80 FR 72732 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Roan Plateau Planning Area, Colorado

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 224 (November 20, 2015)

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Roan Plateau planning area and by this notice is announcing the opening of a 90-day comment period.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 224 (Friday, November 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72732-72733]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29716]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCON04000 L16100000.DP0000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan 
Amendment and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Roan 
Plateau Planning Area, Colorado

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a 
Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Roan Plateau planning area 
and by this notice is announcing the opening of a 90-day comment 
period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft Supplemental EIS 
within 90 days following the date the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) publishes its notice of the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft 
Supplemental EIS in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce future 
meetings or hearings and any other public participation activities at 
least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or 
mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Roan Plateau Draft 
RMP Amendment/Draft Supplemental EIS by any of the following methods:
     Web site: www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/land_use_planning/rmp/roan_plateau.html.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 970-876-9090.
     Mail: BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office, Attn: Roan 
Plateau SEIS, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, CO 81652.

Copies of the Roan Plateau Draft RMP Amendment/Draft Supplemental EIS 
are available in the Colorado River Valley Field Office at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Larson, Project Manager, 
telephone (970) 876-9048, see address above; email [email protected]. 
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, seven 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 BLM prepared the Roan Plateau Draft RMP 
Amendment/Supplemental EIS to evaluate a range of management decisions 
for resources, resource uses and special designations and to respond to 
a June 22, 2012, ruling by the United States District Court for the 
District of Colorado remanding the 2007 and 2008 Roan Plateau Records 
of Decision. The Court set aside the 2007 Roan Plateau Plan amendment 
and remanded the matter to the BLM for further action in accordance 
with the Court's decision. In particular, the Court found that the 
Final EIS was deficient insofar as it failed to sufficiently address: 
(i) The ``Community Alternative'' that various local governments, 
environmental organizations, and individual members of the public 
recommended; (ii) The cumulative air quality impacts of the Plan 
amendment decision in conjunction with anticipated oil and gas 
development on private lands outside the Roan Plateau Planning Area; 
and (iii) The issue of potential ozone impacts from proposed oil and 
gas development. In view of the Court's ruling and new information 
available since the BLM developed the Final EIS, the BLM determined 
that a new proposed Plan Amendment and a supplemental analysis under 
NEPA were warranted. Additionally, a settlement agreement was reached 
among the parties involved in the litigation in November 2014. The 
Supplemental EIS includes an alternative that was part of the November 
2014 settlement.
    The Planning Area, which is in west-central Colorado, includes 
approximately 73,602 acres of Federal land (Federal surface, Federal 
mineral estate, or both), and is located primarily in Garfield County 
with a small portion in southern Rio Blanco County. The Roan Plateau 
RMP Amendment proposes to amend the Glenwood Springs and White River 
RMPs for the resource management decisions within the Planning Area. 
The BLM began developing the Roan Plateau RMP Amendment with scoping in 
2000. The Draft EIS was published in November 2004. The Final EIS was 
published in August 2006. The BLM then issued two Records of Decision, 
one in June 2007 and a second, pertaining to Areas of Critical 
Environmental Concern, in March 2008. Following the District Court 
ruling in 2012, the Notice of Intent to develop the Draft RMP 
Amendment/Supplemental EIS was published in January 2013, initiating a 
second scoping period. The BLM held two public scoping meetings in 
February 2013 and received approximately 25,000 comment submissions 
during the scoping period. The Colorado River Valley Field Office held 
eight Cooperating Agency meetings for the Supplemental EIS. Cooperating 
agencies included the EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the 
Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and 
Wildlife, the City of Rifle, the towns of Silt and Parachute, and Rio 
Blanco, Garfield, and Mesa Counties. No other Federal agencies

[[Page 72733]]

manage surface within the planning area. The closest non-BLM surface 
management unit to the Roan Plateau planning area is the White River 
National Forest to the northwest.
    Major issues considered in the Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental EIS 
include fluid minerals management, social and economic impacts, 
riparian habitat management; and air, water, and ecological resources. 
Due to the limited size of the Planning Area and the supplemental 
nature of this analysis, regional mitigation and landscape level 
analysis are not specifically considered in this document; however, the 
BLM Colorado River Valley and White River field offices have considered 
them in their broader planning areas. The RMP also addresses decisions 
regarding Wild and Scenic Rivers, Areas of Critical Environmental 
Concern (ACECs), and lands with wilderness characteristics. Greater 
Sage-Grouse decisions proposed in the Amendment are consistent with the 
Northwest Colorado Greater Sage-Grouse Amendment Record of Decision.
    The Draft RMP Amendment/Supplemental EIS focuses on evaluating new 
information and new issues raised since the BLM developed the 2006 Roan 
Plateau Final EIS. This includes an evaluation of four alternatives 
including the No Action Alternative (Alternative I). Alternative II is 
based on the Proposed Plan from the 2006 Roan RMP Amendment/Final EIS 
and includes updated decisions and analysis based on new information, 
including refined mapping, and issues raised during scoping. 
Alternative III is based on the ``Community Alternative'' raised during 
the original EIS process by Rock the Earth, and augmented with input 
from Supplemental EIS scoping comments. This alternative allows oil and 
gas leasing throughout the planning area, but limits surface 
disturbance on BLM lands above the rim (i.e, on top of the plateau). 
Wilderness characteristics would be managed for protection in this 
alternative, and all eligible rivers in the planning area would be 
determined to be suitable for designation as Wild and Scenic Rivers. 
Target shooting would be prohibited within \1/4\ mile (610 acres) of a 
popular road that runs through an area designated as open to cross 
country off-highway vehicle travel in Alternative III. Alternative IV 
is the BLM's Preferred Alternative and is based on the terms of the 
Settlement Agreement. This alternative would allow for leasing at the 
base of the plateau (11,170 acres) and within several retained lease 
areas on the top of the plateau (1,830 acres), subject to development 
restrictions described in the Settlement Agreement. Specific management 
prescriptions intended to protect lands with wilderness characteristics 
and Wild and Scenic Rivers are not proposed in this alternative as they 
were not addressed as part of the Settlement Agreement; however, they 
are analyzed within the range of alternatives for consideration. Other 
resource management decisions in this alternative would be similar to 
Alternative II.
    Pursuant to 43 CFR 1610.7-2(b), this notice announces a concurrent 
public comment period on the proposed ACECs, as the previous ACEC 
decisions are also being revisited consistent with the Court's remand. 
The BLM analyzed potential ACECs meeting the relevance and importance 
criteria within the range of alternatives. All three action 
alternatives analyze the designation of four ACECs to protect key 
fisheries, botanical/ecological resources, and visual resources. The 
ACECs overlay areas with management prescriptions that include No 
Surface Occupancy stipulations and other restrictions specific to these 
resources. The proposed ACECs include:
     East Fork Parachute Creek: 6,990 acres (Alternatives II, 
III), 7,110 acres (Alternative IV)
     Trapper/Northwater Creek: 6,290 acres (Alternatives II, 
III, and IV)
     Magpie Gulch: 4,710 acres (Alternatives II, III, and IV); 
and
     Anvil Points: 6,900 acres (Alternatives II, III, and IV).
Please note that public comments and all information submitted with 
such comments will be available for public review and disclosure at the 
above address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday, except holidays.
    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.

Ruth Welch,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-29716 Filed 11-19-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P