Notice of Availability of Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Region, 10328-10330 [2019-05295]
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10328
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 20, 2019 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[19X.LLAK930000 L16100000.PN0000]
Notice of Availability of the Draft
Bering Sea-Western Interior Resource
Management Plan and Environmental
Impact Statement, Alaska; Notice of
Public Meetings and Subsistence
Hearings
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), Anchorage Field
Office, Anchorage, Alaska, is issuing for
public comment the Draft Resource
Management Plan (RMP) and
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the Bering Sea-Western Interior
(BSWI) planning area. The BLM is also
announcing that it will hold public
meetings and Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
Section 810 subsistence-related hearings
to receive comments on the BSWI RMP/
EIS.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be
considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft RMP/EIS
within 90 days following the date the
Environmental Protection Agency
publishes its Notice of Availability of
the Draft RMP/EIS in the Federal
Register. The BLM will announce
public meetings and ANILCA Section
810 subsistence-related hearings and
any other public participation activities
at least 15 days in advance through
public notices, media releases, and/or
mailings.
SUMMARY:
You may provide comments
by mail, fax, email, or in person. Mail
comments to: BLM Anchorage Field
Office, Attention—BSWI RMP, 4700
BLM Road, Anchorage, AK 99507; fax
comments to 907–267–1267; email
comments to BSWI_RMP_COMMENT@
blm.gov; or hand-deliver comments
during normal business hours (9 a.m. to
4 p.m.) to the BLM Anchorage Field
Office at 4700 BLM Road, Anchorage,
AK 99507.
You can review the BSWI RMP/EIS
online at BLM Alaska’s website at
www.blm.gov/alaska/BSWI. Copies of
the BSWI Draft RMP/EIS are available
for viewing in the BLM Anchorage Field
Office at the above address; the BLM
Alaska Public Information Center
(Public Room) at the Federal Building at
222 West 8th Avenue, Anchorage; the
Alaska Resources Library & Information
Services (ARLIS) Library Building at
3211 Providence Drive, Suite 111,
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ADDRESSES:
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17:27 Mar 19, 2019
Jkt 247001
Anchorage; and the Yukon Delta
National Wildlife Refuge Office at 807
Eddie Hoffman Highway, Bethel. You
may also request an electronic or paper
copy of the BSWI Draft RMP/EIS by
contacting Jorjena Barringer, BLM
project lead, at 907–267–1246.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jorjena Barringer RMP Project Manager,
BLM Anchorage Field Office, telephone:
907–267–1246, email: BSWI_RMP_
COMMENT@blm.gov. People who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to
contact the above individual during
normal business hours. The FRS 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 BSWI
Planning Area is located in western
Alaska and encompasses approximately
62.3 million acres of land, including
13.5 million acres managed by the BLM.
The planning area extends south from
the Central Yukon watershed through
the Kuskokwim River watershed,
including all lands west of Denali
National Park and Preserve to the Bering
Sea. The BSWI RMP/EIS does not apply
to non-BLM-managed lands, including
lands conveyed through the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act or Alaska
Statehood Act; Federal lands
administered by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service; private lands; or
Native allotments (including townsite
lots).
This RMP replaces the 1981
Southwest Management Framework
Plan and a small portion of the 1986
Central Yukon Resource Management
Plan, including amendments. It
provides:
• Consolidated direction to address
land and resource use and development
on BLM-managed lands within the
planning area and under one RMP, and
• Analysis of the environmental
effects that could result from the
implementation of the alternatives
proposed in the BSWI Draft RMP/EIS.
This Draft RMP/EIS evaluates four
alternatives for managing the planning
area. Alternative A, the no action
alternative, represents existing
management described by current land
use plans and provides the benchmark
against which to compare the other
alternatives. Alternative B emphasizes
reducing the potential for competition
between recreational or developmental
uses and subsistence resources by
identifying key areas for additional
management actions. Alternative C,
which is identified as the preferred
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alternative, emphasizes adaptive
management at the planning level to
maintain the long-term sustainability of
resources while providing for multiple
resource uses. Alternative D provides
additional flexibility at the projectspecific implementation level and fewer
management restrictions at the planning
level. Alternatives B, C, and D were
developed using input from the public,
stakeholders, and cooperating agencies.
