83 FR 63525 - Notice of Availability of the Wyoming Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 236 (December 10, 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, (FLPMA) the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared the Wyoming Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation for the Wyoming Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Region and by this notice is announcing its availability and the opening of a protest period concerning the Proposed RMP Amendment.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 236 (Monday, December 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63525-63527]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26700]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWO200000.Ll 1100000.PH0000.LXSGPL000000.18X.HAG 18-0089]


Notice of Availability of the Wyoming Proposed Resource 
Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement

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, (FLPMA) the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared the Wyoming Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment 
and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Greater Sage-Grouse 
Conservation for the Wyoming Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Region and by this 
notice is announcing its availability and the opening of a protest 
period concerning the Proposed RMP Amendment.

DATES:  The BLM planning regulations state that any person who meets 
the conditions as described in the regulations may protest the BLM's 
proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS. A person who meets the conditions 
outlined in 43 CFR 1610.5-2 and wishes to file a protest must do so 
within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. A protest 
regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment announced with this notice must be 
filed by January 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS is available on the 
BLM ePlanning project website at https://goo.gl/FoqAn9. Click the 
Documents and Report link on the left

[[Page 63526]]

side of the screen to find the electronic version of these materials. 
Hard copies of the Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS are available 
for public inspection at the Wyoming State Office. All protests must be 
in writing (43 CFR 1610.5-2(a)(1)) and filed with the BLM Director, 
either as a hard copy or electronically via the BLM's ePlanning project 
website listed previously. To submit a protest electronically, go to 
the ePlanning project website and follow the protest instructions 
highlighted at the top of the home page.
    If submitting a protest in hard copy, it must be mailed to one of 
the following addresses:
    U.S. Postal Service Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Protest 
Coordinator, WO-210, P.O. Box 71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383.
    Overnight Delivery: BLM Director (210), Attention: Protest 
Coordinator, WO-210, 20 M Street SE, Room 2134LM, Washington, DC 20003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenny Marzluf, Greater Sage-grouse 
Implementation Coordinator by telephone, 307-775-6090; at the address 
above; or by email, [email protected]. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay 
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Ms. Marzluf. The FRS is 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question 
with Ms. Marzluf. You will receive a reply during normal business 
hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM prepared the Wyoming Greater Sage-
Grouse Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS to enhance cooperation with 
the States by improving alignment with state management plans and 
strategies for Greater Sage-Grouse, while continuing to conserve, 
enhance, and restore Greater Sage-Grouse and its habitat. The Proposed 
RMP Amendment and Final EIS also addresses the issues remanded to the 
agency by a March 31, 2017 Order by the United States District Court 
for the District of Nevada, which determined that the BLM had violated 
the NEPA when it finalized the 2015 Nevada plan.
    The BLM developed the proposed land use plan amendment in 
collaboration with Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, state wildlife managers, 
and other concerned organizations and individuals, largely through the 
Western Governors Association's Sage-Grouse Task Force. Using its 
discretion and authority under FLPMA, the BLM proposes amending land 
use plans that address Greater Sage-Grouse management to improve 
alignment with individual state plans or management strategies, in 
accordance with the BLM's multiple use and sustained yield mission.
    This Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS is one of six separate 
planning efforts that are being undertaken in response to Secretary's 
Order (SO) 3353 (Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation and Cooperation with 
Western States) and in accordance with SO 3349 (American Energy 
Independence). The proposed plans refine the previous management plan 
adopted in 2015 and aims to strike a regulatory balance and build 
greater trust among neighboring interests in Western communities. The 
Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS proposes to amend the RMPs for 
field offices on BLM-administered lands within BLM Wyoming boundaries. 
The current management decisions for resources are described in the 
following RMPs:
     Buffalo RMP (2015)
     Casper RMP (2007)
     Cody RMP (2015)
     Kemmerer RMP (2010)
     Lander RMP (2014)
     Newcastle RMP (2000)
     Pinedale RMP (2008)
     Rawlins RMP (2008)
     Green River RMP (1997)
     Worland RMP (2015)
    The planning area includes approximately 60 million acres of BLM, 
National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 
State, local, and private lands located in Wyoming, in 20 counties: 
Albany, Bighorn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Crook, Fremont, Hot 
Springs, Johnson, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Sheridan, Sublette, 
Sweetwater, Teton, Uinta, Washakie, and Weston. Within the decision 
area, the BLM administers approximately 18 million acres of public 
land, providing approximately 17 million acres of Priority and General 
Greater Sage-Grouse habitat. Surface management decisions made as a 
result of this Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS will apply only to 
BLM-administered lands in the decision area.
    The formal public scoping process for the RMP Amendment and EIS 
began on October 11, 2017, with publication of a Notice of Intent in 
the Federal Register (82 FR 47248) and ended on December 1, 2017. The 
BLM in Wyoming held public scoping meetings in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and 
Pinedale, Wyoming in November of 2017. The Notice of Availability for 
the Draft Supplemental EIS was published on May 4, 2018, and the BLM 
accepted public comments on the range of alternatives, effects analysis 
and draft RMP amendments for 90 days, ending on August 2, 2018. During 
the public comment period, two public meetings were held, one in 
Cheyenne and one in Pinedale.
    The Wyoming Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS focused on the issues of 
designation of sagebrush focal areas, mitigation standards, 
clarification of habitat objectives tables, adjustments to habitat 
boundaries to reflect new information, and reversing adaptive 
management responses when the BLM determines that resource conditions 
no longer warrant those responses. The Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS 
evaluated two alternatives in detail, including the No Action 
Alternative (Alternative A) and one action alternative (Alternative B). 
Comments on the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS received from the public 
and internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as appropriate 
into the proposed plan amendment. Alternative A would retain the 
current management goals, objectives, and direction specified in the 
current RMPs, as amended, for each field office. Alternative B has been 
identified as the BLM's Preferred Alternative. Identification of this 
alternative, however, does not represent final agency direction.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment and Final EIS may be found online 
at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in 
writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth in the 
ADDRESSES section above or submitted electronically through the BLM 
ePlanning project website as described above. Protests submitted 
electronically by any means other than the ePlanning project website 
protest section will be invalid unless a protest is also submitted in 
hard copy. Protests submitted by fax will also be invalid unless also 
submitted either through ePlanning project website protest section or 
in hard copy.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your protest, please be aware 
that your entire protest, 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.


[[Page 63527]]


    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 
1610.5

Duane Spencer,
Acting BLM Wyoming State Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-26700 Filed 12-7-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-22-P