Notice2025-12673
Intent To Amend the Resource Management Plan for the Miles City Field Office, Montana, and Prepare an Associated Environmental Assessment
Primary source
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Published
July 8, 2025
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) Montana/ Dakotas State Director intends to prepare a resource management plan (RMP) amendment with an associated environmental assessment (EA) for the Miles City Field Office. This notice announces the beginning of the scoping period to solicit public comments, identify issues, provide the planning criteria for public review, and solicit coal resource and development potential data.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 128 (Tuesday, July 8, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30092-30093]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12673]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[A2407-014-004-065516; #O2412-014-004-047181.1]
Intent To Amend the Resource Management Plan for the Miles City
Field Office, Montana, 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) Montana/
Dakotas State Director intends to prepare a resource management plan
(RMP) amendment with an associated environmental assessment (EA) for
the Miles City Field Office. This notice announces the beginning of the
scoping period to solicit public comments, identify issues, provide the
planning criteria for public review, and solicit coal resource and
development potential data.
DATES: To be considered, your comments concerning the scope of the
analysis, potential alternatives, and identification of relevant
information and studies must be received by August 7, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues, coal data, and planning
criteria related to the Miles City Field Office RMP amendment and
associated EA by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2039051/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2039051/510</a>.
<bullet> Mail: Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles
City, MT 59301.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at
<a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2039051/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2039051/510</a> and at the
Miles City Field Office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irma Nansel, Planning and
Environmental Coordinator, telephone: 406-233-3653; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c8a1a6a9a6bbada488aaa4a5e6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="620b0c030c11070e22000e0f4c050d14">[email protected]</span></a>; address: 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT 59301.
Contact Ms. Nansel 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. Nansel. 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 BLM Montana/Dakotas State Director
intends to prepare an RMP amendment with an associated EA for the Miles
City Field Office RMP. This notice announces the beginning of the
scoping process and seeks public input on issues and planning criteria
and on coal resource and development potential. The RMP amendment may
change the existing Miles City Field Office RMP. The planning area is
located in Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, McCone,
Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan,
Treasure, Wibaux, and portions of Big Horn and Valley Counties,
Montana, and encompasses approximately 2.7 million surface acres and
11.7 million acres of Federal coal mineral estate.
Purpose and Need
The purpose and need of this RMP amendment and EA is to evaluate
coal allocations in the planning area and to determine the availability
of lands acceptable for further consideration for coal leasing in
accordance with Executive Order (``E.O.'') 14154, ``Unleashing American
Energy'' (90 FR 8353, Jan. 29, 2025); E.O. 14156, ``Declaring a
National Energy Emergency'' (90 FR 8433, Jan. 29, 2025); E.O. 14148,
``Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions'' (90 FR
8237, Jan. 28, 2025); and
[[Page 30093]]
Secretary's Order 3418, which implements E.O. 14154.
Preliminary Alternatives
The RMP amendment/EA will include two alternatives varying the
amount of BLM-administered Federal coal authorized to be available for
leasing. The preliminary alternatives are the coal allocation decisions
from: (1) The 2024 approved RMP amendment/record of decision making
zero acres of BLM-administered Federal coal within the planning area
available for further consideration for coal leasing (No Action/current
decision); and (2) the 2021 approved RMP amendment/record of decision
making 1,214,380 acres of BLM-administered Federal coal within the
planning area available for further consideration for coal leasing
(Proposed Action). 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 were consistent in the 2021 and 2024 RMP amendments and are being
considered as preliminary issues for this RMP amendment/EA. The BLM
requests that industry, State, Tribal, and local governments, and the
public interested in coal management in the planning areas provide the
BLM relevant coal resource data that can help inform this project.
Specifically, the BLM requests information on the development potential
(e.g., location, quality, and quantity) of the BLM-administered Federal
coal mineral estate, and on surface resource values related to
multiple-use conflicts and the suitability of the planning area for
coal development.
We will use this information to complete the RMP amendment and EA
consistent with 43 CFR 3420.1-4 and to formulate alternatives that
identify areas acceptable for further leasing consideration. We are
requesting these data to ensure that these planning efforts have
sufficient information and data to consider a reasonable range of
resource uses, management options, and alternatives for managing BLM-
administered Federal coal mineral estate. Proprietary data marked as
confidential may be submitted in response to this call for coal and
other resource information. Please submit all proprietary information
to the appropriate Field Manager listed in ADDRESSES above. The BLM
will treat submissions marked as ``Confidential'' in accordance with
the laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such
information. 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, call for coal
data, and public review of the planning criteria, which guide the
development and analysis of the RMP amendment and EA.
The BLM does not intend to hold any public meetings, in-person or
virtual, during the public scoping period. Should the BLM later
determine to hold public meetings, the specific date(s) and location(s)
of any meeting will be announced at least 15 days in advance through
local media, newspapers, ePlanning, and the BLM website.
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 this planning effort: air resources, planning,
rangeland management, minerals and geology, outdoor recreation,
archaeology, paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands and realty,
hydrology, soils, and economics.
Additional Information
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). 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 federally recognized Tribes on a
government-to-government basis in accordance with E.O. 13175, BLM MS
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 federally recognized Tribes and other stakeholders
that may be interested in or affected by the proposed Miles City RMP
amendment that the BLM is evaluating, are invited to participate in the
scoping 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: 43 CFR 46.435 and 43 CFR 1610.2)
Sonya I. Germann,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2025-12673 Filed 7-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-20-P
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