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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Land Management Bureau
CO ID: [CO 130 2009 001]
NOTICE: NOTICES
ACTION: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.:
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice of intent.
SUBJECT CATEGORY: Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Initiate the Public Scoping Process
DATES: The scoping comment period will commence with the publication of this notice and will end on January 9, 2009. However, collaboration with the public will continue throughout the planning process. Public meetings will be announced through the local news media, newsletters, and a BLM Web site at least 15 days prior to the event. Comments on issues and planning criteria should be received on or before the end of the scoping period at the address listed below.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Grand Junction Field Office (GJFO), Colorado, is initiating a planning effort to prepare the Grand Junction RMP and associated EIS. The RMP will replace the existing 1987 Resource Management Plan.
SUMMARY: Grand Junction Resource Management Plan,
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
The purpose of the public scoping process is to identify issues that should be considered in the RMP/EIS and to initiate public participation in the planning process. BLM personnel will also be present at scoping meetings to explain the planning process and other requirements for preparing the RMP/EIS. The planning area includes lands within the BLM GJFO administrative boundary. The GJFO RMP decision area encompasses about 1.2 million acres of public lands, which are located within Mesa, Garfield, Montrose, and Delta Counties, Colorado. The decision area includes public lands administered by the BLM GJFO, and does not include[[Page 61164]]
private lands, state lands, tribal trust lands, federal lands not administered by the BLM, lands located within the planning area of the RMP for the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area and associated Wilderness Area.
The plan will fulfill the needs and obligations set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and associated Council of Environmental Quality Regulations 40 CFR part 1500. The plan also fulfills requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA: 43 U.S.C. 1711), applicable planning regulations at 43 CFR part 1600, and BLM management policies.
Parties interested in leasing and development of Federal coal in the planning area should provide coal resource data for their area(s) of interest. Specifically, information is requested on the location, quality, and quantity of Federal coal with development potential, and on surface resource values related to the 20 coal unsuitability criteria described in 43 CFR part 3461. This information will be used for any necessary updating of coal screening determination (43 CFR 3420.14) in the area and in the environmental analysis. In addition to coal resource data, the BLM seeks resource information and data for other public land values (e.g., air quality, cultural and historic resources, fire/fuels, fisheries, forestry, lands and realty, non energy minerals and geology, oil and gas (including coalbed methane), paleontology, rangeland management, recreation, soil, water, and wildlife) in the planning area. The purpose of this request is to assure that the planning effort has sufficient information and data to consider a reasonable range of resource uses, management options, and alternatives for the public lands.
Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted in response to this call for coal and other resource information. Please submit all proprietary information submissions to the address listed above. The BLM will treat submissions marked as ``Confidential'' in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information.
The BLM GJFO will work collaboratively with interested parties to
identify the management actions and decisions that are best suited to
local, regional, and national needs and concerns of the public, subject
to planning criteria to be developed to guide the plan. Preliminary
issues and management concerns have been identified by the BLM, other
agencies, and meetings with individuals and user groups. The major issue themes to be addressed in the RMP effort include:
After gathering public comments, issues will be placed in one of three categories.
1. Issues to be resolved by the plan;
2. Issues resolved through policy or administrative action; or
3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
Rationale will be provided in the plan for each issue placed in
category two or three. In addition to these major issues, a number of
management questions and concerns will be addressed in the plan. The
public is encouraged to help identify these questions and concerns
during the scoping phase. An interdisciplinary approach will be used to
develop the plan in order to consider the variety of issues and
concerns identified. Disciplines involved in the planning process will
include specialists with expertise in rangeland management, minerals
and geology, outdoor recreation, archaeology, paleontology, wildlife,
fisheries, wild horse, weeds, lands and realty, hydrology, soils,
engineering, fire, wilderness, hazardous materials, and social and
economic. The BLM has identified some preliminary planning criteria to
guide the development of the plan. The following planning criteria have
been proposed to guide the development of the plan, to avoid
unnecessary data collection and analyses, and to ensure the plan is
tailored to issues. Other criteria may be identified during the public
scoping process. Proposed planning criteria include the following:
Dated: October, 2008.
Raul Morales,
Associate Field Manager, Grand Junction Field Office.
[FR Doc. E824374 Filed 101408; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 431022P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT For further information and/or to have your name added to our mailing list; contact Matt Anderson, Project Manager, Telephone (970) 2443027. Project documents may be reviewed on BLM's Grand Junction's Field Office Web site at http://www.blm.gov (select Grand Junction on the interactive map).
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