Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment and an Associated Land Use Plan Amendment To Close the Airport Mesa Target Shooting Area, Imperial, CA, 20227-20228 [2014-08213]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 70 (Friday, April 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20227-20228]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08213]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCAD07000; L16100000.DU0000; 14XL1109AF]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment and an 
Associated Land Use Plan Amendment To Close the Airport Mesa Target 
Shooting Area, Imperial, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act (FLPMA) of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) El 
Centro Field Office, California, intends to prepare an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) to consider amending the Eastern San Diego County 
(ESDC) Resource Management Plan (RMP) to close the Airport Mesa to 
recreational target shooting. This notice announces the beginning of 
the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues.

DATES: Comments on issues may be submitted in writing until May 12, 
2014. The date(s) and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be 
announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, newspapers 
and the BLM Web site at: https://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro.html. 
In order to be included in the analysis, all comments must be received 
prior to the close of the 30-day scoping period or 30 days after the 
last public meeting, whichever is later. The BLM will provide 
additional opportunities for public participation as appropriate.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria 
related to the proposed Airport Mesa target shooting closure by any of 
the following methods:
     Web site: https://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro.html.
     Email: ngaddis@blm.gov.
     Fax: 760-337-4490.
     Mail: BLM El Centro Field Office, Attn: Nicollee Gaddis, 
1661 S. 4th Street, El Centro, CA 92243.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the El 
Centro Field Office at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicollee Gaddis, BLM Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator; telephone 760-337-4427; address 1661 S. 4th 
Street, El Centro, CA 92243; or email ngaddis@blm.gov. Contact Ms. 
Gaddis if you wish to add your name 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 Ms. 
Gaddis during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question for Ms. Gaddis. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This publication provides notice that the 
BLM El Centro Field Office, El Centro, California, intends to prepare 
an amendment to the 2008 ESDC RMP and an associated EA; announces the 
beginning of the scoping process; and seeks public input on issues and 
planning criteria. Airport Mesa is located in Eastern San Diego County, 
east of the town of Jacumba, south of U.S. Highway 80. The area 
described as the Airport Mesa/Carrizo Creek shooting area covers 
approximately 210 acres along the eastern slope of Airport Mesa.

San Bernardino Base and Meridian (SBBM)

Township 18 South, Range 8 East,
    Section 3, S\1/2\SW\1/4\SE\1/4\ and S\1/2\SE\1/4\SE\1/4\ (20 
acres, more or less);
    Section 10, Lot 9 (17.15 acres); N\1/2\NE\1/4\ (80 acres); SE\1/
4\NE\1/4\ (40 acres);
    Section 11, Lot 12 (13.05 acres); SW\1/4\NW\1/4\ (40 acres).

    The Secure Border Initiative (SBI) congressionally authorized and 
funded the California Border Patrol (U.S. Border Patrol) to increase 
its presence along the US/Mexico Border to improve our national 
security. The U.S. Border patrol has indicated that the Airport Mesa 
area is critical to its efforts to protect this area because the high 
elevation of the mesa gives agents the ability to monitor the nearby 
valleys for illegal activities. As part of this effort to increase its 
effectiveness in this area, the U.S. Border Patrol has constructed 
pedestrian and vehicle border barriers, as well as roads for access and 
maintenance. One of these access roads traverses the east slope of 
Airport Mesa. The U.S. Border Patrol now uses the top of the mesa as a 
vantage point to monitor this area. The Airport Mesa area has 
historically been an important recreational shooting area for residents 
of San Diego and Imperial Counties. The eastern slope of the mesa is 
easily accessible and provides a safe back-stop for target shooting. 
The U.S. Border Patrol's new access road crosses this eastern slope and 
is within the line-of-fire for recreational target shooters. This has 
created an unsafe situation, subjecting U.S. Border Patrol agents to 
the dangers of stray bullets or ricochets.
    Since construction of the road in October 2009, the U.S. Border 
Patrol has worked to inform shooters of the dangers associated with 
shooting in this area and has requested that shooters move elsewhere to 
shoot. On August 18, 2009, the U.S. Border Patrol issued a letter to 
the BLM requesting that the BLM formally close Airport Mesa to target 
shooting in order to protect its agents in the area.
    A temporary closure has been in place since October 2009. This 
proposal for an area closure would initiate a land use plan amendment 
to the ESDC RMP with an associated EA. The plan amendment would be 
limited to closure of target shooting only and not consider use 
restriction of approved hunting or hiking in the area.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant 
issues that will influence the scope of the EA, including alternatives, 
and guide the process for developing the EA.
    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 30-day 
scoping period.
    A preliminary list of the potential planning criteria that will be 
used to help guide and define the scope of the plan amendment includes:
    1. The plan amendment will be completed in compliance with FLPMA, 
NEPA, and all other relevant Federal laws, executive orders, and BLM 
policies;
    2. Existing valid plan decisions will not be changed and any new 
plan decisions will not conflict with existing plan decisions; and
    3. The plan amendment(s) will recognize valid existing rights.
    The BLM will evaluate identified issues to be addressed in the plan 
amendment and will place them into one of three categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan amendment;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action; 
or

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    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan amendment.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the Scoping Report or the EA 
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.
    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.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2.

Thomas F. Zale,
Field Manager, El Centro Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-08213 Filed 4-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P