email protected]; address: 440 
W 200 S Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101; telephone: 307-757-3709. 
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. 
Deibert 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 amended or revised land use plans in 
2014 and 2015 in the States of California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, 
Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming (2015 
Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments) to provide for GRSG conservation on public 
lands. Subsequently, the BLM amended several of those plans in 2019 in 
the States of California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and 
Wyoming (2019 Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments). On October 16, 2019, the 
United States District Court for the District of Idaho preliminarily 
enjoined the BLM from implementing the 2019 Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments 
(Case No. 1:16-CV-83-BLW).
    Since the completion of these Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments, the BLM 
has found that 2019 Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments (and for Montana, North 
Dakota, and South Dakota, the 2015 Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments) are 
potentially inconsistent with new science and rapid changes affecting 
the BLM's management of the public lands, including the effects of 
climate change (e.g., drought, loss of habitat, more frequent wildland 
fires, less riparian areas).
    The BLM is initiating this land use planning process under the 
authority of Section 202 of FLPMA and its implementing regulations at 
43 CFR part 1600, and in compliance with NEPA, to evaluate alternative 
management approaches to contribute to the conservation of GRSG and 
sagebrush habitats and to evaluate the impacts of any land use planning 
decisions directed toward GRSG and sagebrush habitat conservation. The 
land use planning process will address the management of GRSG and 
sagebrush habitat on BLM-managed public lands in the States of 
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, 
South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
    The public is invited to comment on the BLM's preliminary purpose 
and

[[Page 66332]]

