Bureau of Land Management December 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to renew an information collection.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Tonopah Field Office, Tonopah, Nevada, intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the potential environmental impacts of authorizing the proposed Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLC (Ioneer) Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project (Project) in Esmeralda County, Nevada. This notice announces the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues and alternatives; it also serves to initiate public consultation, as required, under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Idaho Resource Advisory Council (RAC) and the Lava Ridge Wind Project Subcommittee (Subcommittee) will meet as follows.

This notice corrects the total acreage figure and the legal land description of the proposed public land withdrawal identified as the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Area withdrawal published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2022. The initial notice omitted legal descriptions totaling 3,188.01 acres. The updated total for the proposed withdrawal is 354,667.98 acres, located in San Juan, Sandoval, and McKinley Counties, New Mexico.

This order extends the duration of the withdrawal created by Public Land Order (PLO) No. 7546, which would otherwise expire on December 8, 2022, for an additional 20-year term. PLO No. 7546 withdrew 4,943.13 acres of public lands from settlement, sale, location, or entry under general land laws, including the United States mining laws. The withdrawal extension is necessary to continue protecting the Sweetwater River, Wyoming.

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) intends to prepare resource management plan (RMP) amendments with an associated programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) for the BLM's utility-scale solar energy planning and by this notice is announcing the beginning of the scoping period to solicit public comments and identify issues and is providing the planning criteria for public review.

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) Yuma Field Office, Yuma, Arizona, intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider the effects of the Jove Solar Project (Jove Solar), an up to 600-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) project and battery storage system proposed on 3,495 acres of BLM-administered land in La Paz County, Arizona, and by this notice is announcing the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues. The BLM also announces the segregation of the 3,495 acres of public lands from appropriation under the public land laws, including the Mining Law, but not the Mineral Leasing or Materials Acts, for a period of 2 years from the date of publication of this notice, subject to valid existing rights. This segregation will facilitate the orderly administration of the public lands while the BLM considers potential solar development on the described parcel.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) publishes this notice to inform the public of the official filing of the plats of survey of the lands described below in the BLM Utah State Office, Salt Lake City, Utah.