65440 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 239 / Friday, December 12, 1997 / Notices

4. How to minimize the burden of the

collection of information on those who

are to respond, including the use of

appropriate automated electronic,

mechanical, or other forms of

information technology.

Title: Portland and Masonry Cement.

OMB approval number: 1028–0058.

Abstract: Respondents supply the

U.S. Geological Survey with data on

cement shipments to final customers.

This information will be published as

monthly reports for use by Government

agencies, industry, and the general

public.

Bureau form number: 9–3079.

Frequency: Monthly.

Description of respondents:

Manufacturers and importers of

portland and masonry cement.

Annual responses: 600.

Annual burden hours: 300.

Bureau clearance officer: John E.

Cordyack, Jr., 703–648–7313.

John H. DeYoung, Jr.,

Chief Scientist, Minerals Information Team.

[FR Doc. 97–32515 Filed 12–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–31–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[ID–990–1020–01]

Call for Nominations for Upper Snake

River District, Resource Advisory

Council

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Resource Advisory

Council Call for Nominations.

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is

to solicit public nominations for the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Upper Snake River District (USRD),

Resource Advisory Council that have

two vacant positions, which expire

August 1998. This Council provides

advice and recommendations to the

BLM USRD on land use planning and

management of the public lands within

central and eastern Idaho. Public

nominations will be considered for 30

days after the publication date of this

notice.

The Federal Land Policy and

Management Act (FLPMA) directs the

Secretary of the Interior to involve the

public in planning and issues related to

management of lands administered by

BLM. Section 309 of FLPMA directs the

Secretary to select 10 to 15 member

citizen-based advisory councils that are

established and authorized consistent

with the requirements of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (FACA). As

required by the FACA, Resource

Advisory Council members appointed to

the council must be balanced and

representative of the various interests

concerned with the management of the

public lands. The two vacant categories

are in Category 1 and Category 2.

Category 1 includes holders of federal

grazing permits, representatives of

energy and mining development, timber

industry, off-road vehicle use and

developed recreation; Category 2

includes representatives of

environmental and resource

conservation organizations,

archaeological and historic interests,

and wild horse and burro groups.

Individuals may nominate themselves

or others. Nominees must be residents

of the State of Idaho in which the

council has jurisdiction. Nominees will

be evaluated based on their education,

training, and experience of the issues

and knowledge of the geographical area

of the Council. Nominees should have

demonstrated a commitment to

collaborative resource decision making.

All nominations must be accompanied

by letters of reference from represented

interests or organizations, a completed

background information nomination

form, as well as any other information

that speaks to the nominee’s

qualifications.

Simultaneous with this notice, BLM

Upper Snake River District will issue

press releases providing additional

information for submitting nominations

and with specifics about the positions

available for this council. Nominations

for Upper Snake River District Resource

Advisory Council should be sent to

Debra Kovar, BLM Shoshone Resource

Area Office, 400 West F Street, P O Box

2-B, Shoshone, Idaho 83352–1522.

Dated: December 5, 1997.

Tom Dyer,

Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–32535 Filed 12–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK–931–1310–00–NPRA]

Northeast National Petroleum ReserveAlaska Draft Integrated Activity Plan/

Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability and

announcement of public subsistencerelated hearing schedule

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management announces the availability

of Northeast National Petroleum

Reserve-Alaska Draft Integrated Activity

Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

(IAP/EIS). The planning area is roughly

bounded by the Colville River to the

east and south, the Ikpikpuk River to the

west and the Beaufort Sea to the north.

The IAP/EIS contains five alternatives

for a land management plan for the 4.6

million-acre planning area and

assessments of each plan’s impacts on

the surface resources present there.

These alternatives provide varying

answers to two primary questions. First,

will BLM conduct oil and gas lease sales

in the planning area and, if so, what

lands will be made available for leasing?

Second, what protections and

enhancements will be implemented for

natural and cultural resources and the

activities that are based on these

resources?

Alternative A calls for no action, or no

change from the status quo, and under

it no leasing would occur. Alternatives

B through E make progressively more

land, and more environmentally

sensitive land, available to possible

leasing. Alternative B makes 43 percent

available, Alternative C makes 74

percent available, Alternative D makes

89 percent available and Alternative E

makes the entire planning area

available. Restrictive stipulations would

provide protections for natural and

cultural resources under all alternatives,

but their number and scope would vary

between alternatives.

Alternative A contains the fewest

stipulations because it authorizes the

fewest activities and entirely precludes

leasing. As alternatives B through E

make progressively more sensitive lands

available for leasing, they also include

increasing numbers of protective

stipulations. Thus, while Alternative E

opens the entire planning area to leasing

it also has many specific stipulations

whose intent is to ensure that sensitive

natural resources are protected.

Some alternatives contain proposals

for specially designated areas that

would enhance recognition of their

values. The Secretary of the Interior is

authorized to identify specific lands in

the NPR–A as ‘‘Special Areas’’, and

there are two previously designated

Special Areas within the planning area.

Some alternatives recommend that the

Pik Dunes, an unusual geologic feature

in the planning area with importance for

caribou, be added to the existing

Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. Some

alternatives also contain

recommendations that lands along the

Ikpikpuk River be designated as a

Special Area for their paleontological

values.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 239 / Friday, December 12, 1997 / Notices 65441

Under various alternatives, BLM

would recommend that Congress

designate the Colville River a wild,

scenic, or recreation river under the

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. BLM is also

proposing that it work with nearby

Colville River land owners, including

the State and Arctic Slope Regional

Corporation, to create a Bird

Conservation Area under the Partners in

Flight Program. Finally, in some

alternatives BLM is proposing a plan, or

plans, to guide future studies of caribou

and waterfowl populations in the

Teshekpuk Lake area.

