[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25523-25526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09064]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[L16100000.DP0000.LXSSB0220000.LLCAN06000.223:MO#4500159291]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the 
Redding and Arcata Field Offices and an Associated Environmental Impact 
Statement, California

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) 
Redding Field Office, Redding, California, and Arcata Field Office, 
Arcata, California, intend to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
with an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Redding 
and Arcata Field Offices (called the Northwest California Integrated 
Resource Management Plan (NCIP)) and by this notice are announcing the 
beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and 
identify issues, and request identification of potential alternatives, 
information, and analyses relevant to the proposed action. The BLM is 
also providing the proposed planning criteria for public review, and is 
calling for public

[[Page 25524]]

nominations of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). The RMP 
will replace the existing Redding RMP (1993) and Arcata Resource Area 
RMP (1992).

DATES: This notice initiates the 60-day public scoping process for the 
RMP and associated EIS, for the proposed planning criteria, and for 
nominations of areas of public land for designation as an ACEC. 
Comments may be submitted in writing until June 28, 2022. The date(s) 
and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be announced at least 15 
days in advance through local media, newspapers and the BLM website at: 
https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU. In order to be included in the Draft RMP/EIS, 
all comments must be received prior to the close of the 60-day scoping 
period.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues, potential alternatives, 
the proposed action, and proposed planning criteria related to 
Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan and 
nominations of new ACECs by any of the following methods:

 Website: https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU
 Email: [email protected]
 Fax: (530) 224-2172
 Mail: NCIP Comments, Bureau of Land Management, 1695 Heindon 
Road, Arcata, California 95521-4573

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Callahan, Planning and 
Environmental Specialist, telephone: (707) 825-2315; address Bureau of 
Land Management, Arcata Field Office, 1695 Heindon Road, Arcata, 
California 95521-4573; email: [email protected]. Contact Ms. Callahan 
to add your name to our mailing list.
    Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting 
Ms. Callahan. Individuals outside the United States should use the 
relay services offered within their country to make international calls 
to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Redding Field Office and the Arcata Field Office intend to prepare the 
Northwest California Integrated RMP with an associated EIS, announce 
the beginning of the scoping process, and seek public input on 
potential issues, impacts, the possible need for mitigation, and the 
proposed planning criteria. The planning area is in Del Norte, 
Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, and Butte 
counties, California, and encompasses approximately 382,000 surface 
acres of public land and approximately 307,000 additional subsurface 
(mineral) acres. The purpose of the public scoping process is to 
determine relevant issues that will influence the scope of the 
environmental analysis, including alternative development, and guide 
the planning process.

Preliminary Purpose and Need for the RMP Revision

    Under Section 202 of FLPMA and its implementing regulations at 43 
CFR part 1600, the BLM is authorized to ``develop, maintain, and, when 
appropriate, revise land use plans'' (43 United States Code 1712 (a)). 
In 2009, the Redding and Arcata Field Offices conducted RMP evaluations 
that determined a need to revise the 1992 Arcata Field Office RMP and 
the 1993 Redding Field Office RMP given new resource information, 
changing environmental and social conditions, new technologies, and new 
Federal mandates. The BLM's preliminary need is to revise the Arcata 
Field Office and Redding Field Office RMPs to address these 
developments in relevant science, social trends, and Federal policy. 
The BLM's preliminary purpose of the NCIP is to provide for management 
actions and land use decisions within the planning area based on up-to-
date information reflecting current public input, changes in policy, 
resource conditions, and development trends.

Preliminary Issues and Impacts

    Preliminary issues for the planning area have been identified by 
BLM personnel; Federal, State, and local agencies; Native American 
Tribes; and other stakeholders. These preliminary issues include 
responding to increasing population and changing use patterns, 
providing for a broad array of recreation uses, wilderness management, 
promoting recovery of special status species, developing land tenure 
patterns and access strategies, responding to increasing wildfires and 
demand for fuels reduction, and responding to climate change and sea-
level rise.
    The BLM will evaluate identified issues to be addressed in the 
plan, and will place them into one of three categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action; 
or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the Draft RMP/Draft EIS as 
to why an issue was placed in category two or three. The public is also 
encouraged to help identify any management questions and concerns that 
should be addressed in the plan.
    The BLM will analyze potential environmental impacts of the BLM's 
land use decisions considered under the RMP revision, with respect to 
ongoing regional trends and expected impacts to BLM lands, and will 
work collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management 
decisions that best meet local, regional, and national needs and 
concerns.

