[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 9 (Thursday, January 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3181-3184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00579]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[(LLCA930000.L13400000.DS0000.21X) MO#450014117]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Desert Plan Amendment and
Draft Environmental Impact Statement, California
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a
Draft Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA) and Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS), for an amendment to the California Desert Conservation
Area (CDCA) Plan and the Bakersfield and Bishop Resource Management
Plans (RMPs). The Desert Plan Amendment Draft LUPA/EIS includes
consideration of changes to the management or modification to the
boundaries of 129 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). By
this notice, the BLM is announcing the availability of the Draft LUPA/
EIS. In order to comply with Federal regulations, the BLM is also
announcing a comment period on proposed changes to the ACECs within the
planning area.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft LUPA/EIS within 90 days following the
date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice of the
Draft LUPA/EIS in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce future
meetings and any other public participation activities at least 15 days
in advance through public notices, news releases, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: The Desert Plan Amendment Draft LUPA/EIS are available on
the BLM ePlanning project website at https://go.usa.gov/x7hdj. Click
the ``Documents'' link on the left side of the screen to find the
electronic version of these materials. Hard copies of the Desert Plan
Amendment Draft LUPA and Draft EIS are also available for public
inspection at the following BLM locations:
California State Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-1623, Sacramento, CA
95825;
California Desert District Office, 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos,
Moreno Valley, CA 92553;
Barstow Field Office, 2601 Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311;
El Centro Field Office, 1661 S. 4th Street, El Centro, CA 92243;
Needles Field Office, 1303 S. Highway 95, Needles, CA 92363;
Ridgecrest Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, CA 93555;
Bakersfield Field Office, 3801 Pegasus Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308;
and
Bishop Field Office, 351 Pacu Lane, Suite 100, Bishop, CA 93514.
You may submit written comments related to the Desert Plan
Amendment by either of the following methods:
Website: https://go.usa.gov/x7hdj.
Mail: Bureau of Land Management, California State Office,
Attn: Desert Plan Amendment, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-1623,
Sacramento, CA 95825.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeremiah Karuzas, Renewable Energy
Program Manager, telephone: 916-978-4644, email: [email protected];
address Bureau of Land Management, 2800 Cottage Way, W-1623,
Sacramento, CA 95825. Persons who use a telecommunications device for
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
[[Page 3182]]
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr. Karuzas during normal
business hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to
leave a message or question. You will receive a reply during normal
business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In September 2016, the BLM issued a Record
of Decision (ROD) for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
(DRECP) LUPA, which amended the CDCA Plan, the Bishop RMP, and the
Bakersfield RMP in the Mojave and Colorado/Sonoran Desert regions of
southern California. The 2016 ROD was intended to address the
streamlining of renewable energy development, conservation of desert
resources, and to support multiple use and recreation on the nearly 11
million acres of BLM-managed public land in the planning area. In
response to challenges that arose with the implementation of the 2016
DRECP LUPA, as well as in response to Executive Order 13783, Promoting
Energy Independence and Economic Growth, and Executive Order 13821 on
Streamlining and Expediting Requests to Locate Broadband Facilities in
Rural America, the BLM published a Notice of Intent in the Federal
Register on February 2, 2018 (83 FR 4921) initiating a 45-day public
comment period. The BLM sought comments on:
The potential impacts that land use designations contained
in the amended Land Use Plans will have on commercial-scale renewable
energy projects, including wind, solar and geothermal energy;
ACECs that were designated, including where private lands
lie within the external boundaries of such designations, as well as
comments on increasing opportunities for increased renewable energy
development, recreational and off-highway vehicle access, mining
access, and grazing; and
The impact that land-use designations, land-disturbance
limits (``disturbance caps''), and visual-management classifications
contained in the plans may have on the deployment of future
communications infrastructure.