Major planning issues addressed
include subsistence resources, including
water resources, fisheries, and wildlife;
forestry; minerals and mining;
recreation; travel management and
access; and areas of critical
environmental concern.
Section 810 of ANILCA requires BLM
to evaluate the effects of the alternatives
presented in the Draft EIS on
subsistence resources and activities, and
to hold public hearings if it finds that
any alternative may significantly restrict
subsistence uses. The preliminary
evaluation of subsistence impacts
indicates that each of the alternatives
analyzed in the Draft EIS and the
associated cumulative impacts may
significantly restrict subsistence uses.
Therefore, BLM will hold public
hearings on subsistence resources and
activities in conjunction with the Draft
EIS public meetings in, or in the vicinity
of, potentially affected communities.
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personally identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware
that your entire comment—including
your personally identifying
information—may be made publicly
available at any time. While you can ask
the BLM in your comment to withhold
your personally identifying information
from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 3120(a); 40 CFR
1506.6(b)
Ted A. Murphy,
Acting State Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2019–05291 Filed 3–19–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[19X LLWO230 L11100000.PN0000
LXSGPL000000]
Notice of Availability of Record of
Decision and Approved Resource
Management Plan Amendment for the
Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Region
AGENCY:
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
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20MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 20, 2019 / Notices
ACTION:
Notice of Availability.
The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) announces the
availability of the Record of Decision
(ROD) for the Approved Utah Greater
Sage-Grouse Resource Management Plan
Amendment (RMPA).
DATES: The State Director signed the
ROD on March 14, 2019, which
constitutes the final decision of the
BLM, and makes the ROD effective
immediately.
ADDRESSES: The ROD is available on the
BLM ePlanning project website at
https://go.usa.gov/xP8xc. Click the
Documents and Reports link on the left
side of the screen to find the electronic
version of these materials. Hard copies
of the ROD are also available for public
inspection at the BLM Utah State Office,
440 West 200 South, Suite 500, Salt
Lake City, UT 84101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Quincy Bahr, Greater Sage-Grouse RMP
Project Manager; telephone 801–539–
4122; address 440 West 200 South, Suite
500, Salt Lake City, UT 84101; or by
email qfbahr@blm.gov. Persons who use
a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to
contact Mr. Bahr. The FRS is available
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave
a message or question with Mr. Bahr.
You will receive a reply during normal
business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM
developed the Approved RMPA using
its discretion and authority under the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA) to improve alignment with
State management strategies and plans
for Greater Sage-Grouse, while
continuing to conserve, enhance, and
restore Greater Sage-Grouse and its
habitat. The Approved RMPA also
addressed Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs)
that were challenged in the Federal
District Court in Nevada, who
determined that the BLM had violated
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) in designating these SFAs in the
2015 plans.
The BLM developed the Approved
RMPA in collaboration with Utah
Governor Gary Herbert, State wildlife
managers, and other concerned
organizations and individuals, largely
through the Western Governors
Association’s Sage-Grouse Task Force.
This Approved RMPA is one of six
separate plan amendments developed
and issued in response to the Secretary’s
Order (SO) 3353 (Greater Sage-grouse
Conservation and Cooperation with
Western States) and in accordance with
SO 3349 (American Energy
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SUMMARY:
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17:27 Mar 19, 2019
Jkt 247001
Independence). The amendments refine
the previous management plan adopted
in 2015 and aim to strike a regulatory
balance and build greater trust among
neighboring interests in Western
communities.