Preliminary Alternatives

    During the BLM's preliminary alternatives development work, two 
action alternative themes were identified based on perceived resource 
use and issues in the planning area. One alternative theme emphasizes 
resource connectivity and resiliency, while the second emphasizes 
community access and development. Both alternative concepts manage for 
multiple use and long-term sustainability and provide for public use 
and enjoyment of BLM-administered lands. The connectivity and 
resilience alternative is being developed to manage for multiple use by 
maintaining corridors of relatively undeveloped area to provide for 
connectivity of wildlife and fisheries habitat and to serve as a 
resilient refuge to ongoing development and climate change. This in 
turn, would provide a recreational and aesthetic resource for public 
enjoyment. The community access and development alternative also 
manages for multiple use and public enjoyment but prioritizes public 
lands to provide for recreational opportunity and access, travel and 
utility opportunities, and social and economic benefit. These 
alternatives are to be analyzed against the No Action Alternative 
(current management) and are preliminary concepts only. They will be 
refined or combined to provide the best mix to meet the public's needs 
while complying with the BLM's management responsibilities and 
regulatory requirements. These preliminary alternatives will be further 
refined based on public comment, cooperating agency input, and the BLM 
interdisciplinary team's judgement.

Proposed Planning Criteria

    This notice also initiates the public review of proposed planning 
criteria (43 CFR 1610.4-2(b); 43 CFR 1610.2(f)(2)), available for 
public review at: https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU. The BLM will use these 
proposed planning criteria to help guide and define the scope of the 
RMP.

[[Page 25525]]

Anticipated Permits and Authorization

    The BLM does not anticipate the need for any permits for 
authorizations for this RMP revision process.

Schedule for the Decision Making Process

    The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes, 
including a 90-day comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, a 30-day public 
protest period, and a 60-day Governor's consistency review on the 
Proposed RMP. The Draft RMP/EIS is anticipated to be available for 
public review in late 2022 and the Proposed RMP/Final EIS is 
anticipated to be available for public protest of the Proposed RMP in 
mid-2023, with an Approved RMP and Record of Decision in late 2023.

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

    The BLM is also requesting nominations of areas of public land for 
ACEC designation. To be considered as a potential ACEC, an area must 
meet the criteria of relevance and importance as established and 
defined in 43 CFR 1610.7-2. There are currently 17 existing ACECs 
within the planning area, including: Baker Cypress, Butte Creek, Deer 
Creek, Forks of the Butte, Gilham Butte, Hawes Corner, Iaqua Butte, 
Lacks Creek, Ma-le'l Dunes, Sacramento Island, Sacramento River Bend, 
Shasta and Klamath Rivers Canyon, Swasey Drive, South Fork Eel 
Watershed (Congressionally designated as Wilderness), Red Mountain 
(Congressionally designated as Wilderness), Elder Creek Research 
Natural Area/ACEC (Congressionally designated as Wilderness). 
Alternatives in the RMP would eliminate three existing ACECs, including 
South Fork Eel Watershed, Red Mountain, and Elder Creek because they 
have been congressionally designated as Wilderness. Additionally, 14 
new ACECs have been nominated (internally by the BLM or external to the 
agency) and will be considered as part of this RMP process, including: 
Swasey Clear Creek Greenway, Upper and Lower Clear Creek, Grass Valley 
Creek, Sheep Rock, Black Mountain, Upper Klamath River Stateline 
Archaeological District, Upper Mattole Valley, Eden Valley, Beegum 
Creek Gorge, North Fork Eel, Willis Ridge, South Spit, Corning Vernal 
Pools, and North Table Mountain.
    The BLM will evaluate these nominated ACECs for consideration in 
the RMP/EIS. Some existing and nominated ACECs may have different land 
configurations under different alternatives because of internal and 
external nominations, an increase or decrease in acres, and the 
relevance and importance criteria by alternatives. To assist the BLM in 
evaluating ACEC nominations for consideration in the Draft RMP/EIS, 
please provide supporting descriptive materials, maps, and evidence of 
the relevance and importance of resources or hazards by the close of 
the public comment period in order to facilitate timely evaluation. A 
detailed list of ACEC nominations, including acreages and importance 
and relevance values, are available for public review at: https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU.