Section 810 of the Alaska National

Lands Conservation Act requires BLM to

evaluate the effects of the alternative

plans presented in this IAP/EIS on

subsistence activities in the planning

area, and to hold public hearings if it

finds that any alternative might

significantly restrict subsistence

activities. Appendix D of the document

indicates that alternatives D and E may

significantly restrict subsistence

activities, therefore, BLM is holding the

public hearings whose dates are given

below.

DATES: Written comments on the draft

IAP/EIS must be submitted or

postmarked no later than February 10,

1998. Oral and/or written comments

may also be presented at seven public

hearings to be held:

January 12, 1998, 7:30 pm, Atqasuk

Community Hall, Atqasuk, Alaska

January 13, 1998, 7:30 pm, North Slope

Assembly Chambers, Barrow, Alaska

January 14, 1998, 7:30 pm, Kisik

Community Center, Nuiqsit, Alaska

January 15, 1998, 7:30 pm, Anaktuvuk

Pass Community Hall, Anaktuvuk

Pass, Alaska

January 21, 1998, 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm,

Marston Theater, Loussac Library,

Anchorage, Alaska

January 22, 1998, 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm,

Carlson Center, Conference Room,

Fairbanks, Alaska

January 26, 1998, 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm,

Washington Capital Hilton, Federal

Room, 16th and K Street NW,

Washington, DC

Any changes to the hearing schedule

will be accompanied by appropriate

public notice.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

document should be addressed to: NPRA Planning Team, Bureau of Land

Management, Alaska State Office (930),

222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage,

Alaska 99513–7599. Comments can also

be sent to the NPR-A home page (http;/

/aurora.ak.blm.gov/npra/).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gene Terland (907–271–3344;

gterland@ak.blm.gov) or Jim Ducker

(907–271–3369; jducker@ak.blm.gov).

They can be reached by mail at the

Bureau of Land Management (930),

Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th

Avenue, Anchorage Alaska 99513–7599.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Authority

for developing this document is derived

from the Federal Land Policy and

Management Act, the Naval Petroleum

Reserves Production Act of 1976 and the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA).

The BLM leased tracts in the NPR-A

in 1982 and 1983 (all now expired), but

halted a lease sale in 1984 when no

acceptable bids were made. Recently,

interest in a lease sale has increased as

oil and gas infrastructure moved west.

Soon a development at the Alpine Field,

in the Colville River delta, will bring a

pipeline to within 10 miles of the

eastern boundary of the planning area.

None of the federal lands in the

planning area are currently available to

oil and gas leasing because existing

NEPA documentation is dated and

inadequate to meet current standards.

Should BLM undertake a leasing

program, this IAP/EIS will form the

basic NEPA documentation to authorize

leasing, and it will determine those

lands that are available and those that

are unavailable for leasing.

Public participation has occurred

throughout the period since the Notice

of Intent to Prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement was published on

February 13, 1997. In addition to

holding scoping meetings in Nuiqsit,

Atqasuk, Barrow, Fairbanks and

Anchorage several publicly attended

workshops have addressed important

issues within the planning area. The

planning area provides particularly

important habitat for caribou, waterfowl

and other species and many of the local

residents of the area rely on harvesting

these resources for subsistence

purposes. Ensuring adequate protection

of these resources has been one of the

driving forces behind workshops to seek

input from a variety of public sources

with expertise in related fields.

Additional information from these

workshops has also been helpful in

developing this draft document.

The BLM has worked very closely

with the North Slope Borough and the

State of Alaska in developing this draft

IAP/EIS. Representatives of both

organizations have directly participated

in meetings that led to the development

of the alternatives presented here,

although BLM is solely responsible for

the form the alternatives took. The

Mineral Management Service of the

Department of the Interior has also

assisted BLM in developing the

document.

Copies of the draft IAP/EIS will be

available for pubic review at the

following locations: Tuzzy Public

Library, Barrow, AK; City of Nuiqsut,

Nuiqsut, AK; City of Atqasuk, Atqasuk,

AK; City of Anaktuvuk, Pass,

Anaktuvuk Pass, AK; and City of

Wainwright, Wainwright, AK.

Tom Allen,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 97–31771 Filed 12–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM–030–1990–00]

Record of Decision, Phelps Dodge

Little Rock Mine Project,

Environmental Impact Statement,

Grant County, New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The BLM Las Cruces District

Office has prepared a Record of

Decision (ROD) for the Phelps Dodge

Little Rock Mine Project Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS). The ROD was

signed by the District Manager

approving the proposed mine project

and incorporating environmental

protection measures in the EIS.

The EIS analyzed the impacts of the

re-establishment of the Little Rock

Mine. The Little Rock Mine is an openpit copper mine located approximately

7 miles south of Silver City, New

Mexico. The Proposed Action includes

the construction, operation, and

reclamation of the proposed mine pit,

including the diversion of stream water

in California Gulch, and the creation of

a pit lake after mining operations have

ceased. Approximately 100 million tons

of leachable ore could be removed from

the proposed pit. Up to 160,000 tons of

ore per day would be mined and

processed over a 2- to 4-year period.

The proposed project will also require

the construction of a haul road that will

allow transportation of ore from the

mine site to the processing facilities

located at the Tyrone Mine facility.

Overburden or other inert,

nonmineralized materials will be

stockpiled for potential use in

reclamation. Project construction will

employ the existing workforce at

Tyrone.

ADDRESSES: Linda S. C. Rundell, District

Manager, BLM, Las Cruces District