The Utah Greater-Sage Grouse
Approved RMPA specifically addresses
the following issues: SFA designations;
disturbance and density caps;
mitigation; modification of habitat
objectives; changes to fluid mineral
leasing waivers, exceptions, and
modification criteria; the need for
General Habitat Management Areas;
exceptions to Greater Sage-Grouse
management within non-habitat
portions of Priority Habitat Management
Areas; lek buffers; reversing adaptive
management responses when the BLM
determines that resource conditions no
longer warrant those responses; fluid
mineral leasing objective; land disposals
and exchanges; predation; burial of
transmission lines; decisions that
require analysis of specific alternatives
during implementation; adjustment of
habitat boundaries to reflect new
information; grazing systems and
prioritization of grazing permits; water
developments management in relation
to water rights; travel and transportation
management planning; and surface coal
mining. The Approved RMPA amends
the following RMPs for BLMadministered lands in Utah:
• Box Elder Resource Management Plan
(1986)
• Cedar/Beaver/Garfield/Antimony
Resource Management Plan (1986)
• Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument Management Plan (2000)
• House Range Resource Management
Plan (1987)
• Kanab Resource Management Plan
(2008)
• Park City Management Framework
Plan (1975)
• Pinyon Management Framework Plan
(1978)
• Pony Express Resource Management
Plan (1990)
• Price Resource Management Plan
(2008)
• Randolph Management Framework
Plan (1980)
• Richfield Resource Management Plan
(2008)
• Salt Lake District Isolated Tracts
Planning Analysis (1985)
• Vernal Resource Management Plan
(2008)
• Warm Springs Resource Management
Plan (1987)
The planning area includes
approximately 48,158,700 acres of BLM,
National Park Service, United States
Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of
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10329
Reclamation, State, local, and private
lands located in Utah, in 27 counties:
Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon,
Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Emery,
Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane,
Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake,
Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele,
Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Wayne, and
Weber. Within the decision area, which
is limited to the portions of the planning
area that are BLM-managed lands, the
BLM administers public lands that
provide approximately 4.1 million acres
of Greater Sage-Grouse habitat,
comprised of nearly 2.6 million acres of
surface estate and 1.5 million acres of
federal mineral estate. Surface
management decisions made in the
Approved RMPA apply only to lands
administered by the BLM in the
decision area.
The BLM prepared an EIS in
accordance with the NEPA to analyze
the direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action and the
alternatives. The ROD approves the
Agency’s Proposed Plan Amendment
identified in the Final EIS. The BLM
issued the ROD based on compliance
with relevant laws, regulations, policies,
and plans, including those guiding
agency decisions that may have an
impact on resources and their values,
services, and functions.
On December 10, 2018, the NOA for
the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Proposed
RMPA and Final EIS (83 FR 63527) was
published in the Federal Register. The
publication of the NOA initiated a 30day protest period for the proposed
land-use-planning decision. The protest
period was later extended an additional
seven days to help account for technical
issues the public encountered when
submitting protests during the partial
Federal government shutdown in
January 2019. NOA publication also
initiated a simultaneous 60-day
consistency review by the Governor of
Utah to identify any inconsistencies
with State or local plans, policies, or
programs. At the close of the protest
period, the BLM received 8 protests.
The BLM Director resolved these
protests; individual protest response
letters were sent to all protesting parties;
and the RMPA was not modified as a
result of the protest resolutions. Protest
resolutions are contained in the
Director’s Protest Summary Report,
which is available online at https://
www.blm.gov/programs/planning-andnepa/public-participation/protestresolution-reports. The BLM received
the Utah Governor’s review response on
February 4, 2019. The Governor
outlined some points of clarification
regarding the implementation of
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10330
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 20, 2019 / Notices
disturbance and density caps,
modification of habitat objectives, and
application of sage-grouse lek buffers.