The BLM used public scoping comments to help identify planning
issues to formulate alternatives and frame the scope of analysis in the
Draft LUPA/EIS. Issues considered in the Draft LUPA/EIS are management
actions associated with conservation areas, biological resources
(including special status species), cultural resources, renewable
energy, minerals, livestock grazing, visual resources, air resources,
water resources, and recreation. The LUPA also considers decisions
regarding ACECs, California Desert National Conservation Lands (CDNCL),
and management of lands with wilderness characteristics. The Desert
Plan Amendment Draft LUPA/EIS evaluates the No Action Alternative and
two action alternatives (Alternatives 1 and 2). The BLM identifies
Alternative 1 as the Preferred Alternative. This alternative, however,
does not represent the final agency direction. After the public comment
period closes, the BLM will prepare a Proposed LUPA, which may reflect
changes or adjustments based on information received during public
comment on the Draft LUPA/EIS, new information, or changes in BLM
policies or priorities.
The No Action Alternative would retain the decisions specified in
the 2016 ROD for the DRECP LUPA, as recently modified by Public Law
116-9. Alternative 1 would reduce the number of ACECs from 129 to 97
thus reducing the acreage of the ACECs by approximately 1.8 million
acres; reduce the areas identified as CDNCL by approximately 2.2
million acres; and result in an additional 450,000 acres of General
Public Lands (GPL). Alternative 1 would also modify or eliminate 68
Conservation Management Actions (CMAs), which would also change the
manner in which disturbance caps are implemented, including elimination
of disturbance caps in CDNCL, as well as allowing renewable energy
development in Special Recreation Management Areas (SRMA).
Alternative 2 would reduce the number of ACECs to 100, and reduce
the acreage of the ACECs by approximately 1.5 million acres; reduce the
areas identified as CDNCL by approximately 2.1 million acres; and
result in an additional approximate 274,000 acres of General Public
Lands (GPL). Alternative 2 would also modify or eliminate the same 68
CMAs, which would also change the manner in which disturbance caps are
implemented similar to Alternative 1 but Alternative 2 would retain the
one percent disturbance cap for CDNCL. Alternative 2 CMAs would be
modified to only allow renewable energy development in a SRMA where
there is overlap with Development Focus Areas (DFAs). All other land
use allocation decisions and CMAs from the 2016 ROD would be retained
in both Alternative 1 and Alternative 2.
As a result of proposed CMA changes, the resource use limitations
of the 129 ACECs within the planning area will also change. Therefore,
pursuant to 43 CFR 1610.7-2(b), this notice announces a concurrent
public comment period on proposed management changes (including
alteration or elimination of disturbance caps), and boundary
modifications or elimination of the existing ACECs as identified in
Table 1.
Table 1--ACECs Proposed for Boundary Modification or Elimination
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No action Alternative 1 Alternative 2
ACEC name acres acres acres
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Afton Canyon.................................................... 8,800 8,800 8,800
Alligator Rock.................................................. 6,800 6,200 6,200
Amargosa North.................................................. 114,000 72,760 72,760
Amargosa South.................................................. 148,410 134,410 134,410
Amboy Crater.................................................... 640 640 640
Avawatz Mountains WSA........................................... 49,900 0 0
Ayers Rock...................................................... 1,500 1,500 1,500
Barstow Woolly Sunflower........................................ 19,100 19,100 19,100
Bedrock Spring.................................................. 440 0 0
Bendire's Thrasher.............................................. 9,800 9,800 9,800
Big Morongo Canyon.............................................. 25,000 24,600 24,600
Big Rock Creek Wash............................................. 310 310 310
Bigelow Cholla.................................................. 4,200 4,200 4,200
Black Mountain.................................................. 51,300 0 0
Brisbane Valley Monkey Flower................................... 11,700 11,700 11,700
Bristol......................................................... 213,600 116,400 116,400
Cadiz Valley.................................................... 191,200 67,600 67,600
[[Page 3183]]
Cady Mountains WSA.............................................. 101,400 0 101,400
Calico Early Man Site........................................... 840 840 840
Carbonate Endemic Plants RNA.................................... 5,000 5,000 5,000
Castle Mountain................................................. 3,180 0 0
Cerro Gordo..................................................... 10,400 9,700 9,700
Cerro Gordo WSA................................................. 630 0 0
