[Federal Register: May 16, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 96)]
[Notices]
[Page 28500-28502]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16my08-106]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WO-300-9131-PP]
Information Notice of Planning Criteria for the Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Information Notice of Planning Criteria.
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SUMMARY: On June 13, 2007, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management (BLM), and the United States Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service (FS), published in the Federal Register [72FR32679] a
Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a joint Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (PEIS) to analyze the leasing of BLM- and FS-
administered lands with potential for geothermal resources in 11
western states and Alaska. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act
(FLPMA) requires the BLM to develop land use plans, also known as
Resource Management Plans (RMPs), to guide the BLM's management of the
public lands. The BLM's land use planning regulations, which implement
FLPMA, require the BLM to publish, and provide for public review of,
the proposed planning criteria that will guide the BLM's land use
planning process. The purpose of this Information Notice is to identify
the RMPs that the BLM may amend and set out the proposed planning
criteria that would guide the BLM's planning amendment process. Please
note that while the preparation of the PEIS is a joint project with the
FS, this Notice applies only to public lands that the BLM manages and
does not apply in any way to lands that the FS administers. The FS
manages lands that are under its jurisdiction under a separate
statutory and regulatory framework.
DATES: Comments concerning the BLM's preliminary list of RMPs to be
amended (identified by Field Office) and proposed planning criteria
should be received by June 16, 2008. Individuals, groups, or other
agencies who
[[Page 28501]]
responded to previous scoping efforts for this PEIS are not required to
respond to this Notice. The BLM considered comments submitted in
response to the previous Notice during development of the planning
criteria proposed in this Notice.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: geothermal_EIS@blm.gov.
Fax: 1-866-625-0707.
U.S. Mail: Geothermal Programmatic EIS, c/o EMPS Inc., 182
Howard Street, Suite 110, San Francisco, CA 94105.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, including
information on how to comment, you may contact Jack G. Peterson, Bureau
of Land Management, at 208-373-4048, Jack_G_Peterson@blm.gov or visit
the PEIS Web site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal--EIS.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FLPMA requires the BLM to develop land use
plans, also known as RMPs, to guide the BLM's management of the public
lands. In order for geothermal resource leasing and development to take
place on the public lands that the BLM manages, such activities must be
provided for in these RMPs. The aforementioned NOI published by the BLM
and the FS initiated a lengthy and comprehensive scoping process,
including 10 public meetings held throughout the western United States.
This Notice fulfills the BLM's obligation under FLPMA and the BLM's
planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.2(f) and 43 CFR 1610.4-2) to notify
the public that in response to input during the scoping process, the
BLM has developed proposed planning criteria to guide the amendment of
the listed RMPs, including the analysis of the amendments and their
reasonable alternatives in the PEIS. Please note that while the
preparation of the PEIS is a joint project with the FS, this Notice
applies only to public lands that the BLM manages and does not apply in
any way to lands that the FS administers. The FS manages lands that are
under its jurisdiction under a separate statutory and regulatory
framework.
Planning criteria are the constraints, standards, and guidelines
that determine what the BLM will or will not consider during its
planning process. As such, they establish parameters and help focus
analysis of the issues identified in scoping, and structure the
preparation of the PEIS in so far as it addresses amendment of BLM
RMPs, including data collection, analysis and decision making. The BLM
welcomes public comment on the following proposed planning criteria,
which would be used in the development of the PEIS as it is prepared to
analyze these BLM RMP amendments:
The BLM will prepare the PEIS and BLM RMP amendments in
compliance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the
Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the
National Environmental Policy Act and all other applicable laws,
Executive Orders and BLM management policies.
The BLM will use the PEIS as the analytical basis for any
decision it makes to amend an individual land use plan as necessary to
respond to the potential for increased levels of geothermal resource
leasing and development on BLM-administered lands.
The BLM will develop a reasonably foreseeable development
(RFD) scenario to predict levels of development and will identify lands
to be allocated as open, closed, and open with restrictive stipulations
to geothermal leasing in the affected plans.
The BLM will limit its amendment of these plans to
geothermal resource leasing and development issues and will not address
management of other resources, although the BLM will consider and
analyze the impacts from this increased use on other managed resource
values.
The BLM will continue to manage other resources in the
affected planning areas under the pre-existing terms, conditions and
decisions in the applicable RMPs for those other resources.
The BLM will recognize valid existing rights under the
RMPs, as amended.
The BLM will coordinate with local, state, tribal and
Federal agencies in the PEIS and plan amendment process to strive for
consistency with their existing plans and policies, to the extent
practicable.
The BLM will coordinate with tribal governments and will
provide strategies for the protection of recognized traditional uses in
the PEIS and plan amendment process.
The BLM will take into account appropriate protection and
management of cultural and historic resources in the PEIS and plan
amendment process, and will engage in all required consultation.
The BLM will recognize in the PEIS and plan amendments the
specific niche occupied by public lands in the life of the communities
that surround them and in the nation as a whole.
The BLM will make every effort to encourage public
participation throughout the process.
The BLM has the authority to develop protective management
prescriptions for lands with wilderness characteristics within RMPs. As
part of the public involvement process for land use planning, the BLM
will consider public input regarding lands to be managed to maintain
wilderness characteristics.
Environmental protection and energy production are both
desirable and necessary objectives of sound land management practices
and are not to be considered mutually exclusive priorities.
