Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Taos Field Office, New Mexico, 75556-75557 [2011-30929]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 232 / Friday, December 2, 2011 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNMF02000 L16100000.DP0000
LXSS026G0000]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed
Resource Management Plan and Final
Environmental Impact Statement for
the Taos Field Office, New Mexico
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) has prepared
the Proposed Resource Management
Plan/Final Environmental Impact
Statement (Proposed RMP/Final EIS) for
the Taos Field Office, New Mexico, and
by this Notice is announcing its
availability.
DATES: The BLM planning regulations
state that any person who meets the
conditions as described in the
regulations may protest the Proposed
RMP/Final EIS. A person who meets the
conditions must file the protest within
30 days of the date that the
Environmental Protection Agency
publishes this Notice in the Federal
Register.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed
RMP/Final EIS have been sent to
affected Federal, Tribal, state, and local
government agencies and to other
stakeholders. Copies of the Proposed
RMP/Final EIS are available for public
inspection at the Taos Field Office in
Taos, New Mexico, and New Mexico
State Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Interested persons may also review the
Proposed RMP/Final EIS at: https://
www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/fo/
Taos_Field_Office/taos_rmpr.html. All
protests must be in writing and mailed
to one of the following addresses:
SUMMARY:
Regular mail
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
BLM Director (210),
Attention: Brenda
Williams, P.O. Box
71383, Washington,
DC 20024–1383.
Overnight mail
BLM Director (210),
Attention: Brenda
Williams, 20 M
Street SE., Room
2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.
Brad
Higdon, Planning and Environmental
Coordinator, Taos Field Office,
telephone (575) 751–4725; address 226
Cruz Alta Road, Taos, New Mexico
87571; email bhigdon@blm.gov. Persons
who use a telecommunications device
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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17:03 Dec 01, 2011
Jkt 226001
for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–
(800) 877–8339 to contact the above
individuals during normal business
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message
or question with the above individuals.
You will receive a reply during normal
business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Proposed RMP/Final EIS analyzes the
environmental consequences of four
alternative land use plans under
consideration by the BLM for managing
approximately 595,100 acres of surface
estate and 1.5 million acres of mineral
estate administered by the Taos Field
Office within Colfax, Harding, Los
Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe,
Taos, San Miguel, and Union Counties
in northern New Mexico. This land use
plan would replace the 1988 Taos RMP,
as amended, and approval thereof is
needed to provide updated management
decisions regarding land tenure
adjustments, land use authorizations,
mineral resources, recreation, renewable
energy, special designations,
transportation and access, visual
resources, and other resource uses and
considerations. Upon approval, the
Proposed RMP/Final EIS will apply
only to BLM-administered public lands
and Federal mineral estate. The four
alternatives analyzed in detail in the
Proposed RMP/Final EIS are the No
Action Alternative, or a continuation of
the existing management decisions;
Alternative A, the Proposed RMP,
which strives to balance resource uses
with protections; Alternative B, which
emphasizes resource conservation and
protection; and Alternative C, which
allows greater opportunity for resource
use and development.
The Proposed RMP/Final EIS would
establish eleven Areas of Critical
Environmental Concern, totaling
approximately 407,855 acres, to provide
special management for the protection
of relevant and important cultural,
historic, scenic, and natural resource
values. The proposed plan would also
apply protective management to
approximately 67,032 acres of lands
with wilderness characteristics in four
different areas. Public lands available
for renewable energy development,
mineral development, land use
authorization, systems of designated
travel routes, and other uses would be
provided for under the proposed plan,
which would delineate and, as
necessary, apply limitations on these
opportunities. In addition, management
parameters and prescriptions would be
applied to a variety of natural, cultural,
and visual resources, including air and
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
water quality, wildlife habitat, forests
and woodlands, and other components
of the biological, physical, and cultural
environment.
