Notice2022-18254
Notice of Intent To Amend the Resource Management Plan for the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona, and Prepare an Associated Environmental Assessment
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Published
August 24, 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, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Arizona State Director intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment with an associated environmental assessment (EA) concerning recreational target shooting for the Sonoran Desert National Monument (SDNM). By this notice the BLM is announcing the beginning of the scoping period to solicit public comments and identify issues and is providing the planning criteria for public review.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52026-52027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18254]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LAZP04000.L17110000.DU0000.223]
Notice of Intent To Amend the Resource Management Plan for the
Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona, and Prepare an Associated
Environmental Assessment
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, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Arizona State
Director intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment
with an associated environmental assessment (EA) concerning
recreational target shooting for the Sonoran Desert National Monument
(SDNM). By this notice the BLM is announcing the beginning of the
scoping period to solicit public comments and identify issues and is
providing the planning criteria for public review.
DATES: The BLM requests that the public submit comments concerning the
scope of the analysis, potential alternatives, planning criteria, and
identification of relevant information, and studies by September 23,
2022. To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider issues please
ensure your comments are received prior to the close of the 30-day
scoping period or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is
later. The date(s) and time(s) of scoping meetings will be announced at
least 15 days in advance through local news releases, newspapers, and
the BLM Arizona Phoenix District web page, <a href="https://www.blm.gov/office/phoenix-district-office">https://www.blm.gov/office/phoenix-district-office</a>.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria
related to the SDNM RMP Amendment and EA addressing Recreational Target
Shooting availability in the monument by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019811/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019811/510</a>.
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fdbfb1b0a2bca7a2aeb9b3b0899c8f9a98898e9592928994939abd9f9190d39a928b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="86c4cacbd9c7dcd9d5c2c8cbf2e7f4e1e3f2f5eee9e9f2efe8e1c6e4eaeba8e1e9f0">[email protected]</span></a>.
<bullet> Mail: BLM, Sonoran Desert National Monument, Attn.: RMPA
EA, 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix AZ 85022.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at
<a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019811/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2019811/510</a> and at the
Phoenix District Office, 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie White Bull, Acting Field
Manager, telephone (480) 739-8721; address 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix,
Arizona 85022; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#244f534c4d504146514848644648490a434b52"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a110d12130e1f180f16163a181617541d150c">[email protected]</span></a>. Contact Ms. White Bull to have
your name added 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. White Bull. 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
Arizona State Director intends to prepare and consider an RMP amendment
with an associated EA for recreational target shooting availability in
the SDNM, announces the beginning of the scoping process, and seeks
public input on issues, preliminary alternatives, and planning
criteria. The RMP amendment would change the existing SDNM Record of
Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (BLM 2012), as amended
by the 2018 Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan
Amendment.
The planning area is located in Maricopa and Pinal Counties,
Arizona and encompasses approximately 486,400 acres of public land.
The scope of this land use planning process does not include
addressing the evaluation or designation of Areas of Critical
Environmental Concern (ACECs), and the BLM is not considering ACEC
nominations as part of this process.
Purpose and Need
The purpose of the RMP amendment is to establish management
guidance specific to recreational target shooting on public land within
the SDNM while ensuring the decisions are consistent with the SDNM
proclamation and other resource decisions in the 2012 SDNM Record of
Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan. The need for this
planning effort is to fulfill requirements of an April 2022 settlement
agreement that the BLM entered to resolve litigation concerning the
agency's 2018 Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan
Amendment for the SDNM.