His letter also recommended revisions
to the 2019 Approved RMPA and ROD
to recognize the recent changes to
Utah’s Conservation Plan for Greater
Sage-Grouse, which creates more
consistency between Utah’s plan and
the BLM’s Approved RMPA. The State
of Utah’s disturbance cap in designated
sage-grouse habitat was adjusted and set
at three percent disturbance above their
2013 baseline, a change made to better
align Utah’s sage-grouse plan with the
BLM’s and is highlighted in the ROD. In
addition to this change, Utah’s plan was
also updated to include a ‘‘Utah’s
Habitat Guidelines’’ table establishing
habitat objectives. The BLM’s Approved
RMPA, Appendix B, has been updated
to state that analysis determining
impacts on lek persistence will be
conducted in coordination with the
appropriate State of Utah agency. The
BLM also responded to the governor’s
letter by updating the ROD to document
the ongoing coordination required to
resolve the consistency issues he
identified. In addition to updating the
ROD, the BLM will present the field,
district, and monument offices with a
table and other implementation
materials detailing the changes in the
2019 Approved RMPA and which
actions from 2015 Approved RMPA will
be affected upon the signing of the ROD.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.
Edwin L. Roberson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019–05295 Filed 3–19–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–84–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–WASO–CONC–26526; PPWOBSADC0,
PPMVSCS1Y.Y00000]
Notice of Continuation of Concession
Contracts
National Park Service, Interior.
Public notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Pursuant to the terms of
existing concession contracts, public
notice is hereby given that the National
Park Service intends to request a
continuation of visitor services for the
periods specified below.
SUMMARY:
Park unit
Dated: March 12, 2019.
Lena McDowall,
Deputy Director, Management and
Administration.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
jbell on DSK30RV082PROD with NOTICES
[NPS–WASO–CONC–26525; PPWOBSADC0,
PPMVSCS1Y.Y00000]
Notice of Extension of Concession
Contracts and Intent To Award
Temporary Concession Contract
Jkt 247001
The National Park Service
intends for the extensions and
temporary concession contract to
commence on January 1, 2019.
DATES:
Kurt
Rausch, Acting Program Chief,
Commercial Services Program, National
Park Service, 1849 C Street NW, Mail
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
National Park Service, Interior.
Public notice.
17:27 Mar 19, 2019
Guest Services, Inc.
Concepts by Staib, Ltd.
Koru Village Incorporated.
Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, Inc.
ARAMARK Sports and Entertainment Services, Inc.
ARAMARK Leisure Services, Inc.
Rex G. Maughan and Ruth G. Maughan.
Lake Mead R.V. Village, LLC.
Rex G. Maughan and Ruth G. Maughan.
Las Vegas Boat Harbor, Inc.
Temple Bar Marina, LLC.
Golf Course Specialists, Inc.
The National Park Service
hereby gives public notice that it
proposes to extend the expiring
concession contracts listed in the table
below until the date shown in the
‘‘Extension Date’’ column, or until the
effective date of a new contract,
whichever occurs sooner. The National
Park Service hereby gives public notice
that it intends to award one temporary
concession contract as described below.
BILLING CODE 4312–53–P
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NACC003–86
INDE001–94
CAHA001–98
CAHA004–98
GLCA002–88
GLCA003–69
LAKE001–73
LAKE002–82
LAKE005–97
LAKE006–74
LAKE009–88
NACC001–89
Concessioner
SUMMARY:
[FR Doc. 2019–05197 Filed 3–19–19; 8:45 am]
ACTION:
Kurt
Rausch, Acting Chief, Commercial
Services Program, National Park
Service, 1849 C Street NW, Mail Stop
2410, Washington, DC 20240,
Telephone: 202–513–7156.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
contracts listed below have been
extended to the maximum allowable
under 36 CFR 51.23. Under the
provisions of the respective concession
contracts and pending the completion of
the public solicitation of a prospectus
for a new concession contract, the
National Park Service authorizes
continuation of visitor services for a
period not-to-exceed 1-year
commencing January 1, 2019, under the
terms and conditions of the current
contract as amended. The continuation
of operations does not affect any rights
with respect to selection for award of a
new concession contract. The
publication of this notice merely reflects
the intent of the National Park Service
but does not bind the National Park
Service to continue any of the contracts
listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
CONCID
National Mall and Memorial Parks .............................................................
