11154 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 2012 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLAKF02000.16100000.MR0000.L.X.S.S.

094L0000] 

Notice of Availability for the Eastern 

Interior Draft Resource Management 

Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, 

Alaska 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 as amended, and the Federal Land 

Policy and Management Act of 1976, as 

amended, the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft 

Resource Management Plan (RMP) and 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Eastern Interior Planning Area 

(Alaska), and by this notice is 

announcing the opening of the comment 

period. 

DATES: To ensure that comments will be 

considered, the BLM must receive 

written comments on the Draft RMP/EIS 

by July 23, 2012. The BLM will 

announce future meetings or hearings 

and any other public participation 

activities at least 15 days in advance 

through public notices, media releases, 

and/or mailings. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

related to the Eastern Interior Draft 

RMP/EIS by any of the following 

methods: 

• Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/ 

en/prog/planning.html. 

• Fax: 907–474–2282. 

• Mail: Eastern Interior Field Office, 

Attention—Eastern Interior Draft RMP/ 

EIS, Bureau of Land Management, 1150 

University Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska 

99709. 

Copies of the Eastern Interior Draft 

RMP/EIS are available at the Fairbanks 

District Office at the above address; at 

the Alaska State Office, Public 

Information Center, Bureau of Land 

Management, 222 West 7th Avenue, 

Anchorage, Alaska 99513; and on the 

following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ 

ak/st/en/prog/planning.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeanie Cole, telephone 907–474–2340 or 

email j05cole@blm.gov. Persons who use 

a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 

1–800–877–8339 to contact the above 

individual during normal business 

hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week, to leave a message 

or question with the above individual. 

You will receive a reply during normal 

business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Eastern Interior Draft RMP/EIS covers 

approximately 6.7 million acres of BLMadministered lands in interior Alaska 

and is divided into four geographic 

areas: The Fortymile, Steese, Upper 

Black River, and White Mountains 

subunits. The planning area 

encompasses four areas managed under 

the BLM’s National Landscape 

Conservation System (NLCS): The Birch 

Creek, Beaver Creek, and Fortymile 

National Wild and Scenic Rivers; and 

the Steese National Conservation Area. 

In addition to these NLCS areas, the 

planning area includes the White 

Mountains National Recreation Area. 

These five areas were designated and 

are covered by special provisions in the 

Alaska National Interest Lands 

Conservation Act of 1980, as amended 

(ANILCA). 

The following BLM plans currently 

guide management decisions for 4.2 

million acres in the planning area: 

Fortymile Management Framework Plan 

(1980), Fortymile River Management 

Plan (1983), Birch Creek River 

Management Plan (1983), Beaver Creek 

River Management Plan (1983), Record 

of Decision and RMP for the Steese 

National Conservation Area (1986), and 

Record of Decision and RMP for the 

White Mountains National Recreation 

Area (1986). The remaining 2.5 million 

acres are not covered by any land use 

plans. 

The BLM published a Notice of Intent 

to prepare an RMP/EIS in the Federal 

Register on February 29, 2008 (73 FR 

11140), beginning a 120-day scoping 

and public comment period. The 

following issues were identified during 

scoping: Climate change, fisheries, 

minerals, recreation, rights-of-way, 

subsistence, travel management, water 

quality, lands with wilderness 

characteristics, and wildlife. 

The Draft RMP/EIS presents four 

alternatives, including the No Action 

Alternative. The BLM’s preferred 

alternative (Alternative C) proposes a 

balanced level of protection, use, and 

enhancement of resources and services, 

and represents the mix and variety of 

actions that the BLM believes best 

resolves the issues and management 

concerns in consideration of all resource 

values and programs. 

Pursuant to 43 CFR 1610.7–2, areas 

with potential for designation as Areas 

of Critical Environmental Concern 

(ACEC) and protective management are 

considered during the planning process. 

Four potential ACECs are considered for 

designation in Draft RMP/EIS. 

Boundaries, size, and management 

direction within potential ACECs vary 

by Alternative. Table 1 lists the three 

ACECs considered for designation in the 

Agency Preferred Alternative 

(Alternative C). The White Mountains 

ACEC is not considered for designation 

in Alternative C, but is considered for 

designation in one other alternative. All 

alternatives will retain the four existing 

Research Natural Areas. 

The following table includes the 

names and acreages of each proposed 

ACEC and provides summary 

descriptions of resource use limitations 

for Alternative C. 

TABLE 1—PROPOSED NEW ACECS UNDER THE AGENCY PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE, ALTERNATIVE C 

Proposed ACEC name Acres Limitations 

Fortymile ACEC .................. 547,000 Limited Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) designation; seasonal limitation on uses within one mile of 

ungulate mineral licks; 360,000 acres of core caribou habitat closed to locatable mineral entry 

and mineral leasing. 

Steese ACEC ..................... 460,000 Limited OHV designation; winter motorized use in Dall sheep habitat may be restricted if monitoring indicates sheep displacement; development of trails and recreational facilities must be 

compatible with caribou and Dall sheep habitat; seasonal limitation on uses within one mile of 

ungulate mineral licks; closed to locatable mineral entry and mineral leasing. 

