```

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 24568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11610]

[[Page 24568]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[WY-060-1610-00]

Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the second draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Newcastle Resource Management Plan (RMP) for 
the Public Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 
the Wyoming portion of the Newcastle Resource Area.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The first draft EIS for the Newcastle RMP was issued in 
September, 1993. It has been decided to update and reissue a second 
draft for further comment because some public comments were 
inappropriately accepted on the first draft after the comment period 
ended. All public comments received on the first draft EIS have been 
considered and changes in the second draft document have been made 
based on those comments. When published, the final EIS will contain the 
proposed Newcastle Resource Management Plan, the comments on the second 
draft EIS, and the BLM responses to them.

EFFECTIVE DATES: Written comments concerning the analysis will be 
accepted for 90 days following the date the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) publishes a notice of availability and filing of the draft 
EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA notice of availability is expected 
to be published on April 24, 1998.
    Public meetings will be held in Sundance, Newcastle, and Lusk, 
Wyoming, to provide opportunities for the public to meet with 
representatives from the BLM and to comment on the draft EIS. A court 
reporter will be in attendance to record all comments for the record. 
When the times, dates, and places for these meetings are established, 
the public will be notified in advance through Federal Register or 
other notices, news releases, or mailings. Persons who wish to be 
placed on the mailing list or participate in the Newcastle RMP planning 
process should contact the person(s) identified below at the Newcastle 
Resource Area Office.
    The draft EIS may be viewed at the following locations: Newcastle 
Resource Area BLM Office, 1101 Washington Blvd., Newcastle, Wyoming; 
Wyoming BLM State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming; and 
county and city libraries in Crook, Niobrara and Weston counties. 
Copies of the draft EIS may be obtained from the address below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Johnson, Area Manager, or Project 
Leaders, Jack Hanson or Shelley Peele, Bureau of Land Management, 
Newcastle Resource Area, 1101 Washington Blvd., Newcastle, Wyoming 
82701, phone 307-746-4453.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the above address during regular 
business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except 
holidays, and may be published with the final EIS. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your 
name or street address from public review or from disclosure under the 
Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the 
beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the 
extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
available for public inspection in their entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Land Management Newcastle 
Resource Area administers all public lands and minerals (as defined by 
the Federal Land Management Policy Act (FLPMA)) in Crook, Niobrara, and 
Weston counties. The draft EIS for the Newcastle RMP presents four 
alternative multiple use management plans (or four alternative RMPs) 
for those public lands that were analyzed in detail: Alternative A 
(continuation of existing management direction) and three other 
alternatives that provide a variety of land use and resource management 
options for the public lands.
    Issues addressed in the draft EIS include split-estate lands and 
the related limitations of BLM management responsibilities 
(particularly those involving non-Federal land surface over Federally 
owned minerals), the control of prairie dogs on intermingled public and 
private land ownerships, whether or not public lands in the Lance Creek 
Fossil Area should be designated an Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern (ACEC), and clarification of several maps in the first draft 
EIS to distinguish between public and non-Federal lands.

    Dated: April 27, 1998.
Alan L. Kesterke,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 98-11610 Filed 5-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P
```