Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 2015 Miles City Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan, Montana, 29689-29691 [2023-09714]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 88 (Monday, May 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29689-29691]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09714]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_HQ_FRN_MO# 4500169335]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 2015 
Miles City Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan, Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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 (FLMPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Draft 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 2015 Miles 
City Field Office Approved RMP that is available for public review and 
comment.

DATES: This notice announces the opening of a 90-day comment period for 
the Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental EIS beginning with the date 
following the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of 
its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA 
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.
    To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments in the 
Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS, please ensure your comments are 
received prior to the close of the 90-day comment period or 15 days 
after the last public meeting, whichever is later.
    The BLM will be holding two public meetings on the following dates 
at the following locations:
     June 6, 2023, at the Miles City Field Office, 111 
Garryowen Road, Miles City, Montana from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. MT.
     June 7, 2023, virtual meeting from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. MT. 
Registration for meeting in the ePlanning project website (see 
ADDRESSES).

ADDRESSES: The Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental EIS is

[[Page 29690]]

available for review on the BLM ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021155/510.
    Written comments related to the Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental 
EIS may only be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021155/510
     Mail: Miles City Draft Supplemental EIS/RMP Amendment, 
Attn: Irma Nansel, Project Manager, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, 
Montana 59301.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021155/510 and at the 
Miles City Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irma Nansel, Project Manager, 
telephone 406-233-3653; or at the address BLM Miles City Field Office, 
111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT, 59301; email [email protected]. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting 
Ms. Nansel. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay 
services offered within their country to make international calls to 
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Montana/Dakotas State Director has prepared a Draft RMP Amendment/
Supplemental EIS and provides information announcing the opening of the 
comment period on the Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental EIS. The RMP 
amendment would change the existing 2015 Miles City Field Office 
Approved RMP.
    The planning area is located in Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, 
Fallon, Garfield, McCone, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, 
Rosebud, Sheridan, Treasure, Wibaux, and portions of Big Horn and 
Valley Counties, Montana, and encompasses approximately 2.7 million 
surface acres and 11.7 million acres of Federal coal mineral estate of 
public land.

Purpose and Need

    The purpose of this Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental EIS is to 
address a United States District Court of Montana order (Western 
Organization of Resource Councils, et al. v. BLM; CV 00076-GF-BMM; 8/3/
2022). The purpose and need of this Draft Supplemental EIS is to 
provide additional land use planning level analysis that considers no-
leasing and limited coal leasing alternatives; to disclose the public 
health impacts, both climate and non-climate, of burning fossil fuels 
(coal, oil, and gas); and to complete new coal screens in accordance 
with 43 CFR 3420.1-4 to determine the lands to be made available for 
further consideration for coal leasing in the planning area.

Alternatives Including the Preferred Alternatives

    The BLM has analyzed four alternatives in detail, including the no 
action alternative, varying the amount of BLM-administered Federal coal 
available for further consideration for coal leasing.
    The No Action Alternative is the decision from the 2019 Approved 
RMP Amendment and brings forward the decisions that preclude coal 
leasing and development in the Miles City Field Office. It identified 
approximately 1,214,380 acres of Federal coal as available for further 
consideration for coal leasing across the Miles City Field Office.
    The Action alternatives applied the coal screens (43 CFR 3420.1-
4(e)) using current data and evaluated the issues identified through 
internal and public scoping. Application of coal screen 1 (development 
potential) identified approximately 1,745,000 Federal coal acres as 
having development potential. The Action alternatives also address the 
NEPA deficiencies identified by the court order associated with the 
application of the multiple-use screen. Specifically, they apply a 
multiple-use climate change criterion that uses greenhouse gas 
emissions as a proxy for climate change. Reducing availability of 
Federal lands reduces contribution of greenhouse gas emissions from the 
development and combustion of Federal coal from the planning area.
    Alternative B analyzes approximately 57,690 acres of Federal coal 
as available for further consideration for coal leasing. Alternative C 
analyzes approximately 810 acres of Federal coal as available for 
further consideration for coal leasing, and Alternative D analyzes 0 
(zero) acres of Federal coal as available for further consideration for 
coal leasing. The BLM revised the coal reasonably foreseeable 
development scenario from the 2015 Miles City RMP using the most 
current publicly available coal production data to forecast development 
during the planning period, to 2038. The revised reasonably foreseeable 
development scenario was applied to all alternatives.
    The BLM further considered one additional alternative but dismissed 
it from detailed analysis, as explained in the Draft RMP Amendment/
Supplemental EIS.
    Identifying a preferred alternative(s) does not indicate any final 
decision commitments from the BLM. In developing the final supplemental 
EIS and potential RMP amendment, which is the next phase of the 
planning process, the decision maker may select various components from 
each of the alternatives analyzed in the Draft Supplemental EIS. The 
Final Supplemental EIS and Potential RMP Amendment may also reflect 
changes and adjustments based on comments received on the Draft 
Supplemental EIS, new information, or changes in BLM policies or 
priorities.
    The BLM used the impact analysis, along with recommendations from 
cooperating agencies; consideration of planning criteria; and 
anticipated resolution of resource conflicts to identify Alternatives B 
and D as co-preferred alternatives from the suite of alternatives 
analyzed. Specifically, the identification of the co-preferred 
alternatives was based on the following.
     Two different alternatives have been identified as co-
preferred alternatives for the purpose of public comment and review;
     Satisfaction of statutory requirements and the court 
order; and
     Provision of an acceptable approach to addressing key 
planning issues.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes, 
including a 30-day public protest period and a 60-day Governor's 
consistency review on the Proposed RMP Amendment. The Proposed RMP 
Amendment/Final Supplemental EIS is anticipated to be available for 
public protest in September 2023 with an Approved RMP and Record of 
Decision in December 2023.
    The date(s) and location(s) of any additional meetings will be 
announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, newspapers, 
the ePlanning project page (see ADDRESSES), and the BLM website (see 
ADDRESSES).
    The BLM will continue to consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a 
government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 
13175, BLM MS 1780, and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, 
including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to 
cultural resources, will be given due consideration.

[[Page 29691]]

    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.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2.)


Sonya I. Germann,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-09714 Filed 5-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-20-P