Notice2022-09064
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the Redding and Arcata Field Offices and an Associated Environmental Impact Statement, California
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Published
April 29, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance 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) Redding Field Office, Redding, California, and Arcata Field Office, Arcata, California, intend to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) with an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Redding and Arcata Field Offices (called the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan (NCIP)) and by this notice are announcing the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues, and request identification of potential alternatives, information, and analyses relevant to the proposed action. The BLM is also providing the proposed planning criteria for public review, and is calling for public nominations of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). The RMP will replace the existing Redding RMP (1993) and Arcata Resource Area RMP (1992).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 83 (Friday, April 29, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25523-25526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09064]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[L16100000.DP0000.LXSSB0220000.LLCAN06000.223:MO#4500159291]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the
Redding and Arcata Field Offices and an Associated Environmental Impact
Statement, California
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: In compliance 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)
Redding Field Office, Redding, California, and Arcata Field Office,
Arcata, California, intend to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP)
with an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Redding
and Arcata Field Offices (called the Northwest California Integrated
Resource Management Plan (NCIP)) and by this notice are announcing the
beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and
identify issues, and request identification of potential alternatives,
information, and analyses relevant to the proposed action. The BLM is
also providing the proposed planning criteria for public review, and is
calling for public
[[Page 25524]]
nominations of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). The RMP
will replace the existing Redding RMP (1993) and Arcata Resource Area
RMP (1992).
DATES: This notice initiates the 60-day public scoping process for the
RMP and associated EIS, for the proposed planning criteria, and for
nominations of areas of public land for designation as an ACEC.
Comments may be submitted in writing until June 28, 2022. The date(s)
and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be announced at least 15
days in advance through local media, newspapers and the BLM website at:
<a href="https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU">https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU</a>. In order to be included in the Draft RMP/EIS,
all comments must be received prior to the close of the 60-day scoping
period.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues, potential alternatives,
the proposed action, and proposed planning criteria related to
Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan and
nominations of new ACECs by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Website: <a href="https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU">https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU</a>
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#22606e6f7d61637d704746464b4c457d6350414356437d6c616b7262404e4f0c454d54"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d0929c9d8f93918f82b5b4b4b9beb78f91a2b3b1a4b18f9e93998090b2bcbdfeb7bfa6">[email protected]</span></a>
<bullet> Fax: (530) 224-2172
<bullet> Mail: NCIP Comments, Bureau of Land Management, 1695 Heindon
Road, Arcata, California 95521-4573
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Callahan, Planning and
Environmental Specialist, telephone: (707) 825-2315; address Bureau of
Land Management, Arcata Field Office, 1695 Heindon Road, Arcata,
California 95521-4573; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f284819e9387959a869780b2909e9fdc959d84"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0d7b7e616c786a6579687f4d6f6160236a627b">[email protected]</span></a>. Contact Ms. Callahan
to add your name to our mailing list.
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting
Ms. Callahan. Individuals outside the United States should use the
relay services offered within their country to make international calls
to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM
Redding Field Office and the Arcata Field Office intend to prepare the
Northwest California Integrated RMP with an associated EIS, announce
the beginning of the scoping process, and seek public input on
potential issues, impacts, the possible need for mitigation, and the
proposed planning criteria. The planning area is in Del Norte,
Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, and Butte
counties, California, and encompasses approximately 382,000 surface
acres of public land and approximately 307,000 additional subsurface
(mineral) acres. The purpose of the public scoping process is to
determine relevant issues that will influence the scope of the
environmental analysis, including alternative development, and guide
the planning process.
Preliminary Purpose and Need for the RMP Revision
Under Section 202 of FLPMA and its implementing regulations at 43
CFR part 1600, the BLM is authorized to ``develop, maintain, and, when
appropriate, revise land use plans'' (43 United States Code 1712 (a)).
In 2009, the Redding and Arcata Field Offices conducted RMP evaluations
that determined a need to revise the 1992 Arcata Field Office RMP and
the 1993 Redding Field Office RMP given new resource information,
changing environmental and social conditions, new technologies, and new
Federal mandates. The BLM's preliminary need is to revise the Arcata
Field Office and Redding Field Office RMPs to address these
developments in relevant science, social trends, and Federal policy.
The BLM's preliminary purpose of the NCIP is to provide for management
actions and land use decisions within the planning area based on up-to-
date information reflecting current public input, changes in policy,
resource conditions, and development trends.