Public Scoping Process

    You may submit comments on issues, potential alternatives, the 
proposed action, proposed planning criteria, and ACEC designation in 
writing to the BLM, at any public scoping meeting, and on the virtual 
open house website: https://www.virtualpublicmeeting.com/ncip-scoping-home, or you may submit them to the BLM using one of the methods listed 
in the ADDRESSES section earlier. To be considered, comments must be 
received by the end of the 60-day scoping period. 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.
    The four live virtual public outreach meetings will include an 
overview presentation, question and answer session, and an opportunity 
to provide public comment. Each meeting will also feature key resource 
topics. The first meeting will highlight Forestry, Vegetation, and 
Fire. The second will focus on biological resources including Fish and 
Wildlife. The third will discusses Socioeconomics, Environmental 
Justice, Tribal Interests, and Cultural Resources. The fourth and final 
meeting will focus on Public Health and Safety, Recreation, Minerals, 
and Special Designations. In addition to providing an opportunity for 
the public to submit comments, the virtual open house website will 
provide an introduction to the NCIP, planning process overview, 
description of the planning area, and an overview of key resource 
topics being presented during the public meetings.

Agency Coordination

    The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA and land use planning 
process for this planning effort to help support procedural 
requirements under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536), and 
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 
306108) as provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3), including public involvement 
requirements of Section 106. The information about historic and 
cultural resources and threatened and endangered species within the 
area potentially affected by the proposed plan will assist the BLM in 
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources.
    The BLM will consult with Native American Tribes on a government-
to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175, BLM MS 
1780, and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, including 
impacts on Native American Tribe trust assets and potential impacts to 
cultural resources, will be given due consideration.
    Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Native American 
Tribes and 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 asked by the 
BLM to participate in the development of the environmental analysis as 
a cooperating agency. Cooperating Agencies engaged in the RMP/EIS 
process thus far include: Bureau of Reclamation, Environmental 
Protection Agency, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Forest Service, Blue 
Lake Rancheria, Redding Rancheria, Mooretown Rancheria, Wiyot Tribe, 
Hoopa Valley Tribe, Western Area Power Administration, California 
Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Forestry and 
Fire Protection, California Department of Conservation, California 
Geologic Energy Management Division, North Coast Regional Water Quality 
Control Board, State Water Resources Control Board, Butte County, 
County of Tehama, Trinity County, Shasta Valley Resource Conservation 
District, Shasta County Air Quality Management District, and Siskiyou 
County.

Interdisciplinary Team

    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan 
in order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified. Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines 
will be involved in the

[[Page 25526]]

planning process: Recreation, Fisheries, Wildlife, Vegetation, Soil, 
Water, Air Quality, Geology, Minerals, Forestry, Livestock Grazing, 
Wilderness, Cultural Resources, Tribal Relations, Ecology, Social 
Sciences, Economics, Wildland Fire, Fuels, and Realty.

Additional Information

    The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider mitigation to address 
the reasonably foreseeable impacts to resources from the proposed plan 
and all reasonable alternatives and, in accordance with 40 CFR 
1502.14(f), include appropriate mitigation measures not already 
included in the proposed plan or alternatives. Mitigation may include 
avoidance, minimization, rectification, reduction or elimination over 
time, and compensation, and may be considered at multiple scales, 
including the landscape scale.

Responsible Official

    The BLM California State Director is the responsible official for 
decisions made in the Final Northwest California Integrated Resource 
Management Plan and EIS.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The nature of the decision to be made will be the State Director's 
land use planning decisions to manage BLM-administered lands under the 
principles of multiple use and sustained yield in a manner that best 
addresses the purpose and need.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2)

Karen Mouritsen,
BLM California State Director.
[FR Doc. 2022-09064 Filed 4-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P