Chemehuevi...................................................... 864,200 578,600 578,600
Chuckwalla...................................................... 512,300 319,400 319,400
Chuckwalla to Chemehuevi tortoise linkage....................... 318,600 269,900 269,900
Chuckwalla Valley Dune Thicket.................................. 2,200 2,200 2,200
Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard............................. 10,300 10,300 10,300
Conglomerate Mesa............................................... 1,700 1,700 1,700
Coolgardie Mesa................................................. 9,800 9,800 9,800
Corn Springs.................................................... 2,500 900 900
Coyote Mountains Fossil Site.................................... 5,900 5,900 5,900
Cronese Basin................................................... 8,500 0 0
Dagget Ridge Monkey Flower...................................... 26,100 26,100 26,100
Dead Mountains.................................................. 27,200 0 0
Death Valley 17 WSA............................................. 20,600 0 0
Denning Springs................................................. 390 0 0
Desert Lily Preserve............................................ 2,100 2,100 2,100
Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area........................... 22,200 22,200 22,200
Dos Palmas...................................................... 8,600 8,600 8,600
Eagles Flyway................................................... 10,900 0 0
East Mesa....................................................... 88,500 38,200 88,500
El Paso to Golden............................................... 57,800 57,800 57,800
Fossil Falls.................................................... 1,700 1,700 1,700
Fremont-Kramer.................................................. 236,000 236,000 236,000
Granite Mountain Corridor....................................... 39,300 0 34,500
Great Falls Basin............................................... 10,300 0 0
Halloran Wash................................................... 1,700 1,700 1,700
Harper Dry Lake................................................. 490 490 490
Horse Canyon.................................................... 1,500 1,500 1,500
Independence Creek WSA.......................................... 6,500 0 0
Indian Pass..................................................... 1,900 1,900 1,900
Ivanpah......................................................... 78,600 63,900 78,600
Jawbone/Butterbredt............................................. 145,700 114,900 114,900
Juniper Flats................................................... 2,400 2,400 2,400
Kingston Range.................................................. 18,900 15,200 15,200
Kingston Range WSA.............................................. 40,000 0 0
Lake Cahuilla................................................... 8,600 8,600 8,600
Lake Cahuilla Shoreline......................................... 11,900 11,900 11,900
Last Chance Canyon.............................................. 5,100 3,500 3,500
Manix........................................................... 2,900 2,900 2,900
Manzanar........................................................ 540 540 540
Marble Mountain Fossil Bed...................................... 230 0 0
McCoy Valley.................................................... 26,200 26,200 26,200
McCoy Wash...................................................... 6,400 6,400 6,400
Mesquite Hills/Crucero.......................................... 5,000 5,000 5,000
Mesquite Lake................................................... 6,800 6,800 6,800
Middle Knob..................................................... 17,800 17,800 17,800
Mohave Ground Squirrel.......................................... 165,200 170,800 170,800
Mojave Fishhook Cactus.......................................... 637 635 635
Mojave Fringe-toed Lizard....................................... 22,500 11,500 11,500
Mopah Spring.................................................... 1,900 0 0
Mountain Pass Dinosaur Trackway................................. 630 630 630
Mule McCoy Linkage.............................................. 51,200 51,200 51,200
Mule Mountains.................................................. 4,100 4,100 4,100
Northern Lucerne Wildlife Linkage............................... 21,900 21,900 21,900
Ocotillo........................................................ 14,600 14,600 14,600
Olancha Greasewood.............................................. 25,600 19,500 19,500
Old Woman Springs Wildlife Linkage.............................. 55,600 43,200 55,600
Ord-Rodman...................................................... 195,300 140,700 140,700
Owens Lake...................................................... 10,200 10,200 10,200
Palen Dry Lake.................................................. 3,600 3,600 3,600
Palen Ford...................................................... 41,400 25,600 41,400
Panamint Lake................................................... 21,700 0 0
Panamints and Argus............................................. 102,900 71,500 71,500
