[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86925-86926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27647]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_AK_FRN_MO4500169067]


Notice of Availability of the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals 
Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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) 
announces the availability of the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals 
Environmental Impact Statement.

DATES: To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments in the 
Final EIS, please ensure that the BLM receives your comments within 60 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft EIS in the 
Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.

ADDRESSES: The Draft EIS is available for review on the BLM ePlanning 
project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510.
    Written comments related to the Draft ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals 
EIS may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     ePlanning website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510.
     Mail: ANCSA 17(d)(1) EIS, BLM Anchorage District Office, 
Attn: Racheal Jones, 4700 BLM Road. Anchorage, Alaska 99507.
     Hand Deliver comments to: BLM Alaska State Office, BLM 
Alaska Public Information Center, 222 West 7th Avenue (First Floor), 
Anchorage, Alaska.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510, at the 
Anchorage Field Office, and at the BLM Alaska State Office, BLM Alaska 
Public Information Center.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Racheal Jones, BLM Project Manager, 
telephone (907) 290-0307; address ANCSA 17(d)(1) EIS, BLM Anchorage 
District Office, Attn: Racheal Jones, 4700 BLM Road. Anchorage, Alaska 
99507; email [email protected]. 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. Jones. 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: Introduction: The U.S. Department of the 
Interior (DOI), BLM Alaska State Office, prepared this EIS to evaluate 
the effects of any Secretarial decision to open lands subject to the 
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Section 17(d)(1) 
withdrawals within the lands described in Public Land Orders (PLOs) 
7899 through 7903. (The potential opening of the lands subject to these 
17(d)(1) withdrawals is hereafter referred to as the project). PLOs 
7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903, which would revoke withdrawals of lands in 
the Ring of Fire, Bay, Bering Sea-Western Interior, and East Alaska 
planning areas, respectively, were signed on January 15 and 16, 2021; 
however, they were never published in the Federal Register. PLO 7899, 
which would revoke withdrawals of lands in the Kobuk-Seward Peninsula 
planning area, was signed on January 11, 2021, and published in the 
Federal Register on January 19, 2021 (86 FR 5236). Subsequently, the 
DOI identified certain procedural and legal defects in the decision-
making process for these PLOs, as described in the April 16, 2021, 
Federal Register notice (86 FR 20193), including an insufficient 
analysis under NEPA. The DOI extended the opening order for PLO 7899 
until August 31, 2024, to provide an opportunity to review the 
decisions and to ensure the orderly management of the public lands (88 
FR 21207). The BLM is using this time to address identified 
deficiencies and update the NEPA analysis supporting the decisions 
regarding the PLOs now under review (the 2021 Action).
    Purpose and Need for Action: The 2021 Action under review is 
revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals as described in PLOs 7899, 
7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903. This EIS evaluates the resource conditions 
on these lands and incorporates and describes additional coordination 
with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, federally 
recognized Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and stakeholders to 
ensure that the environmental analysis previously conducted will be 
updated and expanded upon as appropriate. This additional analysis is 
necessary to understand the impacts of revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) 
withdrawals; to correct errors in the previous decision-making process 
regarding these withdrawals; and to ensure that opening these lands is 
consistent with the purposes of ANCSA 17(d)(1), which requires that 
``the public interest in these lands is properly protected,'' including 
factors such as subsistence hunting and fishing, habitat connectivity, 
protection of cultural resources, and protection of threatened and 
endangered species. This evaluation is needed to make an informed 
public interest determination to support revocation in full, revocation 
in part, or full retention of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals.
    Alternatives: The BLM considered alternatives that would provide 
different configurations of 17(d)(1) withdrawals that would be retained 
or revoked in the five planning areas (Bay, Bering Sea-Western 
Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward, and Ring of Fire). Each of the 
alternatives identifies 17(d)(1) withdrawals in the five planning areas 
as retained or revoked. The alternatives range from retaining the 
withdrawals on all lands (Alternative A) to revoking the withdrawals on 
all lands (Alternative D). Alternatives B and C include partial 
revocations of the withdrawals.
    Summary of Expected Impacts: The revocation of the withdrawal on 
lands subject to State top filings under the Statehood Act would result 
in the State's selections becoming effective and a resulting loss of 
Federal subsistence priority applying to those lands. No development 
plans have been submitted, and no stipulations are attached to the 
lands that would prevent any specific development. Therefore, the EIS 
provides a Reasonably Foreseeable Development scenario that identifies 
and quantifies potential development activity in the decision area, 
including the extraction of leasable, locatable, and salable minerals, 
as well as the establishment of

[[Page 86926]]

associated rights-of-way, assuming the land is not withdrawn from 
availability for such activities.
    Full or partial revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals may 
result in changes to land use that could affect local residents, 
wildlife, vegetation, cultural resources, subsistence, and recreation 
across up to 28 million acres of BLM-administered land in Alaska.
    Schedule for the Decision-Making Process: The BLM will provide 
opportunities for public participation consistent with the NEPA 
processes, including a 60-day comment period on the Draft EIS. A 
Secretarial decision is anticipated in Summer 2024, following the 
publication of a Final EIS.
    Public Involvement Process: This notice of availability initiates 
the public comment period, which will guide the development and 
analysis of the Final EIS. The BLM will evaluate all comments received 
and is specifically soliciting comments related to how to minimize 
effects to subsistence, cultural resources, and natural resources. The 
BLM will be holding virtual and in-person public meetings and Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act section 810 subsistence 
hearings. The specific date(s) and location(s) of these meetings will 
be announced in advance through email, social media, radio public 
service announcements, local media, newspapers, and on the ePlanning 
project page https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510.
    The input of Alaska Native Tribes and Corporations is of critical 
importance to this EIS. Therefore, during the NEPA process, the BLM 
will continue to consult with potentially affected Tribal Nations on a 
government-to-government basis, and with affected Alaska Native 
Corporations in accordance with Executive Order 13175, as well as 
Public Law 108-199, Div. H, sec. 161, 118 Stat. 452, as amended by 
Public Law 108-447, Div. H, sec. 518, 118 Stat. 3267, and other 
Department and Bureau policies. The BLM respectfully requests 
participation in consultation by Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native 
Corporations to provide their views and recommendations on the 
analysis, including effects from the proposed activities. The BLM will 
hold individual consultation meetings upon request.
    It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times 
and in such manner as are useful to the agency's preparation of the 
Final EIS. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of 
the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer's 
concerns and contentions.
    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 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)

Steven Cohn,
Alaska State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-27647 Filed 12-14-23; 8:45 am]
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