Preliminary Alternatives
The RMP amendment process will consider whether and where
recreational target shooting should be allowed in the SDNM, along with
any associated management actions. Preliminary alternatives include the
No Action alternative, which reflects the 2018 Record of Decision and
approved resource management plan amendment that identified
approximately 435,700 acres of public land as available for dispersed
recreational target shooting along with a monitoring and mitigation
framework to avoid or minimize impacts on monument objects while
increasing public safety. In accordance with the April 2022 settlement
agreement referenced earlier, the BLM will also analyze an alternative
under which several areas in the monument would be unavailable to
recreational target shooting, including designated wilderness; lands
with wilderness characteristics managed to protect those
characteristics; an area in the northwest portion of the monument where
the Komatke Trail is suspected to exist, along with a 0.5 mile buffer
north of the suspected trail, unless, prior to the completion of the
land use planning process, additional field work demonstrates the
nonexistence of the trail; the area south of Highway 238 from the
western edge of the monument boundary to the western edge of the South
Maricopa Mountains Wilderness area boundary, and the area south of I-8
and west of the Table Top Wilderness, known as the Vekol Valley; the
portion of the monument that used to be part of the Barry M. Goldwater
Air Force Range before it was reconveyed to the BLM; and any area where
the BLM's suitability analysis identifies monument objects and
determines target shooting is inconsistent with the objects' proper
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care and management. This alternative will also include a mitigation
and monitoring protocol to protect monument objects where target
shooting is allowed. The BLM welcomes comments on all preliminary
alternatives as well as suggestions for additional alternatives.
Planning Criteria
The planning criteria guide the planning effort and lay the
groundwork for effects analysis by identifying the preliminary issues
and their analytical frameworks. Preliminary issues for the planning
area have been identified by BLM personnel and from early engagement
conducted for this planning effort with Federal, State, and local
agencies; Tribes; and other stakeholders. The BLM has identified three
preliminary issues for this planning effort's analysis: (1) impacts on
monument objects from recreational target shooting, (2) effectiveness
of the mitigation and monitoring protocol in protecting monument
objects, and (3) public health and safety. The planning criteria are
available for public review and comment at the ePlanning website (see
ADDRESSES).
Public Scoping Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping period and public
review of the planning criteria, which guide the development and
analysis of the RMP amendment and EA.
The BLM will be holding a minimum of two virtual public meetings.
The specific date(s) and location(s) of these scoping meetings will be
announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, newspapers,
and the project ePlanning page. You may submit comments to the BLM
using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section previously.
Dingell Act Recreational Target Shooting Closures
In accordance with the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation,
Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 (Dingell Act, Pub. L. 116-9,
Section 4103), the BLM is generally required to provide public notice
and comment before a final decision is made to close an area to
recreational shooting. If the BLM proposes any recreational shooting
closures as part of the RMP amendment process, it will provide
opportunities for public participation in accordance with 16 U.S.C.
7913.
Interdisciplinary Team
The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan
amendment to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns
identified. Specialists with expertise in various disciplines, such as
recreation management, National Conservation Lands, wildlife,
vegetation, range management and soils, cultural and heritage
resources, social and economic conditions and environmental justice,
planning and environmental coordination, and Geographic Information
Systems will be involved in this planning effort.
Additional Information
The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider mitigation to address
the reasonably foreseeable impacts to resources from the proposed plan
amendment and all analyzed reasonable alternatives and, in accordance
with 40 CFR 1502.14(e), include appropriate mitigation measures not
already included in the proposed plan amendment or alternatives.
Mitigation may include avoidance, minimization, rectification,
reduction or elimination over time, and compensation; and it may be
considered at multiple scales, including the landscape scale.
The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA and land use planning
processes for this planning effort to help support compliance with
applicable 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 amendment will assist
the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources.
The BLM will consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175, BLM Manual
Section 1780, and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns,
including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to
cultural resources, will be given due consideration. Federal, State,
and local agencies, along with Indian Tribal nations and other
stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the proposed plan
amendment that the BLM is evaluating are invited to participate in the
scoping process and, if eligible, may request or be requested by the
BLM to participate in the development of the environmental analysis as
a cooperating agency. The BLM intends to hold a series of government-
to-government consultation meetings. The BLM will send invites to
potentially affected Tribal nations prior to the meetings. The BLM will
provide additional opportunities for government-to-government
consultation during the NEPA process.
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.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2)
Raymond Suazo,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2022-18254 Filed 8-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P
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