Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment and an Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Farmington Field Office, New Mexico, 10548-10550 [2014-04051]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10548-10550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04051]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNMF01000.L13100000.DO0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment 
and an Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Farmington 
Field Office, New Mexico

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) 
Farmington Field Office, Farmington, New Mexico, intends to prepare a 
Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment with an associated 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address issues relating to oil 
and gas in the Mancos Shale/Gallup Formation. This notice announces the 
beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and 
identify issues.

DATES: Comments may be submitted in writing until April 28, 2014. The 
date(s) and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be announced at 
least 15 days in advance through local news media, newspapers and the 
BLM web site at https://www.blm.gov/nm/farmington. In order to be 
included in the analysis, all comments must be received prior to the 
close of the 60-day scoping period or 15 days after the last public 
meeting, whichever is later. We will provide additional opportunities 
for public participation as appropriate.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria 
related to the oil and gas RMP Amendment/EIS for the Mancos Shale/
Gallup Formation by any of the following methods:
     Web site: https://www.blm.gov/nm/farmington.
     Email: BLM_NM_FFO_RMP@blm.gov.
     Fax: 505-564-7608.
     Mail: 6251 N. College Blvd. Suite A, Farmington, NM 87402.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the 
Farmington Field Office 6251 N. College Blvd. Suite A, Farmington, NM 
87402.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lindsey Eoff, Project Manager, 
Telephone: 505-564-7670; address: 6251 N. College Blvd. Suite A, 
Farmington, New Mexico 87402; email: BLM_NM_FFO_Comments@blm.gov. 
Contact Lindsey if you wish to have your name added to our mailing 
list. 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 individual 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 individual. You will receive a reply during 
normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RMP amendment is being developed in 
order to analyze the impacts of additional development in what was 
previously considered a fully developed oil and gas play within the San 
Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico. The Mancos Shale/Gallup 
Formation was analyzed in the 2002 Reasonable Foreseeable Development 
(RFD) Scenario and current Farmington Field Office 2003 RMP/EIS. 
Subsequent improvements and innovations in horizontal drilling 
technology and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing have enhanced the 
economics of developing this stratigraphic horizon. With favorable oil 
prices, the oil play in the southern part of the Farmington Field 
Office boundary has drawn considerable interest and several wells are 
planned and being drilled. As full-field development occurs, especially 
in the shale oil play, additional impacts may occur that previously 
were not anticipated in the RFD or analyzed in the current 2003 RMP/
EIS, which will require an EIS-level plan amendment and revision of the 
RFD for complete analysis of the Mancos Shale/Gallup Formation. The 
planning area is located in northwestern New Mexico, encompassing about 
4 million acres,

[[Page 10549]]