The BLM will consider and analyze relevant climate change
impacts in its land use plans and associated NEPA documents, including
the anticipated climate change benefits of geothermal energy.
The BLM will prepare the PEIS in compliance with the
Geothermal Steam Act, as amended, and the legislative directives set
forth in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The BLM will use geospatial data that are automated within
a Geographic Information System (GIS) to facilitate discussions of the
affected environment, formulation of alternatives, analysis of
environmental consequences, and display of results.
The following is a list of BLM Field Offices that manage lands that
BLM has identified as having geothermal potential. You may view these
areas on a map with a GIS overlay showing the BLM and the FS
jurisdictional boundaries at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal--EIS. Some
BLM offices may decide not to use this PEIS and amendment process to
amend certain RMPs that appear on this list because those offices may
already have land use plan amendments or revisions underway or recently
completed. Please contact your local BLM office for more information.
In addition, the BLM will exclude many units or areas within certain
RMPs from any consideration for geothermal development. The plan
amendments will reflect the fact that some units or portions of the
areas identified as having geothermal resource potential will not be
developed because they are unavailable for leasing, either by statute,
regulation or other authority. These designations are described at 43
CFR 3201.11, and include, but are not limited to: Lands where the
Secretary has determined that issuing a lease would cause unnecessary
or undue degradation to public lands and resources; lands contained
within a unit of the National Park System, lands within a National
Recreation Area; and lands where the Secretary determines after notice
and comment that
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geothermal operations are reasonably likely to result in a significant
adverse effect on a significant thermal feature within a National Park
System unit, for example, the geothermal features in Yellowstone
National Park; wilderness areas; wilderness study areas; fish
hatcheries; wildlife management areas; Indian trust lands; and other
areas referred to in the above regulation. As mentioned above, this
Notice does not address the FS lands. Therefore, no affected Forests
are listed below. The BLM Field Offices that manage lands that have
geothermal resource potential are as follows (Where the name of the BLM
Field Office that has jurisdiction over a Resource Area differs from
the name of the District Office, the name of the District office
appears in parentheses following the name of the Field Office. A table
identifying the affected Field Offices along with the name of the
affected RMP under its jurisdiction, which sometimes differ, will
appear in the Draft EIS, and on the Web site above in the near future.
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State Field office (district office)
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Alaska.................................. Central Yukon (Fairbanks).
Anchorage (Anchorage).
Glennallen (Anchorage).
Arizona................................. Arizona Strip (Arizona Strip).
Kingman (Colorado River).
Lake Havasu (Colorado River).
Yuma (Colorado River).
Safford (Gila).
Tucson (Gila).
Hassayampa (Phoenix).
Lower Sonoran (Phoenix).
California.............................. Barstow (California Desert).
El Centro (California Desert).
Needles (California Desert).
Palm Springs-South Coast
(California Desert).
Ridgecrest (California
Desert).
Alturas.
Arcata.
Bakersfield.
Bishop.
Eagle Lake.
Hollister.
Redding.
Surprise.
Ukiah.
Colorado................................ Columbine (San Juan).
Del Norte (San Luis Valley).
Dolores (San Juan).
Glenwood Springs.
Grand Junction.
Gunnison.
Kremmling.
La Jara (San Luis Valley).
Little Snake.
Pagosa Springs (San Juan).
Royal Gorge.
Saguache (San Luis Valley).
Uncompahgre.
White River.
Idaho................................... Bruneau (Boise).
Four Rivers (Boise).
Owyhee (Boise).
Cottonwood (Coeur d'Alene).
Challis (Idaho Falls).
Pocatello (Idaho Falls).
Salmon (Idaho Falls).
Upper Snake (Idaho Falls).
Burley (Twin Falls).
Jarbridge (Twin Falls).
Shoshone (Twin Falls).
Montana................................. Billings.
Butte.
Dillon.
Lewistown.
Malta.
Miles City.
Missoula.
Nevada.................................. Carson City.
Battle Mountain.
Carson City.
Elko.
Ely.
Las Vegas.
Winnemucca.
New Mexico.............................. Rio Puerco (Albuquerque).
Soccoro (Albuquerque).
Farmington.
Taos (Farmington).
Las Cruces.
Carlsbad (Pecos).
Roswell (Pecos).
Oregon/Washington....................... Andrews (Burns).
Three Rivers (Burns).
Upper Willamette (Eugene).
Klamath Falls (Lakeview).
Lakeview (Lakeview).
Ashland (Medford).
Butte Falls (Medford).
Central Oregon (Prineville).
Deschutes (Prineville).
Cascades (Salem).
Border (Spokane).
Wenatchee (Spokane).
Baker (Vale).
Jordan (Vale).
Malheur (Vale).
Utah.................................... Cedar City.
Fillmore.
Kanab.
Richfield.
Salt Lake.
St. George.
Vernal.
Wyoming................................. Buffalo.
Casper.
Cody.
Kemmerer.
Lander.
Newcastle.
Pinedale.
Rawlins.
Rock Springs.
Worland.
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You may submit comments in writing on the stated planning criteria
and plans to be amended using one of the methods listed in the
ADDRESSES section. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail
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: 43 CFR 1610.2(f)(2).
Michael D. Nedd,
Assistant Director, Minerals and Realty Management, Bureau of Land
Management.
[FR Doc. E8-11059 Filed 5-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P