Independence National Historical Park ......................................................
Cape Hatteras National Seashore .............................................................
Cape Hatteras National Seashore .............................................................
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area .....................................................
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area .....................................................
Lake Mead National Recreation Area ........................................................
Lake Mead National Recreation Area ........................................................
Lake Mead National Recreation Area ........................................................
Lake Mead National Recreation Area ........................................................
Lake Mead National Recreation Area ........................................................
National Capital Parks Central ...................................................................
AGENCY:
The National Park Service
intends for the continuation to
commence on January 1, 2019.
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00041
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Stop 2410, Washington, DC 20240,
Telephone: 202–513–7156.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All of the
concession contracts listed in the first
table below will expire by their terms on
or before December 31, 2018. The
National Park Service intends to extend
the concession contracts shown until
the specific date shown in the
‘‘Extension Date’’ column, or until the
effective date of a new concession
contract, whichever occurs first. For the
second table, the contract is extended
until the date shown in the ‘‘Extension
Date’’ column. Under the provisions of
current concession contracts, the
National Park Service authorizes
extension of visitor services for the
listed contracts under the terms and
conditions of the current contract (as
amended if applicable). The extension
E:\FR\FM\20MRN1.SGM
20MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10328-10330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05295]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[19X LLWO230 L11100000.PN0000 LXSGPL000000]
Notice of Availability of Record of Decision and Approved
Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse
Sub-Region
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
[[Page 10329]]
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Utah Greater Sage-
Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA).
DATES: The State Director signed the ROD on March 14, 2019, which
constitutes the final decision of the BLM, and makes the ROD effective
immediately.
ADDRESSES: The ROD is available on the BLM ePlanning project website at
https://go.usa.gov/xP8xc. Click the Documents and Reports link on the
left side of the screen to find the electronic version of these
materials. Hard copies of the ROD are also available for public
inspection at the BLM Utah State Office, 440 West 200 South, Suite 500,
Salt Lake City, UT 84101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Quincy Bahr, Greater Sage-Grouse RMP
Project Manager; telephone 801-539-4122; address 440 West 200 South,
Suite 500, Salt Lake City, UT 84101; or by email qfbahr@blm.gov.
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call
the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr. Bahr.
The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message
or question with Mr. Bahr. You will receive a reply during normal
business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM developed the Approved RMPA using
its discretion and authority under the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act (FLPMA) to improve alignment with State management
strategies and plans for Greater Sage-Grouse, while continuing to
conserve, enhance, and restore Greater Sage-Grouse and its habitat. The
Approved RMPA also addressed Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) that were
challenged in the Federal District Court in Nevada, who determined that
the BLM had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in
designating these SFAs in the 2015 plans.
The BLM developed the Approved RMPA in collaboration with Utah
Governor Gary Herbert, State wildlife managers, and other concerned
organizations and individuals, largely through the Western Governors
Association's Sage-Grouse Task Force. This Approved RMPA is one of six
separate plan amendments developed and issued in response to the
Secretary's Order (SO) 3353 (Greater Sage-grouse Conservation and
Cooperation with Western States) and in accordance with SO 3349
(American Energy Independence). The amendments refine the previous
management plan adopted in 2015 and aim to strike a regulatory balance
and build greater trust among neighboring interests in Western
communities.