The land use planning process was
initiated on May 26, 2006, through a
Notice of Intent published in the
Federal Register (71 FR 30446). A
Notice of Availability of the Draft RMP/
Draft EIS was published on June 10,
2010, in the Federal Register (75 FR
32963) to announce a 90-day public
review and comment period of the draft
document. During that period, the BLM
held public open-house meetings in
˜
Santa Fe, Espanola, and Taos to assist
the public in their review of the Draft
and to solicit their comments. The Draft
RMP/EIS was sent to multiple Federal,
Tribal, State, and local government
agencies and interested parties and was
made publicly available for viewing at
the Taos Field Office, the New Mexico
State Office, and on the Internet. During
the comment period, the Taos Field
Office received approximately 94
comments from comment forms, which
were completed during one of the
public open-house meetings, comment
letters, or emails.
Each submission was carefully
reviewed to identify substantive
comments in accordance with
regulations on the implementation of
NEPA (40 CFR 1503.4). Comments
received from the public were
considered and incorporated upon
internal BLM reviews as appropriate
into the Proposed RMP/Final EIS.
Public comments resulted in the
addition of clarifying text, but did not
significantly change the proposed land
use plan decisions. Instructions for
filing a protest with the Director of the
BLM regarding the proposed plan may
be found in the ‘‘Dear Reader Letter’’ of
the Proposed RMP/Final EIS and at 43
CFR 1610.5–2. Emailed and faxed
protests will not be accepted as valid
protests unless the protesting party also
provides the original letter by either
regular or overnight mail postmarked by
the close of the protest period. Under
these conditions, the BLM will consider
the emailed or faxed protest as an
advance copy and it will receive full
consideration. If you wish to provide
the BLM with such advanced
notification, please send protests to fax
phone number (202) 912–7212,
attention BLM Protest Coordinator
Brenda Hudgens-Williams or email
Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov.
All protests, including the follow-up
letter to emails or faxes, must be in
writing and mailed to the appropriate
address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES
section above.
E:\FR\FM\02DEN1.SGM
02DEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 232 / Friday, December 2, 2011 / Notices
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.
Jesse Juen,
Acting State Director.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10;
43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR 1610.5–2.
[FR Doc. 2011–30929 Filed 12–1–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–OW–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–PWR–PWRO–0928–8539; 9082–H921–
409]
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for General Management Plan/
Wilderness Study, Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park, Hawaii
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice of intent.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The National Park Service is
expanding the scope of the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
that is being prepared for updating the
General Management Plan (GMP) for
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. As
part of this conservation planning and
environmental impact analysis effort,
the Draft EIS will include a wilderness
study to determine if any additional
portions of the park should be
recommended for inclusion in the
National Wilderness Preservation
System (currently the park contains
130,790 acres of Congressionally
designated Wilderness).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
Notice supplements and updates the
original Notice of Intent (published in
Federal Register on April 13, 2009)
which formally announced initiation of
the GMP update effort. The scope of the
EIS is expanded to include an
evaluation of foreseeable effects
associated with possible designation of
additional wilderness within Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park. The new GMP
will establish the overall direction for
the park, setting broad management
goals for managing the area over the
next 15 to 20 years. The GMP will
prescribe desired resource conditions
and visitor experiences that are to be
achieved and maintained throughout
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
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17:03 Dec 01, 2011
Jkt 226001
the park. Based on the desired
conditions, the GMP will outline what
resource management and visitor
activities, and what limited
development, would be appropriate in
the park. Among the topics that have
been addressed thus far are preservation
and protection of native ecosystems and
the park’s natural and cultural
resources; significance of park resources
to Native Hawaiian culture; visitor
experiences including use of facilities
and participation in activities and
programs; access to lava for visitors and
researchers; current wilderness
management issues; transportation,
roads and parking; commercial services
and special park uses; park operations,
partnerships, and collaboration; and the
future of the Kahuku Unit. A reasonable
range of alternatives for managing the
park, including ‘‘no-action’’ and
‘‘agency preferred’’ alternatives will be
developed through the planning process
and analyzed in the EIS. The EIS will
evaluate the potential environmental
impacts of all alternatives, address
appropriate mitigation strategies, and
identify an ‘‘environmentally preferred’’
alternative.