need for action, as well as provide data relevant to inform this 
planning initiative. The BLM's preliminary need is to amend land use 
plans to address issues related to GRSG land management raised by 
various interested parties; consider recent developments in relevant 
science; advance implementation of the Department of the Interior's 
Climate Action Plan; and address continued GRSG and sagebrush habitat 
loss and GRSG population declines. The BLM's preliminary purpose is to 
amend the applicable land use plans to provide for land use decisions 
that respond to changed conditions related to GRSG land management and 
provide the BLM with locally relevant decisions that accord with range-
wide GRSG conservation goals. The BLM expects to refine this 
preliminary purpose and need following the review of comments or data 
received and further review of its own resource information.
    To assist the BLM to refine this preliminary purpose and need and 
formulate the environmental analyses, the public is encouraged to 
identify any issues, management questions, or concerns for the BLM to 
address in the land use plan amendments. The BLM invites the public to 
comment on issues related to the relationship between GRSG and 
sagebrush habitat management and management for other public land 
resources and values. The BLM seeks comment on preliminary issues from 
both range-wide and state-specific perspectives. In particular, the BLM 
seeks comment on potential alternatives to address land management on 
BLM-managed public lands related to the following preliminary issues:
     The identification, management, and conservation of the 
most important GRSG and sagebrush habitat, referred to as ``Sagebrush 
Focal Areas'' in the 2015 and 2019 Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments;
     The designation of priority and general habitat management 
areas for GRSG, and how to adapt these management areas over time, 
according to the best available science, and how to manage non-habitat 
within habitat management areas;
     The appropriate habitat objectives for GRSG on public 
lands, with respect to the diverse habitat conditions across the range 
of GRSG, including the effects of climate change (e.g., drought 
conditions);
     The application of the mitigation hierarchy, including 
compensatory mitigation, to address impacts to GRSG and sagebrush 
habitat, ensure that additional disturbance will not contribute to GRSG 
and sagebrush habitat loss and GRSG population declines, and help 
support the conservation and restoration of resilient habitat;
     The approaches to minimizing disturbance to GRSG and 
sagebrush habitats, including disturbance/density caps and buffers 
around important GRSG habitat types (e.g., leks), to ensure appropriate 
protection for the species while being able to concurrently implement 
other portions of the BLM's management responsibilities;
     The leasing and development of mineral resources in GRSG 
and sagebrush habitat, including how to appropriately prioritize and 
manage such use of the public's resources and how to consider the use 
of waivers, exceptions, and modifications as related to development of 
mineral resources;
     The leasing and development of renewable energy resources 
in GRSG and sagebrush habitat, including associated transmission lines, 
to support the mitigation of and adaptation to the effects of climate 
change through both habitat conservation and the expansion of renewable 
energy:
     The appropriate management of livestock grazing and wild 
horse and burro populations in GRSG and sagebrush habitat;
     The strategies for conducting effective GRSG and sagebrush 
habitat restoration on BLM-managed public lands, including constraints 
on such efforts to avoid unintended consequences to other species' 
habitats;
     The process to adapt the BLM's management of GRSG and 
sagebrush habitat to respond to GRSG and sagebrush habitat loss and 
GRSG population declines;
     The role of wildland fire and invasive species in the 
management of GRSG and sagebrush habitat, considering the vast acreages 
lost to wildland fire and invasive species over the last several years;
     The strategies for short- and long-term monitoring of GRSG 
and sagebrush habitat;
     How new and relevant scientific information affects GRSG 
and sagebrush habitat management, building upon the existing foundation 
of science relied upon in the 2015 and 2019 Sage-Grouse Plan 
Amendments; and
     Whether the BLM should reconsider alternatives from the 
analyses supporting the 2015 and 2019 Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments.
    The BLM also invites the public to nominate or recommend areas that 
may be considered for designation as areas of critical environmental 
concern (ACEC), per 43 CFR 1610.7-2. Nominations or recommendation of 
potential ACECs should be relevant to the preliminary purpose and need 
of this planning initiative.
    The BLM has identified the following preliminary planning criteria 
and is accepting public input during the scoping period consistent with 
43 CFR 1610. 4-2(c):
     The land use plan amendments and associated environmental 
analyses developed will be completed in compliance with FLPMA and NEPA, 
respectively;
     The land use plan amendments will be completed in 
compliance with all relevant Federal laws, Executive Orders, and 
management policies of the BLM;
     Where existing planning decisions are still valid, those 
decisions may remain unchanged and be incorporated into the amended 
land use plans;
     The land use plan amendments will be limited to making 
land use planning decisions specific to the conservation of GRSG and 
sagebrush habitats, with consideration of the impacts from climate 
change;
     The BLM will consider the adequacy of conservation 
measures for GRSG in existing land use plans;
     The land use plan amendments will be considered with 
respect to climate change and the accelerating effects that climate 
change has on GRSG and sagebrush habitats;
     The BLM will strive for consistency, as appropriate, with 
GRSG conservation plans of other Federal agencies, State agencies, and 
partners;
     The BLM will endeavor to use current scientific 
information, research, technologies, and results of inventory, 
monitoring, and coordination to determine appropriate management 
strategies that will enhance or restore GRSG and sagebrush habitats;
     Lands addressed in the land use plan amendments will be 
for BLM-managed public lands (including surface and sub-surface estate, 
including split estate) in GRSG and sagebrush habitats; and
     The land use plan amendments will recognize valid existing 
rights.
    In addition to public input, the BLM is reviewing the 2015 and 2019 
Sage-Grouse Plan Amendments and coordinating with other Federal and 
State agencies to identify issues that warrant clarification or 
reconsideration. This review and coordination effort is continuing and 
will help to refine and inform the scope of the BLM's land use planning 
initiative, as will input from other stakeholders.
    The BLM will work collaboratively with interested parties to 
identify land use planning decisions that are best

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suited to local, regional, and national needs and concerns. The BLM 
will use an interdisciplinary approach including, among others, 
specialists in the fields of wildlife, threatened and endangered 
species, rangeland, invasive species, fuels, energy and minerals, and 
recreation management to develop any land use plan amendment(s) to 
address the variety of resource issues and concerns identified. The BLM 
will consider all comments received during this scoping effort and 
utilize the substantive comments received to identify alternatives, 
analysis issues, and refinements to the scope of this planning 
initiative.
    The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA and land use planning 
processes for this planning initiative to help support procedural 
requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 
306108) and Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536). The information 
about historic and cultural resources and threatened and endangered 
species within the area potentially affected by the proposed action 
will assist the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to such 
resources.
    The BLM will consult with Indian Tribes on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other 
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and 
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due 
consideration.
    Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Tribes and other 
stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
action that the BLM is evaluating, are invited to participate in the 
scoping process and, if eligible, may request or be requested by the 
BLM to participate in the development of the EISs as a cooperating 
agency.
    You may submit comments through the methods described in the 
ADDRESSES section listed earlier. 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)

David Jenkins,
Assistant Director, Resources and Planning.
[FR Doc. 2021-25393 Filed 11-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P