Parish's Phacelia............................................... 560 560 560
Patton Military Camps........................................... 16,400 21,100 21,100
Picacho......................................................... 183,500 133,600 133,600
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Pilot Knob...................................................... 860 860 860
Pinto Mountains................................................. 108,200 84,200 84,200
Pipes Canyon.................................................... 8,700 4,600 4,600
Pisgah.......................................................... 46,600 46,600 46,600
Piute-Fenner.................................................... 155,500 146,200 146,200
Plank Road...................................................... 420 420 420
Rainbow Basin/Owl Canyon........................................ 4,100 4,100 4,100
Red Mountain Spring............................................. 700 700 700
Rodman Mountains Cultural Area.................................. 6,200 0 0
Rose Spring..................................................... 840 840 840
Saline Valley................................................... 1,400 0 0
Salt Creek Hills................................................ 2,200 1,600 1,600
Salton Sea Hazardous ACEC....................................... 5,100 5,100 5,100
San Sebastian Marsh/San Felipe Creek............................ 6,600 6,600 6,600
Sand Canyon..................................................... 2,600 0 0
Santos Manuel................................................... 27,500 0 0
Shadow Valley................................................... 197,300 159,700 159,700
Short Canyon.................................................... 750 0 0
Sierra Canyons.................................................. 26,300 27,000 27,000
Singer Geoglyphs................................................ 2,000 2,000 2,000
Soda Mountains Expansion........................................ 16,700 0 0
Soda Mountains WSA.............................................. 88,800 0 0
Soda Mountains.................................................. 0 0 33,300
Soggy Dry Lake Creosote Rings................................... 180 180 180
Southern Inyo WSA............................................... 2,700 0 0
Steam Well...................................................... 40 0 0
Superior-Cronese................................................ 315,800 310,900 310,900
Surprise Canyon................................................. 4,600 0 0
Symmes Creek WSA................................................ 8,400 0 0
Trona Pinnacles................................................. 4,100 4,100 4,100
Turtle Mountains................................................ 50,400 0 0
Upper Johnson Valley Yucca Rings................................ 330 330 330
Upper McCoy..................................................... 37,400 37,400 37,400
Warm Sulfur Springs............................................. 350 350 350
West Mesa....................................................... 82,500 18,700 82,500
West Paradise................................................... 240 0 0
Western Rand Mountains.......................................... 30,400 30,400 30,400
Whipple Mountains............................................... 2,800 2,100 2,100
White Mountain City............................................. 820 820 820
White Mountains WSA............................................. 1,600 0 0
Whitewater Canyon............................................... 14,900 2,800 2,800
Yuha Basin...................................................... 77,300 73,600 73,600
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A more detailed description of all proposed ACEC modifications,
including maps, is included in the Draft LUPA/EIS and Appendix B of the
Draft LUPA/EIS.
The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA process to help
fulfill the public involvement process under the National Historic
Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108), as provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3).
The BLM will continue to consult with Indian tribes on a government-to-
government basis, in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and
potential impacts to cultural resources, will continue to be given due
consideration. Federal, State, and local agencies, along with tribes
and other stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the
proposed action that the BLM is evaluating, are invited to participate
in the comment period.
Please note that public comments and information submitted,
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who
submit comments, will be available for public review and disclosure at
the BLM California State Office (see ADDRESSES) during regular business
hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays.
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: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)
Karen E. Mouritsen,
State Director, California.
[FR Doc. 2021-00579 Filed 1-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P