Comments: To facilitate sound
planning and analysis of foreseeable
environmental effects, Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park is gathering
additional information relevant to
preparing the Draft EIS. The park is also
soliciting suggestions from the public on
issues that should be addressed in the
wilderness study, and comments on the
range of preliminary GMP alternatives
under consideration. In concert with
local, state, Tribal, and other federal
agencies, consideration will also be
made for cooperative management of
resources outside park boundaries that
affect the integrity of the park.
Thoughtful comments and participation
in this scoping process are desired. You
are encouraged to submit your
comments directly online through the
NPS Planning, Environment and Public
Comment Web site at: https://
parkplanning.nps.gov/havo (select the
GMP/Wilderness Study from the list of
projects). Or if you prefer to do so, you
may send written responses to: Cindy
Orlando, Superintendent, Attn: General
Management Planning Team, Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park, P.O. Box 52,
Hawaii National Park, HI 96718–0052.
All written comments on the GMP/
Wilderness Study must be postmarked,
hand delivered, or electronically
transmitted not later than January 3,
2012. Immediately upon confirmation of
this date an update will be posted on
the project Web site. Before including
your address, phone number, email
address, or other personal identifying
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Fmt 4703
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75557
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.
In April 2009, seven public scoping
sessions were held on the island of
Hawaii (including Volcano, Hilo,
Naalehu, Kailua-Kona), on Oahu
(Honolulu), and on Maui (Kahului).
Additional meetings were held in
August 2011 to provide a planning
update that presented preliminary
alternatives and addressed what would
be considered in the wilderness study
component. All persons who previously
submitted comments during the initial
GMP scoping process need not resubmit
their comments. However, persons who
have not previously submitted
comments related to wilderness, or who
wish to submit any new information or
comments related to the range of
preliminary alternatives are encouraged
to do so.
The GMP project Web site https://
www.nps.gov/havo/parkmgmt/plan.htm
will provide regularly up-dated
information regarding the project,
including planning process milestones,
meeting notices, reports and documents,
and useful links associated with the EIS
process.
The conservation planning and
environmental impact analysis
supporting preparation of the GMP/
Wilderness Study will be conducted as
described above, in accord with Council
on Environmental Quality requirements
and other appropriate Federal
regulations, and NPS Director’s Order
12, 2006 Management Policies
pertaining to wilderness, and other NPS
procedures and policies. For further
information, please contact: Cindy
Orlando, Superintendent, Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park (contact
information as noted above). General
information about Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park is available at https://
www.nps.gov/havo.
Decision Process: Following the
completion of the scoping phase and
consideration of all public concerns and
other agency comments, a Draft EIS,
wilderness study, and proposed GMP
will be prepared and released for public
review. Thereafter, the availability of
the Final EIS/GMP would be similarly
announced in the Federal Register and
via local and regional news media. As
a delegated EIS, the official responsible
for the final decision on the GMP is the
Regional Director, Pacific West Region,
E:\FR\FM\02DEN1.SGM
02DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 232 (Friday, December 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75556-75557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30929]
[[Page 75556]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNMF02000 L16100000.DP0000 LXSS026G0000]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Taos Field Office, New
Mexico
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared the Proposed Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental
Impact Statement (Proposed RMP/Final EIS) for the Taos Field Office,
New Mexico, and by this Notice is announcing its availability.
