[Federal Register: January 29, 2010 (Volume 75, Number = 19)] [Notices] =20 [Page 4842] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr29ja10-96] =20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [LLAZC02000L16100000.DR0000.241A] =20 Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Yuma Field=20 Office Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability=20 of the Record of Decision (ROD)/Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP)=20 for the Yuma Field Office (YFO) located in Arizona and California. The=20 Arizona State Director signed the ROD on July 28, 2009, which=20 constitutes the final decision of the BLM and makes the approved RMP=20 effective immediately. ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD/Approved RMP are available upon request=20 from the Bureau of Land Management, Yuma Field Office, 2555 Gila Ridge=20 Road, Yuma, Arizona 85365, or via the Internet at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?= from=3DleavingFR.html&log=3Dlinklog&to=3Dhttp://www.blm.gov/az/st= /en/prog/planning/yuma_plan.html. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James T. Shoaff, Field Manager, Bureau=20 of Land Management, Yuma Field Office, 2555 Gila Ridge Road, Yuma,=20 Arizona 85365. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: One of BLM's objectives during the planning=20 process was to understand the views of various public interest groups=20 by providing opportunities for meaningful participation. Through=20 communication media such as meetings, newsletters, and news releases,=20 the public was provided opportunities to identify issues that needed to=20 be addressed. The public also provided comments during the 90-day=20 public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement=20 (EIS), which were addressed in the Final EIS. The Approved RMP/Final=20 EIS was developed with the following cooperating agencies: the Bureau=20 of Reclamation; the Arizona Game and Fish Department; the Arizona=20 Department of Transportation; the Federal Highway Administration; the=20 Imperial, Cibola, and Kofa National Wildlife Refuges; the Fort Yuma=20 Quechan Tribe; the Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma; Natural Resource=20 Conservation Service; the Yuma County Department of Public Works; the=20 city of Yuma; the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground; the U.S. Department of=20 Agriculture, the Natural Resources Conservation Service; the U.S.=20 Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol; the Cocopah=20 Indian Tribe; the town of Quartzsite; the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation=20 District; and the Yavapai-Apache Nation. The BLM also initiated=20 consultation with tribes that have oral traditions or cultural concerns=20 relating to the planning area or that are documented as having occupied=20 or used portions of the planning area during prehistoric or historic=20 times. The Approved RMP includes strategies for protecting and preserving=20 the biological, cultural, recreational, geological, educational,=20 scientific, and scenic values that balance multiple uses of the BLM- administered lands throughout the YFO planning area. The planning area=20 encompasses more than 1.2 million acres of BLM-administered lands. The ROD and Approved RMP include one new Area of Critical=20 Environmental Concern (ACEC): Dripping Springs Natural and Cultural=20 ACEC (11,733 acres). One existing ACEC is expanded under the new plan:=20 Gila River Cultural ACEC (from 3,668 to 28,504 acres). The Gila River=20 Cultural ACEC is renamed the Sears Point Cultural ACEC. The following=20 types of resource use limitations generally apply to these ACECs: (1) Allowable uses are limited to those which are compatible with=20 the natural or cultural resources for which the area is designated; (2)=20 Recreation facilities are limited to projects that protect ACEC values;=20 and (3) Travel is permitted only on designated open and signed routes.=20 Detailed information is provided in the Special Designations Management=20 section of the Approved RMP. The Preferred Alternative in the Draft Resource Management Plan/ Draft EIS (published December 15, 2006) was revised to include comments=20 received during the 90-day public comment period. The resulting=20 alternative became the Proposed Plan in the Proposed Resource=20 Management Plan/Final EIS (PRMP/FEIS), published on April 11, 2008.=20 Seven protests were received during the Final EIS 30-day protest=20 period. The Proposed Plan was clarified based on these protests. The=20 Proposed Plan is now called the ``Approved RMP'' and is attached to the=20 ROD. As a result of protests, only minor editorial modifications were=20 made in preparing the Approved RMP. These modifications provided=20 further clarification of some of the decisions. Minor clarifications=20 and changes between the Proposed Plan/Final EIS and the ROD/Approved=20 Plan include the recalculation of Geographic Information System acreage=20 to ensure consistency between lands available for grazing and those=20 unavailable for grazing in the YFO, and minor text changes to clarify=20 certain decisions. The BLM has determined that the Approved RMP=20 provides an optimal balance between authorized resource use and the=20 protection and long-term sustainability of sensitive resources within=20 the planning area. Neither the Arizona Governor's Office nor the California Governor's=20 Office identified any inconsistencies between the Proposed RMP/Final=20 EIS and state or local plans, policies, and programs following the 60- day Governors' Consistency Reviews (initiated March 6, 2008), in=20 accordance with planning regulations at 43 CFR part 1610.3-2(e). The Approved RMP does not contain implementation decisions. Future=20 activity-level plans will address the implementation of the approved=20 RMP. These implementation plans will provide the required additional=20 site-specific planning and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)=20 analyses. At that time, such decisions will become appealable. The=20 appeal process will be outlined in the future individual implementation=20 (activity or project-level) plans. Authority: H-1790-1 National Environmental Policy Act Handbook,=20 January 30, 2008. James G. Kenna, Arizona State Director. [FR Doc. 2010-1726 Filed 1-28-10; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-32-P