and the analysis area encompasses about 6 million acres. The Field 
Office is part of the Farmington District and includes San Juan, 
McKinley, Rio Arriba, and Sandoval Counties. The majority of the BLM-
managed land in the Field Office is located within larger tracts, with 
tribal, Indian allotted, scattered private, and State-owned inholdings. 
The area includes the larger communities of Farmington, Aztec, 
Bloomfield, and the smaller communities of Kirtland, Fruitland, 
Shiprock, Crownpoint, and Navajo Dam. Lands and mineral estate managed 
by the BLM for other Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service 
and the Bureau of Reclamation, are included in this RMP Amendment 
process and the analysis area. The purpose of the public scoping 
process is to determine relevant issues that will influence the scope 
of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and guide the 
planning process. Preliminary issues for the plan amendment area have 
been identified by BLM personnel; Federal, State, and local agencies; 
and other stakeholders. The issues include: Public safety and hazardous 
materials; air quality; leasable, locatable and salable minerals; 
vegetation management; socio-economics; water (ground and surface); 
wildlife; migratory birds; special status species management; cultural 
resources; paleontological resources; realty and lands authorizations; 
and transportation and travel management. This EIS is in preparation of 
an RMP Amendment and not a revision, therefore, not all decisions from 
the 2003 RMP will be revisited. Decisions will be made related to 
impacts from oil and gas for the following resources and resource uses 
in the planning area: Air resources (air quality and climate change); 
soil resources; water resources (ground and surface); vegetative 
communities (e.g., rangelands, riparian areas, and weeds); wildlife/
habitat management areas; leasable, locatable, and salable minerals; 
land use authorizations. Additional inventories will be conducted for 
lands with wilderness characteristics, transportation and travel 
management. All other resources are outside of the scope of this 
planning effort; however, impacts of the decisions for the resources 
being addressed will be analyzed on all affected resources. Preliminary 
planning criteria include:
     The Field Office will prepare the RMP Amendment in 
compliance with FLPMA, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, 
the Clean Air Act, NEPA, and all other applicable laws, Executive 
Orders, and the BLM management policies.
     The Field Office will use the EIS as the analytical basis 
for any decision it makes to amend the RMP.
     The Field Office is developing an RFD to predict future 
levels of development.
     Lands covered in the RMP Amendment/EIS will be public land 
and split estates managed by the BLM.
     No decisions will be made relative to non-BLM administered 
lands.
     The Field Office will recognize valid existing rights 
under the RMPs, as amended.
     The Field Office will coordinate with Federal, State, and 
local agencies, and with tribal governments in the EIS and plan 
amendment process to strive for consistency with existing plans and 
policies, to the extent practicable.
     The Field Office will coordinate with tribal governments 
and provide strategies for the protection of recognized traditional 
uses in the EIS and plan amendment process.
     The Field Office will take into account appropriate 
protection and management of cultural and historic resources in the EIS 
and plan amendment process and will engage in all required 
consultation.
     The Field Office will recognize in the EIS and plan 
amendment the special importance of public lands to people who live in 
communities surrounded by public lands and the importance of public 
lands to the nation as a whole.
     The Field Office will make every effort to encourage 
public participation throughout the EIS process.
     The Field Office has the authority to develop protective 
management prescriptions for lands with wilderness characteristics 
within RMPs. As part of the public involvement process for land use 
planning, the BLM will consider public input regarding lands to be 
managed to maintain wilderness characteristics.
     Environmental protection and energy production are both 
desirable and necessary objectives of sound land management practices 
and are not to be considered mutually exclusive priorities.
     Broad-based public participation will be an integral part 
of the planning and EIS process. Decisions in the plan will strive to 
be compatible with the existing plans and policies of adjacent local, 
State, Federal, and tribal agencies as long as the decisions are 
consistent with the purposes, policies, and programs of Federal law and 
regulations applicable to public lands.
     The RMP Amendment/EIS will recognize the State's 
responsibility and authority to manage wildlife. The BLM will consult 
with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
     The RMP Amendment/EIS will incorporate management 
decisions brought forward from existing planning documents.
    The BLM will use the NEPA public participation requirements to 
assist the agency in satisfying the public involvement requirements 
under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 
U.S.C. 470(f)) pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). The information about 
historic and cultural resources within the area potentially affected by 
the proposed action will assist the BLM in identifying and evaluating 
impacts to such resources in the context of both NEPA and Section 106 
of the NHPA.
    The BLM will consult with Indian tribes on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other 
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and 
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due 
consideration. Federal, State, and local agencies, along with tribes 
and other 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 requested by 
the BLM to participate in the development of the environmental analysis 
as a cooperating agency.
    You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing 
to the BLM at any public scoping meeting, or you may submit them to the 
BLM using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section above. To 
be most helpful, you should submit comments by the close of the 60-day 
scoping period or within 15 days after the last public meeting, 
whichever is later. 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 minutes and list of attendees for each scoping meeting will be 
available to the public and open for 30 days after the meeting to any 
participant who wishes to clarify the views he or she expressed. The 
BLM will evaluate identified issues to be addressed in the plan, and 
will place them into one of three categories:

[[Page 10550]]

    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan amendment;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action; 
or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan amendment.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the 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 work collaboratively with 
interested parties to identify the management decisions that are best 
suited to local, regional, and national needs and concerns.
    Parties interested in leasing and developing Federal coal in the 
planning area should provide coal resource data for their area(s) of 
interest. Specifically, information is requested on the location, 
quality, and quantity of Federal coal with development potential, and 
on surface resource values related to the 20 coal unsuitability 
criteria described in 43 CFR part 3461. This information will be used 
for any necessary updating of coal screening determinations in the 
planning area. The coal screening process is described in 43 CFR 
3420.1-4. Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted in 
response to this call for coal information. Please submit all 
proprietary information submissions to the address listed above. The 
BLM will treat submissions marked as ``Confidential'' in accordance 
with applicable laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of 
such information.
    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan 
amendment in order to consider the variety of resource issues and 
concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following 
disciplines will be involved in the planning process: Rangeland 
management, minerals and geology, outdoor recreation, archaeology, 
paleontology, wildlife, migratory birds, vegetation, special status 
species, air quality, lands and realty, hydrology, soils, sociology and 
economics.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2.

Aden L. Seidlitz,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-04051 Filed 2-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-FB-P