Salmon Fork ACEC ............ 621,000 Limited OHV designation; closed to mineral leasing. 

Pursuant to section 810 of ANILCA, 

the BLM evaluated the effects of the 

alternatives presented in this Draft 

RMP/EIS on subsistence activities and 

determined that some decisions in the 

Draft RMP/EIS may significantly restrict 

subsistence uses. The BLM will hold 

public hearings related to Section 810 of 

ANILCA, in conjunction with public 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 2012 / Notices 11155 

meetings on the Draft RMP/EIS, in 

potentially affected regions. The BLM 

will announce notice of specific dates 

and locations for ANILCA hearings at 

least 15 days in advance, through public 

notices, media releases, and/or mailings. 

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 above address 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, 1506.10, and 43 

CFR 1610.2 

Bud Cribley, 

State Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4039 Filed 2–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLCO922000–L13100000–FI0000; 

COC73670] 

Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of 

Terminated Oil and Gas Lease 

COC73670 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed 

Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and 

Gas Lease. 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of 30 

U.S.C. 188(d) and (e), and 43 CFR 

3108.2–3(a) and (b)(1), the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) received a 

petition for reinstatement of oil and gas 

lease COC73670 from Hannon & 

Associates Inc., for lands in Huerfano 

County, Colorado. The petition was 

filed on time and was accompanied by 

all the rentals due since the date the 

lease terminated under the law. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Milada Krasilinec, BLM Land Law 

Examiner, Fluid Minerals Adjudication, 

at (303) 239–3767. 

Persons who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877–8339 

to contact the above individual during 

normal business hours. The FIRS is 

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 

to leave a message or question with the 

above individual. You will receive a 

reply during normal business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The lessee 

has agreed to the amended lease terms 

for rentals and royalties at rates of $5 

per acre or fraction thereof, per year and 

162⁄3 percent, respectively. The lessee 

has paid the required $500 

administrative fee and $163 to 

reimburse the Department for the cost of 

this Federal Register notice. The lessee 

has met all the requirements for 

reinstatement of the lease as set out in 

Section 31(d) and (e) of the Mineral 

Lands Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 

188), and the BLM is proposing to 

reinstate lease COC73670 effective 

December 1, 2010, under the original 

terms and conditions of the lease and 

the increased rental and royalty rates 

cited above. 

Steven Hall, 

Acting State Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4322 Filed 2–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JB–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement on 

the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water 

System, Santa Fe County, NM 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation) intends to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

on the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water 

System. Reclamation will serve as the 

lead Federal agency. The U.S. Army 

Corp of Engineers, Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

New Mexico Interstate Stream 

Commission, New Mexico Office of the 

State Engineer, County of Santa Fe, and 

the Pueblos of Nambe ́, Pojoaque, San 

Ildefonso, and Tesuque will be invited 

to participate as cooperating agencies 

for the EIS. Other entities will be 

considered as necessary during the EIS 

process. 

The proposed Pojoaque Basin 

Regional Water System will divert, treat, 

and distribute potable water to the 

Pueblo and non-Pueblo residents of the 

Pojoaque Basin. The Regional Water 

System will consist of surface water 

diversion and water treatment facilities 

at San Ildefonso Pueblo on the Rio 

Grande and storage tanks, transmission 

and distribution pipelines, and aquifer 

storage and recovery well fields that 

will supply up to 4,000 acre-feet of 

water annually to customers within the 

Pojoaque Basin. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information and/or to have your 

name added to the mailing list, please 

contact Marsha Carra, Bureau of 

Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office, 

555 Broadway NE., Suite 100, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102; 

telephone (505) 462–3602; facsimile 

(505) 462–3780; email mcarra@usbr.gov. 

Persons who use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339 to contact the above 

individual during normal business 

hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week, to leave a message 

or question with the above individual. 

You will receive a reply during normal 

business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

Federal Register notice provides the 

public with information regarding 

Reclamation’s intent to prepare an EIS 

pursuant to the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. 

The Pojoaque Basin Regional Water 

System is described in and authorized 

by the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act 

(Settlement Act) which is Title VI of the 

Claims Resolution Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 

111–291, Title VI; 124 Stat. 3065). The 

Settlement Act authorizes 

implementation of a Settlement 

Agreement among the United States, the 

State of New Mexico, the County of 

Santa Fe, the City of Santa Fe, the four 

Pueblos, and other non-Pueblo parties, 

and allows for the annual diversion of 

up to 4,000 acre-feet of water per year 

and the construction of the Pojoaque 

Basin Regional Water System to treat 

and distribute the water to residents of 

the Pojoaque Basin. The Settlement 

Agreement provides for settlement of 

water rights claims of the Nambe ́, 

Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, and Tesuque 

Pueblos in the Pojoaque Basin. 

As described in the Settlement Act, 

Congress is requiring compliance with 

relevant laws protecting the 

environment, including but not limited 

to NEPA and the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973. Pursuant to NEPA, 

Reclamation is preparing an EIS that 

will describe the existing environment 

and environmental impacts of the 

proposed Pojoaque Basin Regional 

Water System. 

Public scoping meetings will be held 

to solicit comments on the scope of the 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES