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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 93650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27677]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_WY_FRN_MO4500183156]

Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision and Approved 
Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Buffalo Field Office, 
Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management 
Plan (RMP) Amendment for the Buffalo Field Office located in Buffalo, 
Wyoming. The BLM Director signed the ROD on November 20, 2024, which 
constitutes the decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP 
Amendment effective immediately.

DATES: The BLM Director signed the ROD/Approved RMP Amendment on 
November 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The ROD/Approved RMP Amendment is available online at: 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021239/510. Printed 
copies of the ROD/Approved RMP Amendment are available for public 
inspection at the Buffalo Field Office or can be provided upon request 
by contacting Tom Bills, Project Manager, telephone (307) 684-1133; or 
at the address BLM Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, WY 
82834; email [email protected].
    A copy of the Protest Resolution Report is available at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Bills, Project Manager, 
telephone (307) 684-1133; or at the address BLM Buffalo Field Office, 
1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, WY 82834; email [email protected]. Individuals 
in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have 
a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Approved RMP Amendment addresses a 
United States District Court for the District of Montana order (Western 
Organization of Resource Councils, et al. v. BLM; CV 00076-GF-BMM; 8/3/
2022). The Approved RMP Amendment changes the existing 2015 Buffalo 
Approved RMP.
    The RMP Amendment approved by the ROD includes land use allocations 
of areas acceptable for further consideration for coal leasing and 
those that are not. The Approved RMP Amendment is Alternative A (No 
Leasing) from the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact State (EIS), 
making no BLM administered coal acceptable and 413,250 acres 
unavailable for further consideration for coal leasing within the 
Buffalo Field Office planning area. The Approved RMP Amendment does not 
affect the area with coal development potential or the area determined 
to be suitable for surface coal mining. The Approved RMP Amendment 
includes the updated coal screens (43 CFR 3420.1-4(e)) using current 
data and evaluated the issues identified through internal and public 
scoping. Application of coal screen 1 (development potential) 
identified approximately 413,250 acres of BLM-administered coal as 
having development potential. The Approved RMP Amendment also addresses 
the NEPA deficiencies identified by the court order associated with the 
application of the multiple-use screen. Specifically, the application 
of a multiple-use climate change criterion that uses greenhouse gas 
emissions as a proxy for climate change. Reducing availability of BLM-
administered coal for leasing consideration reduces the contribution of 
greenhouse gas emissions from the development and combustion of BLM-
administered coal from the planning area.
    The BLM determined that additional leasing of BLM-administered coal 
is not necessary based on the current analysis in the Final 
Supplemental EIS. The analysis indicates that operating mines in the 
planning area collectively have existing leases with sufficient coal 
reserves to maintain projected mine production levels into 2041.
    The BLM published a notice of availability for the Draft 
Supplemental EIS and Potential RMP Amendment in the Federal Register on 
May 8, 2023, which initiated a 90-day comment period (88 FR 29691). On 
May 31, 2023, the BLM hosted a public meeting in Gillette, Wyoming, to 
present the Draft Supplemental EIS/RMP Amendment to the public and 
solicit comments. The BLM also hosted an on-line public meeting on June 
5, 2023. During the public comment period, the BLM received 25 unique 
written submissions containing 147 substantive comments. The Draft 
Supplemental EIS comments helped the BLM refine the Final Supplemental 
EIS and guided the development of the Proposed RMP Amendment.
    The BLM provided the Proposed RMP Amendment for public protest on 
May 17, 2024 (89 FR 43431), for a 30-day protest period, and received 
five valid protests. The BLM Assistant Director for Planning and 
Resources resolved all protests. Responses to protest issues were 
compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution Report (see ADDRESSES). 
No changes were made to the Approved RMP Amendment as a result of 
protest resolution.
    The BLM provided the Proposed RMP Amendment to the Governor of 
Wyoming for a 60-day Governor's consistency review. The State Director 
made no changes to the Proposed RMP Amendment as a result of the 
Governor's review. On September 13, 2024, the Governor submitted an 
appeal to the BLM Director on the State Director's response to the 
Governor's consistency review. In accordance with planning regulations 
(1610.3-2), the Director notified the Governor on November 6, 2024, of 
the reasons for the determination to reject the Governor's 
recommendations.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR 1610.5-1)

Tracy Stone-Manning,
BLM Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-27677 Filed 11-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-26-P
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