Preliminary Issues and Impacts
Preliminary issues for the planning area have been identified by
BLM personnel; Federal, State, and local agencies; Native American
Tribes; and other stakeholders. These preliminary issues include
responding to increasing population and changing use patterns,
providing for a broad array of recreation uses, wilderness management,
promoting recovery of special status species, developing land tenure
patterns and access strategies, responding to increasing wildfires and
demand for fuels reduction, and responding to climate change and sea-
level rise.
The BLM will evaluate identified issues to be addressed in the
plan, and will place them into one of three categories:
1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action;
or
3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
The BLM will provide an explanation in the Draft RMP/Draft EIS as
to why an issue was placed in category two or three. The public is also
encouraged to help identify any management questions and concerns that
should be addressed in the plan.
The BLM will analyze potential environmental impacts of the BLM's
land use decisions considered under the RMP revision, with respect to
ongoing regional trends and expected impacts to BLM lands, and will
work collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management
decisions that best meet local, regional, and national needs and
concerns.
Preliminary Alternatives
During the BLM's preliminary alternatives development work, two
action alternative themes were identified based on perceived resource
use and issues in the planning area. One alternative theme emphasizes
resource connectivity and resiliency, while the second emphasizes
community access and development. Both alternative concepts manage for
multiple use and long-term sustainability and provide for public use
and enjoyment of BLM-administered lands. The connectivity and
resilience alternative is being developed to manage for multiple use by
maintaining corridors of relatively undeveloped area to provide for
connectivity of wildlife and fisheries habitat and to serve as a
resilient refuge to ongoing development and climate change. This in
turn, would provide a recreational and aesthetic resource for public
enjoyment. The community access and development alternative also
manages for multiple use and public enjoyment but prioritizes public
lands to provide for recreational opportunity and access, travel and
utility opportunities, and social and economic benefit. These
alternatives are to be analyzed against the No Action Alternative
(current management) and are preliminary concepts only. They will be
refined or combined to provide the best mix to meet the public's needs
while complying with the BLM's management responsibilities and
regulatory requirements. These preliminary alternatives will be further
refined based on public comment, cooperating agency input, and the BLM
interdisciplinary team's judgement.
Proposed Planning Criteria
This notice also initiates the public review of proposed planning
criteria (43 CFR 1610.4-2(b); 43 CFR 1610.2(f)(2)), available for
public review at: <a href="https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU">https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU</a>. The BLM will use these
proposed planning criteria to help guide and define the scope of the
RMP.
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Anticipated Permits and Authorization
The BLM does not anticipate the need for any permits for
authorizations for this RMP revision process.
Schedule for the Decision Making Process
The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public
participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes,
including a 90-day comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, a 30-day public
protest period, and a 60-day Governor's consistency review on the
Proposed RMP. The Draft RMP/EIS is anticipated to be available for
public review in late 2022 and the Proposed RMP/Final EIS is
anticipated to be available for public protest of the Proposed RMP in
mid-2023, with an Approved RMP and Record of Decision in late 2023.
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
The BLM is also requesting nominations of areas of public land for
ACEC designation. To be considered as a potential ACEC, an area must
meet the criteria of relevance and importance as established and
defined in 43 CFR 1610.7-2. There are currently 17 existing ACECs
within the planning area, including: Baker Cypress, Butte Creek, Deer
Creek, Forks of the Butte, Gilham Butte, Hawes Corner, Iaqua Butte,
Lacks Creek, Ma-le'l Dunes, Sacramento Island, Sacramento River Bend,
Shasta and Klamath Rivers Canyon, Swasey Drive, South Fork Eel
Watershed (Congressionally designated as Wilderness), Red Mountain
(Congressionally designated as Wilderness), Elder Creek Research
Natural Area/ACEC (Congressionally designated as Wilderness).
Alternatives in the RMP would eliminate three existing ACECs, including
South Fork Eel Watershed, Red Mountain, and Elder Creek because they
have been congressionally designated as Wilderness. Additionally, 14
new ACECs have been nominated (internally by the BLM or external to the
agency) and will be considered as part of this RMP process, including:
Swasey Clear Creek Greenway, Upper and Lower Clear Creek, Grass Valley
Creek, Sheep Rock, Black Mountain, Upper Klamath River Stateline
Archaeological District, Upper Mattole Valley, Eden Valley, Beegum
Creek Gorge, North Fork Eel, Willis Ridge, South Spit, Corning Vernal
Pools, and North Table Mountain.
