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BLM Planning & NEPA ScheduleOngoing Resource Management Plans (RMP) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
*Estimated
Land Use Plans Eastern Interior RMP This land use plan encompasses the Steese National Conservation Area, the White Mountains National Recreation Area, the Fortymile National Wild and Scenic River Corridor, and the public lands in the Upper Black River subunit. The Notice of Availability for the Draft RMP/EIS was published on March 3, 2012. On January 11, 2013, BLM-Alaska announced the availability of a Supplement to the Eastern Interior Draft RMP/EIS The Supplement amended Alternative D of the Draft RMP/EIS to address hardrock mineral leasing in the White Mountains NRA. The public comment period on both the Draft RMP/EIS and the Supplement ended April 11, 2013. The Eastern Interior Field Office is currently analyzing public comment. National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement The Final Integrated Activity Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement was issued in November 2012. The Secretary of the Interior signed the Record of Decision on February 21, 2013. Ring of Fire RMP – Haines Block Supplemental EIS Amendment This land use plan amendment will consider whether portions of the Haines planning block meet the requirements for designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), whether to retain the Haines Block Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) designation, and to analyze the effects of aviation-supported guiding services with current Terms, Conditions, and Stipulations on each permit. The Anchorage Field Office is currently awaiting final approval from WO 210 on responses to internal comments on the draft document. The DEIS was released for public review in December 2012; the public comment period closed on March 14, 2013. The BLM is currently reviewing public comments and intends to release a FEIS before the end of FY 2013. East Alaska RMP – Delta River EA Amendment This land use plan amendment revises the 1983 Delta River Management Plan and includes decisions for the Delta River Special Recreation Management Area. The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), Decision Record (DR) and Approved Plan were signed on March 29, 2013. Land use planning decisions are effective immediately. Implementation decisions may be appealed within 30 days of BLM’s publication of notice in the Federal Register. To date, the Federal Register notice has not been published. Kobuk Seward Peninsula RMP - Squirrel River EA Amendment This land use plan amendment will reevaluate the SRMA designation, define a travel management network, and make implementation level decisions addressing user conflict. The Scoping Report is complete and available on the BLM-Alaska website. The Draft RMP Amendment is currently being developed. Ring of Fire RMP - Campbell Tract Plan EA Amendment This plan has been postponed for an underdetermined amount of time. Central Yukon RMP This land use plan will revise or replace all or portions of the Utility Corridor RMP ROD, signed in 1991; the Central Yukon Field Office RMP ROD, signed in 1986; and the Southwest MFP ROD, signed in 1986. The preplan was signed in April 2013. Scoping is scheduled to begin in June 2013. Bering Sea-Western Interior (BSWI) RMP The BSWI Planning Area encompasses approximately 62 million acres of land and includes all lands south of the Central Yukon watershed to the southern boundary of the Kuskokwim River watershed, all lands west of Denali National Park and Preserve and the divide of the Alaska Range to the Bering Sea, including Saint Lawrence, Saint Mathew, and Nunivak islands. Approximately 10.6 million acres of the Planning Area constitute BLM-managed public lands. Authors are currently assigned work on the AMS. Specialists will commence pending data collection required this summer field season. The NOI will be published this summer and Scoping will initiate late Fall 2013. Other BLM-AK NEPA Efforts Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline Right of Way/ANILCA 810 Evaluation The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Alaska District and six cooperating agencies have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Alaska Stand Alone Gas Pipeline (ASAP) Project. The comment period on the draft closed May 2, 2012. The BLM Central Yukon Field Office accepted written testimony on the ANILCA 810 subsistence evaluation through June 1. The final EIS is tentatively scheduled for publication on August 17, 2012.
Hunting Guide Use Allocation The Bureau of Land Management- Alaska is preparing a draft statewide Hunting Guide Capacity Study and environmental assessment to determine the appropriate numbers of commercial hunting guides per Alaska Department of Commerce Guide Use Areas. The public scoping period will end September 9, 2012. Coordination with Alaska DNR is on-going with their Guide Concession Program . AEA's Watana - Susitna Project The project dam site would be located on the Susitna River southeast of Cantwell, Alaska. Proposed access and transmission line routes extending from both the Parks and Denali Highway and the proposed reservoir along the Susitna River cross BLM-managed lands selected by the State of Alaska and Native Corporations for conveyance. BLM Glennallen Field Office received an incomplete application from the Alaska Energy Authority for a right-of-way associated with the proposed Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric project, and has entered into a Cost Recovery Agreement that reimburses BLM for processing such applications. The project is currently in the two-year pre-application phase focused primarily on identifying data gaps and needs for the licensing phase. BLM staff specialists are participating in four working groups which have been established to identify data gaps and needs. AEA is expected to submit a license application to FERC in 2015. Donlin Gold EIS On April 9, 2013, the BLM Anchorage Field Office delivered the BLM’s scoping comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Donlin Gold Project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The proposed Donlin Gold Mine is located in the Kuskokwim basin in southwest Alaska. The project would involve a remote, large open-pit operation located on Native corporation lands, powered in part by natural gas from a proposed pipeline across approximately 105 miles of BLM-managed lands. The Corps is lead agency for the EIS; the BLM is a cooperating agency. The BLM’s scoping comments include, but are not limited to, subsistence, cultural resources, socioeconomic issues, invasive species concerns, and Iditarod National Historic Trail segments near the project area. The BLM will participate in the alternatives development process in late spring and early summer 2013.
Acronyms DEIS/FEIS - Draft/Final Environmental Impact Statement EA - Environmental Assessment DR - Decision Record N/A - Not Applicable TBD - To Be Determined
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