[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65392-65394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17514]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_NM_FRN_MO4500178348]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the BLM Rio Puerco Field 
Office, New Mexico

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, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rio Puerco

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Field Office has prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and 
associated Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and by this 
notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the 
Proposed RMP.

DATES: This notice announces a 30-day protest period to the BLM on the 
Proposed RMP beginning with the date following the Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of Availability 
(NOA) of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS by September 9, 2024. The EPA 
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. Protests must be postmarked or 
electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning website during the 30-
day protest period.

ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP/Final EIS is available online in the 
Documents and Reports section of the ePlanning project website at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/64954/510. Documents 
pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/64954/510 and at the Rio Puerco 
Field Office.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the Proposed RMP 
for the BLM Rio Puerco Field Office can be found at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Lujan, Resource Management Plan 
Project Manager, BLM Rio Puerco Field Office; telephone: 505-761-8734; 
address: 100 Sun Ave. NE, Suite 330, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109; or 
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 Mr. Lujan. 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: In the Rio Puerco Proposed RMP/Final EIS, 
the BLM analyzed the environmental consequences of four alternatives 
under consideration for managing approximately 731,600 acres of surface 
estate and about 3.6 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, which 
is known as the decision area. These lands, administered by the BLM Rio 
Puerco Field Office, are located within Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, 
Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia counties in central New Mexico. The 
Rio Puerco planning area encompasses approximately 9.5 million acres, 
including National Forest; National Monuments; and Tribal, State, and 
private lands. It also includes valuable mineral resources and the 
largest population center in the State of New Mexico. This land use 
plan would replace the current Rio Puerco RMP, which the BLM approved 
in 1986 and amended in 1992. The Proposed RMP/Final EIS analyzes the 
impacts of delineating lands to account for changes in population, 
types of uses, technologies, user interests, and public understanding 
of resource availability in the Middle Rio Grande Watershed in central 
New Mexico.
    The plan addresses several interrelated issues and management 
concerns, including land tenure adjustments, land use authorizations, 
recreation, areas with special management designations, lands with 
wilderness characteristics, livestock grazing, transportation access, 
renewable energy, visual resources, wildland/urban interface, and 
mineral resources. The agency selected these issues based on broad 
concerns or controversies related to conditions, trends, needs, and 
existing and potential uses of the planning area lands. Management 
prescriptions in potential areas of critical environmental concern 
(ACECs) that could limit development of (1) commercial mineral, solar, 
wind, or geothermal resources or (2) recreation or other resources 
important primarily for their economic benefit to the planning area 
must be evaluated to avoid unnecessarily restricting these activities. 
Additionally, large areas of mixed ownership (BLM parcels amongst 
private, Tribal, or other ownership) pose significant access and 
multiple-use issues, which is why this Proposed RMP/Final EIS 
identifies them as potential areas for exchange.
    The four alternatives analyzed in detail in the Final EIS are as 
follows:
     BLM Alternative A (No Action)--Continues 1986 Resource 
Management Plan management direction;
     BLM Alternative B--Emphasizes resource protection;
     BLM Alternative C (Proposed) (Draft Preferred)--Focuses on 
providing a balance of resource uses with conservation; and
     BLM Alternative D--Allows for a greater opportunity for 
resource use and development.
    The preferred alternative for the Proposed RMP is Alternative C, 
which was identified in the 2012 Draft RMP/Final EIS. The BLM has 
updated the alternatives, including Alternative C, for clarity and to 
incorporate the latest science and data, as well as to reflect current 
policies, laws, procedures, Tribal perspectives from government-to-
government consultation, input and special expertise provided by 
cooperating agencies, and designations such as the Placitas Withdrawal 
(89 FR 31763 (April 25, 2024)). Some of these changes to Alternative C 
include closing additional sub-surface mineral acreage in the Placitas 
area to salable and locatable mineral development, closing areas with 
low potential for fluid mineral development, and modifying recreation 
management area designations. Alternative C would designate a total of 
18 ACECs: 8 carried forward from the existing RMP (Cabezon Peak, 
Ca[ntilde]on Tapia, Elk Springs ACEC and Juana Lopez Research Natural 
Area, Jones Canyon, Ojito, Pronoun Cave Complex, San Luis Mesa Raptor 
Area, and Torreon Fossil Fauna); 2 expansions of ACECs in the existing 
RMP (Bluewater Canyon and Espinazo Ridge [formerly Ball Ranch]); and 10 
new ACECs (Bony Canyon, Ca[ntilde]on Jarido, Cerro Verde, Guadalupe 
Ruin and Community, Ignacio Chavez, Legacy Uranium Mines, Petaca Pinta, 
and San Miguel Dome).
    On February 29, 2008, the BLM published a Notice of Intent in the 
Federal Register, notifying the public of a formal scoping period and 
soliciting public participation (73 FR 11142). Between March 2007 and 
February 2008, Rio Puerco Field Office managers and staff had 
discussions about the Rio Puerco Draft RMP/Draft EIS with 12 local 
American Indian Tribal groups, including Acoma Pueblo, Eastern Navajo 
Agency Council, Isleta Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, Navajo 
Nation, Ojo Encino Navajo Chapter, Sandia Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, 
Santo Domingo Pueblo, Torreon Navajo Chapter, Zia Pueblo, and Zuni 
Pueblo. A scoping presentation was given to the BLM Resource Advisory 
Council in March 2008. In April 2008, a scoping notice was distributed 
to more than 900 individuals. The BLM also met with various stakeholder 
and interest groups in the following ways:
     The BLM held eight scoping meetings in April 2008 in 
Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Cuba, Grants, Gallup, Los Lunas, Moriarty, and 
Rio Rancho.
     The BLM held two Economic Profile System workshops early 
in the process with local citizens and community leaders to develop a 
common understanding of the local economies and the ways in which land-
use planning decisions might affect them.
     The public provided input on relevant issues to consider 
in the planning process. This information was

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received during the scoping period ending on September 30, 2008.
     The BLM hosted two internal Alternatives Development 
Workshops.
     The BLM held a Cooperating Agency Workshop.
    On July 13, 2012, the BLM published a Notice of Availability in the 
Federal Register, notifying the public of the release of the Draft RMP/
Draft EIS, and the beginning of the comment period (77 FR 41444). 
During the 90-day comment period, the BLM received over 45,000 comments 
from interested parties. Substantive public comments and BLM responses 
are available in the Proposed RMP/Final EIS, Volume III, Appendix R. 
The Proposed RMP/Final EIS is the compilation of all the public input 
and data analyzed and presented in the Draft RMP/Draft EIS plus the 
public input considered during the 90-day comment period.

Protest of the Proposed RMP

    The BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated 
in the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be 
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMP may protest its 
approval to the BLM Director. Protest on the Proposed RMP constitutes 
the final opportunity for administrative review of the proposed land 
use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an approved RMP. 
Instructions for filing a protest regarding the Proposed RMP with the 
BLM Director may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 
CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing and mailed to the 
appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section earlier, or 
submitted electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website as 
described previously. Protests submitted electronically by any means 
other than the ePlanning project website or by fax will be invalid 
unless a protest is also submitted as a hard copy. The BLM Director 
will render a written decision on each protest. The Director's decision 
shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior. 
Responses to valid protest issues will be compiled and documented in a 
Protest Resolution Report made available following the protest 
resolution online at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports. Upon resolution of 
protests, the BLM will issue a Record of Decision and Approved RMP.
    Before including your phone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest 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, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 
1610.5)

Melanie G. Barnes,
BLM New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-17514 Filed 8-8-24; 8:45 am]
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