83 FR 11785 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the West Mojave Route Network Project and Draft Land Use Plan Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan in the West Mojave Planning Area, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, CA

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 52 (March 16, 2018)

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 Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA) and Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the West Mojave Route Network Project (WMRNP) within the West Mojave (WEMO) Planning Area of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) and by this Notice is announcing the opening of the 90-day public comment period.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11785-11786]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05272]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCAD08000.L12200000.DS0000.18XL1109AF.LXSSB0010000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement for the West Mojave Route Network Project and Draft 
Land Use Plan Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan 
in the West Mojave Planning Area, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, 
and San Bernardino Counties, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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 Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA) and Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the West Mojave Route 
Network Project (WMRNP) within the West Mojave (WEMO) Planning Area of 
the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) and by this Notice is 
announcing the opening of the 90-day public comment period.

DATES: To ensure public comments will be considered, the BLM must 
receive written comments on the DSEIS/LUPA within 90 days following the 
date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of 
Availability 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 WMRNP by any of the 
following methods:
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 951-697-5299; Attn: WMRNP Plan Amendment.
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, California Desert 
District, Attn: WMRNP Plan Amendment, 22835 Calle San Juan de Los 
Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553.
    Copies of the WMRNP Draft LUPA and DS EIS are available in the 
California Desert District Office at the above address; the Ridgecrest 
Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Rd., Ridgecrest, CA 93555; and the 
Barstow Field Office, 2601 Barstow Road, Barstow CA 92311. Copies are 
also available online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-development/california/west-mojave-plan-route-network.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Toedtli, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, 2601 Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311; 
telephone 760-252-6026; email [email protected]. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay 
Service at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal 
business hours. The service 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 WMRNP will delineate travel management 
areas, adopt transportation and travel management strategies, and 
designate routes on public lands in the WEMO Planning Area. The WEMO 
Planning Area covers 9.4-million acres of the CDCA in the western 
portion of the Mojave Desert in southern California, including parts of 
San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern, and Inyo counties. The 
WMRNP applies to the 3.1-million acres of public lands within the WEMO 
Planning Area. In March 2006, the BLM signed the Record of Decision 
(ROD) for the WEMO Plan and Amendment to the CDCA Plan. In January 
2011, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California 
partially remanded the 2006 WEMO Plan Amendment ROD back to the BLM and 
directed the BLM to amend the CDCA Plan and reconsider route 
designation throughout the WEMO Planning Area, as well as other 
specified issues in the 2006 WEMO Plan (Center for Biological Diversity 
v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management Order Re: Remedy (N.D. Cal. Jan 28, 
2011)). The court's order: (1) Invalidated the ``decision tree'' 
instrument used to evaluate and designate routes; (2) found that the 
authorization of off-highway vehicles (OHV) routes that were not in 
existence in 1980 were inconsistent with the governing land use plan; 
(3) found that there was not a reasonable range of alternatives to the 
proposed action, including an inadequate discussion of the No Action 
alternative; and (4) found that BLM had done an inadequate analysis of 
impacts from the route network and the grazing program to specific 
resource values, including soils, cultural resources, certain 
biological resources, and air quality.
    On September 13, 2011, the BLM issued a Notice of Intent (amended 
May 2, 2013, 78 FR 25758), inviting comments on the proposed scope and 
content of the WMRNP. The WMRNP includes a LUPA to the CDCA Plan for 
livestock grazing, recreation, and motor vehicle access elements for 
the WEMO Planning Area; an associated travel management framework; and 
activity-plan level route designations and implementation strategies. 
The lands covered in the WMRNP are those that are within livestock 
grazing allotments or designated as ``Limited'' to designated routes 
for motorized access. Areas ``Closed'' to motorized access are not 
proposed for change in this plan amendment and are not within the scope 
of the planning effort.
    The 9.4-million acres WEMO Planning Area includes several large 
Department of Defense facilities, covering almost 3 million acres; a 
portion of one national park; 3 million acres of private lands; and 
approximately 100,000 acres of State lands, including Red Rock Canyon 
State Park. The planning area is also adjacent to four national parks/
preserves and four national forests. Much of the planning area is 
managed as part of the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, 
including 18 wilderness areas, three wilderness study areas, and 
portions of the Pacific Crest Trail and the Old Spanish National 
Historic Trail. The planning area also includes 60 Areas of Critical 
Environmental Concern, five California Desert National Conservation 
Lands, seven National Register Archaeological or Historic Districts, 
and four Critical Habitat Units for the federally listed desert 
tortoise.
    The planning area also includes eight OHV Open Areas that provide 
major points of ingress to and egress from the adjacent areas 
``Limited'' to designated routes on public land. No changes are 
proposed to these OHV Open Areas or their boundaries.
    The BLM used a public scoping process to determine issues, impacts, 
and possible alternatives that could influence the scope of the 
environmental analysis, and to help guide the agency from planning-
level decision-making to route designation in order to comply with the 
court order.
    The BLM initially published a Notice of Availability for the DSEIS 
for the West Mojave Route Network Project in March 2015, which was made 
available for public comment. Concurrently, the BLM was considering 
amending the CDCA Plan through the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation 
Plan

