[Federal Register: June 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 107)]
[Notices]
[Page 33525]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04jn03-117]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Notice of Availability of Proposed Amendment; West Mojave
Planning Area; California Desert Conservation Area Plan; Off-Road
Vehicle Designations
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed amendment; West Mojave
Planning Area; California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan; off-
road vehicle designations.
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SUMMARY: The California Desert District of the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) is considering off-road vehicle designations for the
West Mojave Desert Planning Area in accordance with the criteria and
procedures of 43 Code of Federal Regulations subpart 8342. These
designations, when approved by BLM, will amend the existing
designations established under the CDCA plan in the West Mojave Area.
This planning area encompasses approximately 3.3 million acres of
public land managed by the BLM's California Desert District, located in
Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties in southern
California.
DATES: BLM Planning Regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any person
who participated in the planning process, and has an interest that may
be adversely affected, may protest. The protest must be received no
later than the last day of the 30-day protest period established by the
BLM California Desert District. More specific instructions and
requirements for protests are contained in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Instructions for filing a protest with the
Director of the BLM may be found at 43 CFR 1610.5. Any person who
participated in the planning process and has an interest, which is or
may be affected by the approval of the proposed Resource Management
Plan, may protest such approval. A protest may raise only those issues
that were submitted for the record during the planning process. New
issues raised in the protest period should be directed to the West
Mojave Project Office for consideration in plan implementation, as
potential plan amendments, or as otherwise appropriate. Protests must
be in writing and to be considered ``timely,'' the protest must be
received no later than the last day of the 30-day protest period. Also,
although not a requirement, it is recommended that the protest be sent
by certified mail, return receipt requested. E-mail protests will not
be accepted. Faxed protests will be considered as potential valid
protests provided (1) that the signed faxed letter is received by the
Washington Office protest coordinator by the closing date of the
protest period and (2) that the protesting party also provides the
original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the
close of the protest period. Please direct faxed protests to ``BLM
Protest Coordinator'' at 202-452-5112. Please direct the follow-up
letter to the appropriate address provided below. The protest must
contain:
i. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the
person filing the protest;
ii. A statement of the issue or issues being protested;
iii. A statement of the part or parts of the plan or amendment
being protested. To the extent possible, this should be done by
reference to specific pages, paragraphs, sections, tables, maps, etc.,
included in the proposed amendment;
iv. A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that
were submitted during the planning process by the protesting party or
an indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the
record; and
v. A concise statement explaining why the State Director's decision
is believed to be wrong. This is a critical part of the protest. Take
care to document all relevant facts. As much as possible, reference or
cite the planning documents, environmental analysis documents,
available planning records (i.e., meeting minutes or summaries,
correspondence, etc.).
A protest which merely expresses disagreement with proposed
decision without supporting data will not provide additional basis for
the Director's review of the decision. Please note that comments,
including names and street addresses of respondents, are available for
public review and/or release under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). Individual respondents may request confidentiality.
Respondents who wish to withhold name and/or street address from
public review or from disclosure under FOIA, must state this
prominently at the beginning of the written comment. Such requests will
be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials or organizations or
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their
entirety. The Director will promptly render a decision on the protest.
The decision will be in writing and will be sent to the protesting
party by certified mail, return receipt requested. The decision of the
Director shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior.
File written protest by Surface mail: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Director (210), Attn: Brenda Williams, P.O.
Box 66538, Washington, DC 20035 or Overnight mail: U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Director (210), Attn: Brenda
Williams, 1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20036.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have
your name added to our mailing list, contact William Haigh, Project
Manager, at (760) 252-6080 (Phone), e-mail at whaigh@ca.blm.gov.
Howard Stark,
Acting Deputy State Director for Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-14201 Filed 6-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P