The Utah Greater-Sage Grouse Approved RMPA specifically addresses
the following issues: SFA designations; disturbance and density caps;
mitigation; modification of habitat objectives; changes to fluid
mineral leasing waivers, exceptions, and modification criteria; the
need for General Habitat Management Areas; exceptions to Greater Sage-
Grouse management within non-habitat portions of Priority Habitat
Management Areas; lek buffers; reversing adaptive management responses
when the BLM determines that resource conditions no longer warrant
those responses; fluid mineral leasing objective; land disposals and
exchanges; predation; burial of transmission lines; decisions that
require analysis of specific alternatives during implementation;
adjustment of habitat boundaries to reflect new information; grazing
systems and prioritization of grazing permits; water developments
management in relation to water rights; travel and transportation
management planning; and surface coal mining. The Approved RMPA amends
the following RMPs for BLM-administered lands in Utah:
Box Elder Resource Management Plan (1986)
Cedar/Beaver/Garfield/Antimony Resource Management Plan (1986)
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan
(2000)
House Range Resource Management Plan (1987)
Kanab Resource Management Plan (2008)
Park City Management Framework Plan (1975)
Pinyon Management Framework Plan (1978)
Pony Express Resource Management Plan (1990)
Price Resource Management Plan (2008)
Randolph Management Framework Plan (1980)
Richfield Resource Management Plan (2008)
Salt Lake District Isolated Tracts Planning Analysis (1985)
Vernal Resource Management Plan (2008)
Warm Springs Resource Management Plan (1987)
The planning area includes approximately 48,158,700 acres of BLM,
National Park Service, United States Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation, State, local, and private lands located in Utah, in 27
counties: Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne,
Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich,
Salt Lake, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch,
Wayne, and Weber. Within the decision area, which is limited to the
portions of the planning area that are BLM-managed lands, the BLM
administers public lands that provide approximately 4.1 million acres
of Greater Sage-Grouse habitat, comprised of nearly 2.6 million acres
of surface estate and 1.5 million acres of federal mineral estate.
Surface management decisions made in the Approved RMPA apply only to
lands administered by the BLM in the decision area.
The BLM prepared an EIS in accordance with the NEPA to analyze the
direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action and the alternatives. The ROD approves the Agency's
Proposed Plan Amendment identified in the Final EIS. The BLM issued the
ROD based on compliance with relevant laws, regulations, policies, and
plans, including those guiding agency decisions that may have an impact
on resources and their values, services, and functions.
On December 10, 2018, the NOA for the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse
Proposed RMPA and Final EIS (83 FR 63527) was published in the Federal
Register. The publication of the NOA initiated a 30-day protest period
for the proposed land-use-planning decision. The protest period was
later extended an additional seven days to help account for technical
issues the public encountered when submitting protests during the
partial Federal government shutdown in January 2019. NOA publication
also initiated a simultaneous 60-day consistency review by the Governor
of Utah to identify any inconsistencies with State or local plans,
policies, or programs. At the close of the protest period, the BLM
received 8 protests. The BLM Director resolved these protests;
individual protest response letters were sent to all protesting
parties; and the RMPA was not modified as a result of the protest
resolutions. Protest resolutions are contained in the Director's
Protest Summary Report, which is available online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports. The BLM received the Utah Governor's review
response on February 4, 2019. The Governor outlined some points of
clarification regarding the implementation of
[[Page 10330]]
disturbance and density caps, modification of habitat objectives, and
application of sage-grouse lek buffers. His letter also recommended
revisions to the 2019 Approved RMPA and ROD to recognize the recent
changes to Utah's Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-Grouse, which
creates more consistency between Utah's plan and the BLM's Approved
RMPA. The State of Utah's disturbance cap in designated sage-grouse
habitat was adjusted and set at three percent disturbance above their
2013 baseline, a change made to better align Utah's sage-grouse plan
with the BLM's and is highlighted in the ROD. In addition to this
change, Utah's plan was also updated to include a ``Utah's Habitat
Guidelines'' table establishing habitat objectives. The BLM's Approved
RMPA, Appendix B, has been updated to state that analysis determining
impacts on lek persistence will be conducted in coordination with the
appropriate State of Utah agency. The BLM also responded to the
governor's letter by updating the ROD to document the ongoing
coordination required to resolve the consistency issues he identified.
In addition to updating the ROD, the BLM will present the field,
district, and monument offices with a table and other implementation
materials detailing the changes in the 2019 Approved RMPA and which
actions from 2015 Approved RMPA will be affected upon the signing of
the ROD.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.
Edwin L. Roberson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-05295 Filed 3-19-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P
