Notice2024-19486
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah
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 30, 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) has prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) 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 169 (Friday, August 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70662-70663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19486]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_UT_FRN_MO4500181099]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument in Utah
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) has
prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument (GSENM) 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. Protests must be postmarked or electronically submitted
on the BLM's ePlanning site within 30 days of the date that the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of
Availability (NOA) of the Proposed RMP and Final EIS in the Federal
Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.
ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP and Final EIS is available on the BLM
ePlanning project website at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/510</a>. Documents pertinent to this proposal may be
examined online at: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/570">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/570</a> and at the BLM Paria River District Office, 669 US-89A,
Kanab, Utah 84741.
Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument RMP/EIS 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott M. Whitesides, Project Manager,
telephone: 801-539-4054; address: Bureau of Land Management Utah, 440
West 200 South Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2e5d5946475a4b5d474a4b5d6e4c424300494158"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="85f6f2edecf1e0f6ece1e0f6c5e7e9e8abe2eaf3">[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 Mr. Whitesides. 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 planning area includes approximately
1.87 million acres of public land in Kane and Garfield counties in
southern Utah. Management of GSENM is currently guided by the GSENM and
Kanab Escalante Planning Area (KEPA) RMPs to the extent consistent with
Presidential Proclamation 10286. Where the GSENM and KEPA RMPs conflict
with Proclamation 10286, Proclamation 10286 controls.
The Final EIS evaluates five alternatives: the no action
alternative (Alternative A) and four action alternatives (Alternatives
B, C, D, and E) that are based on known use and issues in the planning
area. Alternative B emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction
to maximize the potential for an array of discretionary actions that
may be compatible with the protection of GSENM objects. Alternative C
emphasizes the protection and maintenance of intact and resilient
landscapes using a management area approach to selectively allow for
discretionary uses in appropriate settings. Four management areas,
similar to those used in the 2000 GSENM Monument Management Plan, would
be established: the front country, passage, outback, and primitive. The
BLM would use these areas to identify the allowable uses that meet the
goals and objectives of the areas while also protecting GSENM objects.
Alternative D strives to maximize natural processes by minimizing
active management and limiting discretionary uses. Land use allocations
would curtail discretionary uses, including recreation, livestock
grazing, rights-of-ways, and activities under special recreation
permits. This alternative would also constrain management actions to
emphasize natural conditions, such as passive
[[Page 70663]]
vegetation management. The State Director identified Alternative C as
the preferred alternative in the Draft EIS.
The BLM received a total of 6,820 letter submissions during the
public comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, including 5,216 letters
that contained non-unique, preformulated language that appeared in
other letter submissions. There were 1,604 unique submissions, from
which the BLM identified substantive comments. Most submissions were
focused on suggestions for specific alternatives or alternative
elements, statements of support or lack thereof for an alternative, and
detailed input pertaining to various resource topics analyzed in the
draft EIS, such as livestock grazing, travel and transportation, fish
and wildlife, and vegetation.
Based on public comments on the Draft RMP/EIS, the BLM has prepared
the Final EIS and developed new appendices that provide additional
consistency, clarity, and accuracy. In Appendix J, the BLM has provided
responses to substantive comments on the Draft RMP/EIS, proposed
recreational shooting closures, and Areas of Critical Environment
Concern/Research Natural Areas.
The BLM also developed the Proposed RMP (Alternative E) as
presented in the Final EIS. Alternative E is based on Alternative C
with a combination of components from the various other action
alternatives, and as such, is within the range of alternatives
considered in the Draft RMP/EIS. Alternative E was developed and
refined based on consideration of public comments received during the
90-day comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, consultation with
cooperating agencies, government-to-government consultation with
interested Tribal Nations, and updates to the best available science
and information.
The primary changes from the Draft RMP/EIS to the Proposed RMP/
Final EIS include: the addition of Alternative E and associated
analysis; the use of updated assessment, inventory, and monitoring data
to revise the list of departed watersheds (watersheds with a high
degree of departure from reference conditions); supplemental Areas of
Critical Environmental Concern and Research Natural Area nominations
and evaluations; management of recreational shooting; the inclusion of
public comment process, summary, and responses; the development of a
monitoring plan; the inclusion of a final air quality emissions
inventory; the completion and inclusion of the Old Spanish National
Historic Trail Corridor Assessment and Inventory Report and associated
management direction and analysis; and the review of applicable State
and local land use plans for plan consistency.
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, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section earlier or
submitted electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website as
described previously. Protests submitted electronically by any means
other than the ePlanning project website will be invalid unless a
protest is also submitted as a hard copy. 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>. Upon 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)
Gregory Sheehan,
BLM Utah State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-19486 Filed 8-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-25-P
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