DATES: The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets the
conditions as described in the regulations may protest the Proposed
RMP/Final EIS. A person who meets the conditions must file the protest
within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency
publishes this Notice in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS have been sent to
affected Federal, Tribal, state, and local government agencies and to
other stakeholders. Copies of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS are available
for public inspection at the Taos Field Office in Taos, New Mexico, and
New Mexico State Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Interested persons may
also review the Proposed RMP/Final EIS at: https://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/fo/Taos_Field_Office/taos_rmpr.html. All protests must be in writing
and mailed to one of the following addresses:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regular mail Overnight mail
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda BLM Director (210),
Williams, P.O. Box 71383, Washington, DC Attention: Brenda Williams,
20024-1383. 20 M Street SE., Room
2134LM, Washington, DC
20003.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Higdon, Planning and
Environmental Coordinator, Taos Field Office, telephone (575) 751-4725;
address 226 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, New Mexico 87571; email
bhigdon@blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
(800) 877-8339 to contact the above individuals during normal business
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a
message or question with the above individuals. You will receive a
reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed RMP/Final EIS analyzes the
environmental consequences of four alternative land use plans under
consideration by the BLM for managing approximately 595,100 acres of
surface estate and 1.5 million acres of mineral estate administered by
the Taos Field Office within Colfax, Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio
Arriba, Santa Fe, Taos, San Miguel, and Union Counties in northern New
Mexico. This land use plan would replace the 1988 Taos RMP, as amended,
and approval thereof is needed to provide updated management decisions
regarding land tenure adjustments, land use authorizations, mineral
resources, recreation, renewable energy, special designations,
transportation and access, visual resources, and other resource uses
and considerations. Upon approval, the Proposed RMP/Final EIS will
apply only to BLM-administered public lands and Federal mineral estate.
The four alternatives analyzed in detail in the Proposed RMP/Final EIS
are the No Action Alternative, or a continuation of the existing
management decisions; Alternative A, the Proposed RMP, which strives to
balance resource uses with protections; Alternative B, which emphasizes
resource conservation and protection; and Alternative C, which allows
greater opportunity for resource use and development.
The Proposed RMP/Final EIS would establish eleven Areas of Critical
Environmental Concern, totaling approximately 407,855 acres, to provide
special management for the protection of relevant and important
cultural, historic, scenic, and natural resource values. The proposed
plan would also apply protective management to approximately 67,032
acres of lands with wilderness characteristics in four different areas.
Public lands available for renewable energy development, mineral
development, land use authorization, systems of designated travel
routes, and other uses would be provided for under the proposed plan,
which would delineate and, as necessary, apply limitations on these
opportunities. In addition, management parameters and prescriptions
would be applied to a variety of natural, cultural, and visual
resources, including air and water quality, wildlife habitat, forests
and woodlands, and other components of the biological, physical, and
cultural environment.
The land use planning process was initiated on May 26, 2006,
through a Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register (71 FR
30446). A Notice of Availability of the Draft RMP/Draft EIS was
published on June 10, 2010, in the Federal Register (75 FR 32963) to
announce a 90-day public review and comment period of the draft
document. During that period, the BLM held public open-house meetings
in Santa Fe, Espa[ntilde]ola, and Taos to assist the public in their
review of the Draft and to solicit their comments. The Draft RMP/EIS
was sent to multiple Federal, Tribal, State, and local government
agencies and interested parties and was made publicly available for
viewing at the Taos Field Office, the New Mexico State Office, and on
the Internet. During the comment period, the Taos Field Office received
approximately 94 comments from comment forms, which were completed
during one of the public open-house meetings, comment letters, or
emails.
Each submission was carefully reviewed to identify substantive
comments in accordance with regulations on the implementation of NEPA
(40 CFR 1503.4). Comments received from the public were considered and
incorporated upon internal BLM reviews as appropriate into the Proposed
RMP/Final EIS. Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying
text, but did not significantly change the proposed land use plan
decisions. Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the
BLM regarding the proposed plan may be found in the ``Dear Reader
Letter'' of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. Emailed
and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the
protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular or
overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under
these conditions, the BLM will consider the emailed or faxed protest as
an advance copy and it will receive full consideration. If you wish to
provide the BLM with such advanced notification, please send protests
to fax phone number (202) 912-7212, attention BLM Protest Coordinator
Brenda Hudgens-Williams or email Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov.
All protests, including the follow-up letter to emails or faxes,
must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth
in the ADDRESSES section above.
[[Page 75557]]
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.
Jesse Juen,
Acting State Director.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10; 43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR
1610.5-2.
[FR Doc. 2011-30929 Filed 12-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-OW-P