[[Page 11786]]

(DRECP). The DRECP is a landscape-scale plan that considered renewable 
energy development and conservation in the CDCA. The DRECP LUPA was 
completed in September 2016, and included changes to land use 
allocations and management of those allocations. Based on public 
comment associated with the DRECP, the BLM decided to issue a new DS 
EIS for the West Mojave Route Network Project. The new DSEIS considers 
the DRECP LUPA's changes in the CDCA Plan.
    During previous project scoping, the public raised the following 
transportation and management concerns:
     Need for a good inventory and accurate information related 
to the existing environment;
     Documentation and use of the regulatory criteria (43 CFR 
8342.1) for route minimization;
     Mitigation for loss of access;
     Sensitive resource protection;
     Maintenance of access for various types of recreational, 
scientific, and other uses;
     Access to private lands;
     Trespass;
     Regional connectivity;
     Improving GIS and on-the-ground information for the 
public; and
     Implementation strategies such as signing, monitoring, and 
law enforcement.
    In addition, a substantial number of comments indicated issues and 
needs associated with specific routes and route areas in the WEMO 
transportation system, and included recommendations on the designation 
of specific routes, including limiting use to street-legal vehicles. A 
few comments were also received on livestock grazing issues and the 
scope of the supplemental grazing program analysis.
    In response to court order and on-the-ground changes since 2006, 
the DS EIS/LUPA, through four different alternatives, also includes 
consideration of the cumulative effects of the transportation system 
alternatives to resource values--particularly air quality, soils, 
cultural resources, certain biological resources, and certain sensitive 
species--as well as cumulative effects of livestock grazing and 
potential cumulative loss of recreational access opportunities. In 
response to public input, access considerations focused on maintaining 
a viable transportation network, diversifying recreational 
opportunities, providing access for specific users (e.g., rockhounds, 
motorcyclists, scientific and educational activities, and non-motorized 
users), dealing with conflicts among users, and maintaining commercial 
access needs.
    The draft plan amendments address specific CDCA Plan 
inconsistencies with regulation and policies in the WEMO Planning Area, 
including amending language that limits the route network to routes 
that existed in 1980 and travel management guidance for route 
designations. Changes are proposed to the land-use plan guidelines for 
stopping, parking, and camping adjacent to routes in Limited Access 
Areas within the WEMO Planning Area, and to establish a regional 
minimization strategy for the route network. Through Alternative 2, 
changes are also considered to the livestock grazing program that would 
reallocate forage from livestock use to wildlife use and ecosystem 
function in desert tortoise critical habitat for active allotments or 
allotments that become vacant. In addition, the Draft considers plan-
level decisions modifying motorized use on four specific lakebeds, 
including Cuddeback Dry Lake, and competitive motorized use of routes. 
The Draft also considers activity-level travel management plans. Four 
alternatives are evaluated, including a No Action alternative.
    Finally, the Draft includes activity-level specific route 
designation alternatives, based on the 43 CFR 8342.1 criteria and 
different thresholds for minimization or closure. The preferred 
alternative would designate a sustainable travel network and 
transportation system of approximately 6,300 miles from an inventory of 
about 16,000 miles of linear transportation features within the WEMO 
Planning Area, as compared to the current network of approximately 
6,000 miles. The designated route network addresses the need for 
public, authorized, and administrative access to and across BLM-managed 
lands, including motorized, non-motorized, and non-mechanized modes of 
travel, while balancing the need to protect sensitive desert resources, 
and minimizing the impact to those resources.
    The preferred alternative also includes network-wide minimization 
measures that would limit the extent of off-route stopping and parking 
throughout the planning area to (1) Minimize impacts to undisturbed 
habitat; (2) Enhance watersheds; and (3) Protect adjacent sensitive 
resources. Other measures are based on proximity to sensitive 
resources, such as riparian systems, that would enhance these resources 
throughout the planning area. The preferred alternative provides for 
designated camping and staging areas to direct intensive use to 
manageable locations.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted, 
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who 
submit 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 
request to withhold your personal identifying information from public 
review, BLM cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

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

Jerome E. Perez,
California State Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-05272 Filed 3-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-40-P