[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54669-54670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21248]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CA-610-01-1610-DQ]
Notice of Availability of the Northern and Eastern Mojave Desert
Proposed Plan, an Amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area
Plan, and Final Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior,
California Desert District, Riverside, California.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Proposed Plan and associated
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Northern and
Eastern Mojave Desert planning area (NEMO), an amendment to the Bureau
of Land Management California Desert Conservation Area Plan.
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SUMMARY: NEMO amends the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA)
Plan for a 3.3 million acre area in the northeastern portion of the
CDCA, and provides for conservation and recovery of T & E species,
reduces the need for further species listings and streamlines the
processing of land-use permits. NEMO includes goals, objectives,
management prescriptions and monitoring in accordance with the Federal
Lands Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) for comprehensive,
strategic, management of the desert landscapes, including a
programmatic biological opinion for the desert tortoise, strategies for
the Amargosa watershed which include multiple listed species and
sensitive bat habitat. The FEIS evaluates the Proposed Plan Amendments
and alternatives, includes public comments on the Draft EIS and
provides responses to those comments.
DATES: Written protests on the Final EIS will be accepted if received
within 30 calendar days from the date that a Notice of Availability is
published in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection
Agency. Instructions for filing protests are contained in the NEMO
document Cover Sheet, just inside the front cover, and are included
below the Supplemental Information.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the NEMO Proposed Plan/FEIS are being mailed to
those who received the Draft EIS or provided comments on the Draft EIS.
The document is available for review online at http://www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/nemo.html. Reading copies are also available at most local
libraries and the following BLM offices:
BLM, 6221 Box Springs Blvd., Riverside, CA 92507; (909) 697-5200
BLM, 2601 Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311; (760) 252-6000
BLM, 101 West Spikes Road, Needles, CA 92363; (760) 326-7000
BLM, 300 South Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, CA 93555; (760) 384-5400
BLM, 690 Garnet, North Palm Springs, CA 92258; (760) 251-4800
BLM, 1661 South 4th Street, El Centro, CA 92243; (760) 337-4400
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edythe Seehafer, Barstow Field Office,
2601 Barstow Road, Barstow, California 92311; Telephone (760) 252-6021.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Development of the plan began in 1994, with
scoping meetings held in conjunction with the National Park Service
(NPS). NPS is conducting concurrent planning efforts on adjacent lands.
The NEMO Planning Area covers 3.3 million acres of land in the
southeastern California Desert of which 2.7 million acres are public
lands. This document describes and analyzes a number of alternatives
for managing species and habitats on public lands administered by the
BLM. Issues identified during public scoping included (1) recovery of
threatened and endangered species, including the desert tortoise, the
Amargosa vole, the Amargosa niterwort, the Ash Meadows Gumplant and
spring-loving Centaury; (2) maintenance of public access through the
NEMO planning area which includes sensitive areas, is surrounded by two
national park units and two large military bases, and includes all or
parts of twenty-four wilderness and eight wilderness study areas; (3)
addressing impacts to other land uses; and (4) protection of County tax
base.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency
published the Notice of Availability of the NEMO DEIS in the Federal
Register on April 13, 2001. The public review period on the DEIS began
April 13, 2001 and ended November 1, 2001.
Following are the instructions from the Code of Federal Regulations
1610.5-2 for filing protests. (a) Any person who participates in the
planning process and has an interest which is or may be adversely
affected by the approval or amendment of a resource management plan may
protest such approval or amendment. A protest may raise only those
issues which were submitted for the record during the planning process.
(1) The protest shall be in writing and shall be filed with the
Director. The protest shall be filed within 30 days of the date the
Environmental Protection Agency published the notice of receipt of the
final environmental impact statement containing the plan or amendment
in the Federal Register. For
[[Page 54670]]
an amendment not requiring the preparation of an environmental impact
statement, the protest shall be filed within 30 days of the publication
of the notice of its effective date.
(2) The protest shall contain:
(i) The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest of the
person filing the protest;
(ii) A statement of the issue or issues being protested;
(iii) A statement of the part or parts of the plan or amendment
being protested;
(iv) A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that
were submitted during the planning process by the protesting party or
an indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the
record; and
(v) A concise statement explaining why the State Director's
decision is believed to be wrong.
(3) The Director shall promptly render a decision on the protest.
The decision shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons for
the decision. The decision shall be sent to the protesting party by
certified mail, return receipt requested.
(b) The decision of the Director shall be the final decision for
the Department of the Interior.
Mailing address for filing a protest:
Regular mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, Director, Bureau of Land
Management, Protest Coordinator (WO-210), 1849 ``C'' Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20240
Overnight mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, Director, Bureau of
Land Mgt, Protest Coordinator (WO-210), 1620 ``L'' Street, NW., Rm
1075, Washington, DC 20036
Bruce Shaffer,
Acting District Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-21248 Filed 8-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-M