The BLM will evaluate these nominated ACECs for consideration in
the RMP/EIS. Some existing and nominated ACECs may have different land
configurations under different alternatives because of internal and
external nominations, an increase or decrease in acres, and the
relevance and importance criteria by alternatives. To assist the BLM in
evaluating ACEC nominations for consideration in the Draft RMP/EIS,
please provide supporting descriptive materials, maps, and evidence of
the relevance and importance of resources or hazards by the close of
the public comment period in order to facilitate timely evaluation. A
detailed list of ACEC nominations, including acreages and importance
and relevance values, are available for public review at: <a href="https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU">https://go.usa.gov/xtDsU</a>.
Public Scoping Process
You may submit comments on issues, potential alternatives, the
proposed action, proposed planning criteria, and ACEC designation in
writing to the BLM, at any public scoping meeting, and on the virtual
open house website: <a href="https://www.virtualpublicmeeting.com/ncip-scoping-home">https://www.virtualpublicmeeting.com/ncip-scoping-home</a>, or you may submit them to the BLM using one of the methods listed
in the ADDRESSES section earlier. To be considered, comments must be
received by the end of the 60-day scoping period. Before including your
address, phone number, email 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.
The four live virtual public outreach meetings will include an
overview presentation, question and answer session, and an opportunity
to provide public comment. Each meeting will also feature key resource
topics. The first meeting will highlight Forestry, Vegetation, and
Fire. The second will focus on biological resources including Fish and
Wildlife. The third will discusses Socioeconomics, Environmental
Justice, Tribal Interests, and Cultural Resources. The fourth and final
meeting will focus on Public Health and Safety, Recreation, Minerals,
and Special Designations. In addition to providing an opportunity for
the public to submit comments, the virtual open house website will
provide an introduction to the NCIP, planning process overview,
description of the planning area, and an overview of key resource
topics being presented during the public meetings.
Agency Coordination
The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA and land use planning
process for this planning effort to help support procedural
requirements under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536), and
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C.
306108) as provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3), including public involvement
requirements of Section 106. The information about historic and
cultural resources and threatened and endangered species within the
area potentially affected by the proposed plan will assist the BLM in
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources.
The BLM will consult with Native American Tribes on a government-
to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175, BLM MS
1780, and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, including
impacts on Native American Tribe trust assets and potential impacts to
cultural resources, will be given due consideration.
Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Native American
Tribes and stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the
proposed action that the BLM is evaluating, are invited to participate
in the scoping process and, if eligible, may request or be asked by the
BLM to participate in the development of the environmental analysis as
a cooperating agency. Cooperating Agencies engaged in the RMP/EIS
process thus far include: Bureau of Reclamation, Environmental
Protection Agency, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Forest Service, Blue
Lake Rancheria, Redding Rancheria, Mooretown Rancheria, Wiyot Tribe,
Hoopa Valley Tribe, Western Area Power Administration, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection, California Department of Conservation, California
Geologic Energy Management Division, North Coast Regional Water Quality
Control Board, State Water Resources Control Board, Butte County,
County of Tehama, Trinity County, Shasta Valley Resource Conservation
District, Shasta County Air Quality Management District, and Siskiyou
County.
Interdisciplinary Team
The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan
in order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns
identified. Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines
will be involved in the
[[Page 25526]]
planning process: Recreation, Fisheries, Wildlife, Vegetation, Soil,
Water, Air Quality, Geology, Minerals, Forestry, Livestock Grazing,
Wilderness, Cultural Resources, Tribal Relations, Ecology, Social
Sciences, Economics, Wildland Fire, Fuels, and Realty.
Additional Information
The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider mitigation to address
the reasonably foreseeable impacts to resources from the proposed plan
and all reasonable alternatives and, in accordance with 40 CFR
1502.14(f), include appropriate mitigation measures not already
included in the proposed plan or alternatives. Mitigation may include
avoidance, minimization, rectification, reduction or elimination over
time, and compensation, and may be considered at multiple scales,
including the landscape scale.
Responsible Official
The BLM California State Director is the responsible official for
decisions made in the Final Northwest California Integrated Resource
Management Plan and EIS.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The nature of the decision to be made will be the State Director's
land use planning decisions to manage BLM-administered lands under the
principles of multiple use and sustained yield in a manner that best
addresses the purpose and need.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2)
Karen Mouritsen,
BLM California State Director.
[FR Doc. 2022-09064 Filed 4-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P
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