Notice2024-14658
Notice of Availability of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals Final Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 5, 2024
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) announces the availability of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) 17(d)(1) Withdrawals Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The BLM held public meetings on the Draft EIS and subsistence- related hearings to receive comments on the Draft EIS and the project's potential to impact subsistence resources and activities. The Final EIS considers those comments.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55654-55655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14658]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_AK_FRN_MO4500180306]
Notice of Availability of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) Withdrawals Final
Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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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)
announces the availability of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(ANCSA) 17(d)(1) Withdrawals Final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS). The BLM held public meetings on the Draft EIS and subsistence-
related hearings to receive comments on the Draft EIS and the project's
potential to impact subsistence resources and activities. The Final EIS
considers those comments.
DATES: The BLM will publish the Record of Decision for the project no
earlier than 30 days following the date the Environmental Protection
Agency publishes its Notice of Availability of the Final EIS in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The Final EIS and documents pertinent to this proposal are
available for review on the BLM ePlanning project website at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018002/510</a>, and in-person at
the BLM Anchorage Field Office, and at the BLM Alaska State Office, BLM
Alaska Public Information Center.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Racheal Jones, BLM Project Manager,
telephone (907) 290-0307; address ANCSA 17(d)(1) EIS, BLM Anchorage
District Office, Attn: Racheal Jones, 4700 BLM Road, Anchorage, Alaska
99507; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#225043484d4c475162404e4f0c454d54"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3745565d5859524477555b5a19505841">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, blind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services
for contacting Ms. Jones. 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: The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI),
BLM Alaska State Office, prepared this EIS to evaluate the effects of
any Secretarial decision to revoke withdrawals established following
enactment of ANCSA Section 17(d)(1) affecting the lands described in
Public Land Order (PLO) Nos. 7899 through 7903. The potential
revocation of these 17(d)(1) withdrawals is hereafter referred to as
the 2021 Action. PLO Nos. 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903, which would
revoke withdrawals on lands in the Ring of Fire, Bay, Bering Sea-
Western Interior, and East Alaska planning areas, respectively, were
signed on January 15 and 16, 2021; however, they were never published
in the Federal Register. PLO No. 7899, which would revoke withdrawals
on lands in the Kobuk-Seward Peninsula planning area, was signed on
January 11, 2021, and published in the Federal Register on January 19,
2021 (86 FR 5236). Subsequently, the DOI identified certain procedural
and legal defects in the decision-making process for these PLOs, as
described in the April 16, 2021, Federal Register notice (86 FR 20193),
including insufficient analysis under NEPA. The DOI extended the
opening order for PLO No. 7899 until August 31, 2024, to provide an
opportunity to review the decision and to ensure the orderly management
of the public lands (88 FR 21207). The BLM used this time to address
identified deficiencies and to update the NEPA analysis.
The 2021 Action under review is revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1)
withdrawals as described in PLO No. 7899, 7900, 7901, 7902, and 7903,
affecting approximately 28 million acres in total. This EIS evaluates
the resource conditions on these lands and incorporates and describes
additional coordination with other Federal agencies; State and local
governments; Federally recognized Tribes; Alaska Native Corporations;
and other stakeholders to ensure that the environmental analyses
previously conducted are updated and expanded upon as appropriate. This
additional analysis is necessary to ensure display of the impacts of
revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals; to correct errors in the
previous decision-making process regarding these withdrawals; and to
ensure that opening these lands is consistent with the purposes of
ANCSA 17(d)(1), which requires that ``the public interest in these
lands is properly protected,'' including factors such as subsistence
hunting and fishing, habitat connectivity, protection of cultural
resources, and protection of threatened and endangered species. This
evaluation is needed to make an informed public interest determination
to support revocation in full, revocation in part, or retention in full
of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals.
The BLM considered alternatives that represent retention or
revocation of the 17(d)(1) withdrawals and different configurations of
the areas affected in each of the five planning areas (Bay, Bering Sea-
Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk-Seward, and Ring of Fire). Each of
the alternatives identifies 17(d)(1) withdrawals in the five planning
areas as retained or revoked. The alternatives range from retaining
[[Page 55655]]
the withdrawals on all lands (Alternative A) to revoking the
withdrawals on all lands (Alternative D). Alternatives B and C include
partial revocations based on natural resource factors. Full or partial
revocation of the ANCSA 17(d)(1) withdrawals would result in changes to
land use that could affect local residents, wildlife, vegetation,
cultural resources, subsistence, and recreation. No development plans
have been submitted, and no stipulations are attached to selected lands
that would prevent any specific development from taking place.
Therefore, the EIS provides a reasonably foreseeable development
scenario that identifies and quantifies potential development activity
in the decision area, including the extraction of leasable, locatable,
and salable minerals, as well as the establishment of associated
rights-of-way, assuming the land is not withdrawn from availability for
such activities.
Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
(ANILCA) requires the BLM to evaluate the effects of the alternatives
presented in the Final EIS on subsistence uses and needs and to hold
public hearings if it finds that any alternative may significantly
restrict subsistence uses.
The BLM found in the evaluation of subsistence impacts that
Alternatives B, C, or D, in combination with the cumulative case as
analyzed in the Draft EIS, may significantly restrict subsistence uses
in many communities. Therefore, the BLM held public hearings on
subsistence resources and activities in conjunction with the public
meetings on the Draft EIS in the vicinity of potentially affected
communities. In consideration of public comments received on the Draft
EIS and at the public hearings, the BLM revised the ANILCA Section 810
evaluation, published as Appendix C of the Final EIS, but did not
change its ``may significantly restrict subsistence uses'' findings for
the identified communities.
The input of Alaska Native Tribes and Corporations is of critical
importance to this EIS. Therefore, during the NEPA process, the BLM
consulted with potentially affected Federally recognized Tribes on a
government-to-government basis, and with affected Alaska Native
Corporations in accordance with Executive Order 13175, as well as
Public Law 108-199, Div. H, sec. 161, 118 Stat. 452, as amended by
Public Law 108-447, Div. H, sec. 518, 118 Stat. 3267, and other
Department and Bureau policies.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6(b))
Steven M. Cohn,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-14658 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-10-P
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