Notice2024-17402
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the North Dakota Resource Management Plan Revision
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
August 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a proposed resource management plan (RMP) and final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the North Dakota Resource Management Plan Revision and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the proposed RMP.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65391-65392]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17402]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_MT_FRN_MO4500180327]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the North Dakota Resource
Management Plan Revision
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, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a
proposed resource management plan (RMP) and final environmental impact
statement (EIS) for the North Dakota Resource Management Plan Revision
and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period
of the proposed RMP.
DATES: This notice announces a 30-day protest period to the BLM on the
proposed RMP beginning with the date following the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of Availability
(NOA) of the proposed RMP/final EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. Protests must be postmarked or
electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning site during the 30-day
protest period.
ADDRESSES: The proposed RMP and final EIS and other pertinent documents
are available on the BLM ePlanning project website at
<a href="http://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1505069/510">eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1505069/510</a> and at the North
Dakota Field Office; address 99 23rd Avenue West, Suite A, Dickinson,
ND 58601.
Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the North Dakota
Resource Management Plan Revision can be found at: <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest</a>
and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.
All protests must be submitted in writing through one of the
following methods:
<bullet> Website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1505069/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1505069/510</a>
<bullet> Regular and Overnight Mail: BLM Director, Attention: Protest
Coordinator (HQ210), Denver Federal Center, Building 40 (Door W-4),
Lakewood, CO 80215
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristine Braun, telephone 701-227-
7725; address 99 23rd Avenue West, Suite A, Dickinson, ND 58601; email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#68030d0a1a091d06280a0405460f071e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="85eee0e7f7e4f0ebc5e7e9e8abe2eaf3">[email protected]</span></a>. 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. Kristine Braun. 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 North Dakota proposed RMP provides a
comprehensive land use plan that guides management on approximately
58,500 acres of BLM-managed public
[[Page 65392]]
lands and 4.1 million acres of BLM-administered mineral estate in North
Dakota. The planning area is currently managed under the 1988 North
Dakota RMP, as amended. This planning effort would update management
guidance and create a new North Dakota RMP.
The proposed RMP/final EIS evaluates five alternatives in detail.
Alternative A is the No Action Alternative, which is the continuation
of current management under the existing 1988 North Dakota RMP, as
amended.
Alternative B (Preferred Alternative from the draft RMP/EIS)
emphasizes sustaining the ecological integrity of habitats for all
priority plant, wildlife, and fish species, while allowing appropriate
development scenarios for resource uses. Under Alternative B, the BLM
would close low oil and gas development potential areas and State-
designated drinking water source protection areas to future Federal oil
and gas leasing and would not allow future leasing for Federal coal
outside of a 4-mile development area from existing mine permit
boundaries. Where oil and gas are available for leasing, no surface
occupancy, controlled surface use, or timing limitation stipulations
would apply to most areas. Alternative B provides opportunities for
recreation and improved access by designating one special recreation
management area (SRMA) and two backcountry conservation areas (BCAs).
It would manage for other social and scientific values by designating
one area of critical environmental concern (ACEC). Alternative B would
recommend three eligible wild and scenic rivers as suitable for
designation.
Alternative B.1 is a sub-alternative to Alternative B that provides
the same management opportunities and protections as found under
Alternative B for all resources except coal. Under this alternative,
future leasing of Federal coal would be further restricted by
designating the area outside the approved permit boundaries at each
coal mine (as of September 9, 2022) as unavailable for coal leasing.
Alternative C does not close any areas to future Federal oil and
gas leasing, but more acres would be subject to no surface occupancy
lease stipulations than Alternative A. Under Alternative C, fewer acres
of Federal coal would be made unavailable for leasing than Alternative
B, but more than Alternative A. Alternative C provides opportunities
for recreation and improved access by also designating one SRMA and two
BCAs, but with reduced size and/or management restrictions.
Alternative D is the proposed RMP and includes management direction
from Alternatives A, B, and C. Alternative D carries forward many of
the key allocations from Alternative B (the Preferred Alternative in
the draft RMP/draft EIS) for oil, gas, and coal as well as the
management direction establishing the SRMA, two BCAs, and designation
of one ACEC. Alternative D would close low oil and gas development
potential areas and State-designated drinking water source protection
areas to future Federal oil and gas leasing and would make Federal coal
minerals outside a 4-mile development area from existing mine permit
boundaries unavailable for consideration for future leasing.
Alternative D, however, adjusts fluid mineral lease stipulations for
some wildlife habitat and would change some right-of-way exclusion
areas to avoidance areas where the functionality of the habitat can be
maintained by applying special stipulations and design features.
Alternative D also adjusts the application of Coal Screen 4 to look for
clusters of surface owner opposition in determining lands as
unavailable for future consideration for leasing. Alternative D would
not recommend any river as suitable for inclusion in the National Wild
and Scenic River System due to segments being small, fragmented, and
impractical to manage. Alternative D would also reduce some visual
resource management classifications and would include approximately 100
acres as potentially available for disposal to allow for flexibility
for transfer, exchange, or direct sale of a handful of small, scattered
parcels without public access ranging in size from 0.1 -1.0 acres.
The North Dakota draft RMP/draft EIS public comment period began on
January 20, 2023, was extended 30-days, and ended on May 22, 2023. The
BLM held two in-person public meetings in Bowman and Dickinson, North
Dakota, during the public comment period. The BLM considered and
incorporated in the proposed RMP, as appropriate, comments received
from the public, cooperating agencies, and internal BLM review.
Protest of the Proposed RMP
The BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated
in the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be
adversely affected by approval of the proposed RMP may protest its
approval to the BLM Director. Protest on the proposed RMP constitutes
the final opportunity for administrative review of the proposed land
use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an approved RMP.
Instructions for filing a protest regarding the proposed RMP with the
BLM Director may be found online at <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest</a> and at 43
CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing and mailed to the
appropriate address or submitted electronically through the BLM
ePlanning project website as set forth in the ADDRESSES section.
Protests submitted by any other means will be invalid. The BLM Director
will render a written decision on each protest. The Director's decision
shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior.
Responses to valid protest issues will be compiled and documented in a
Protest Resolution Report made available following the protest
resolution online at: <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports</a>. After resolution of
protests, the BLM will issue a Record of Decision and approved RMP.
Before including your phone number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your protest you should be aware
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR
1610.5)
Sonya Germann,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-17402 Filed 8-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-20-P
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