Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 152 / Friday, August 7, 1998 / Notices 42431

Blvd. Winnemucca, Nevada, 89445,

(702) 623–1528/1500.

Dated: July 28, 1998.

Colin P. Christensen,

Acting Field Office Manager, Winnemucca.

[FR Doc. 98–21108 Filed 8–6–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability, final

environmental impact statement for

Newmont Gold Corporation’s Trenton

Canyon Project.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, notice is given that the

Winnemucca District of the Bureau of

Land Management (BLM) has prepared,

by third party contractor, and made

available for a 30 day public review, the

Final Environmental Impact Statement

for Newmont Gold Company’s Trenton

Canyon Project, located in Humboldt

and Lander Counties, Nevada.

DATES: The Final Environmental Impact

Statement will be distributed and made

available to the public on August 7,

1998. The period of availability for

public review for the Final

Environmental Impact Statement ends

on September 8, 1998. At that time a

Record of Decision will be issued

regarding the Proposed Action.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the Final

Environmental Impact Statement can be

obtained from: Bureau of Land

Management, Winnemucca District

Office, 5100 East Winnemucca

Boulevard, Winnemucca, Nevada 89445.

The Final Environmental Impact

Statement is available for inspection at

the following locations: Bureau of Land

Management Nevada State Office

(Reno); Lander and Humboldt County

Libraries; and the University of Nevada

library in Reno, Nevada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rod

Herrick, Project Manager, at the above

Winnemucca District address or

telephone (702) 623–1500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final

Environmental Impact Statement has

been produced in the abbreviated format

and must be used in conjunction with

the Draft Environmental Impact

Statement (DEIS), issued February 13,

1998. In addition, the Final provides

responses to comments received by

BLM during the public comment period

on the Draft. The EIS analyzes the

direct, indirect and cumulative impacts

associated with the continued mining

with expansion of the North Peak and

Valmy deposits and commencement of

mining in the Trenton deposit. Also

analyzed are impacts related to new

haul roads, overburden disposal areas,

additional heap leach facilities,

widening of the primary access road,

and additional ancillary facilities.

Dated: July 30, 1998.

Colin P. Christensen,

Winnemucca Acting Field Manager.

[FR Doc. 98–21107 Filed 8–6–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK–931–1310–00–NPRA]

Northeast National Petroleum

Reserve—Alaska Final Integrated

Activity Plan/Environmental Impact

Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management announces the availability

of the Northeast National Petroleum

Reserve-Alaska Final 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 a Preferred

Alternative and five non-preferred

alternatives for a land management plan

for the 4.6 million-acre planning area

and assessments of each alternative’s

impacts on the surface resources present

there. These alternatives provide

varying answers to two primary

questions. First, what protections and

enhancements will be implemented for

natural and cultural resources and the

activities that are based on these

resources? Second, will the BLM

conduct oil and gas lease sales in the

planning area and, if so, what lands will

be made available for leasing?

Under the Preferred Alternative

leasing would be allowed in 87 percent

of the planning area. Protection to

habitats important to molting geese and

the Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd would

be provided by making them

unavailable for leasing or by strict

restrictions on oil and gas surface

occupancy. In addition, surface use

restrictions and other stipulations are

applied to other habitats with high

surface resource values. Included are

important subsistence use areas such as

Fish Creek, Judy Creek, and the

Ikpikpuk and Miguakiak Rivers. Similar

restrictions and stipulations are applied

to the Colville, Kikiakrorak and

Kogosukruk Rivers to protect raptor

nesting and subsistence. The Secretary

of the Interior is authorized to identify

specific lands in the NPR-A as ‘‘Special

Areas,’’ and the two previously

designated Special Areas within the

planning area will expand under the

Preferred Alternative. Some land along

the Kikiakrorak and Kogosukruk Rivers

will be added to the Colville River

Special Area and the Pik Dunes will be

added to the Teshekpuk Lake Special

area. The 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 along part of the

river under the Partners in Flight

Program. The BLM will create a

subsistence advisory panel to assist in

addressing subsistence-related issues

that arise in managing a leasing program

in the study area. The stipulations

included within the Preferred

Alternative are modestly revised based

on public comment, from those

presented in the draft IAP/EIS for

alternatives B-E. A close reading of

these stipulations is necessary to fully

understand the protections to key

natural and subsistence resources

provided by the Preferred Alternative.

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 52 percent

of the planning area available,

Alternative C makes 72 percent

available, Alternative D makes 90

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.

All non-preferred alternatives except

Alternative A recommend that the Pik
42432 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 152 / Friday, August 7, 1998 / Notices

Dunes be added to the Teshekpuk Lake

Special Area and that the Ikpikpuk

River be designated as a Special Area for

its paleontological values.

Under various non-preferred

alternatives, the BLM would

recommend that Congress designate the

Colville River a wild, scenic, or

recreation river under the Wild and

Scenic Rivers Act.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the final IAP/

EIS will be accepted for a period of 30

days and must be postmarked no latter

than September 8, 1998. Written

comments on the document should be

addressed to: NPR–A Planning Team,

Bureau of Land Management, Alaska

State Office (930), 222 West 7th Avenue,

#13, Anchorage, Alaska 99513–7599.

Comments can also be sent to the NPR–

A website (http;//aurora.ak.blm.gov/

npra/) or to Jim Ducker at

jducker@ak.blm.gov.

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, #13, 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, as

amended, the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA), and the Alaska

National Interest Lands Conservation

Act (ANILCA).

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 the 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.

The preferred alternative presented in

the document is a variation on the

alternatives presented in the draft IAP/

EIS, but all the actions it proposes fall

within the range of actions considered

by the non-preferred alternatives

presented there. Public comments on

the draft alternatives helped guide the

selection of the Preferred Alternative.

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.

Information from these workshops has

also been helpful in developing this

document.

Section 810 of the Alaska National

Lands Conservation Act requires the

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 meet

the ‘‘may significantly restrict’’

threshold and, when the cumulative

case is considered, all alternatives

discussed in the document meet the

threshold. The findings required by

Section 810 of ANILCA are also

included in this IAP/EIS. Public

meetings were held during January in

five North Slope villages, and in

Fairbanks; Anchorage; Washington, DC;

and San Francisco. In April, a public

hearing on subsistence was held in

Bethel, Alaska.

The BLM has worked very closely

with the North Slope Borough and the

State of Alaska in developing this IAP/

EIS. The Mineral Management Service

of the Department of the Interior

assisted the BLM in developing the

document.

Copies of the final IAP/EIS will be

available in public libraries throughout

the State of Alaska.

Dated: July 29, 1998.

Sally Wisely,

Associate State Director.

[FR Doc. 98–20722 Filed 8–6–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT–910–1820–00]

Resource Advisory Council Meetings,

Montana Councils and Dakotas

Council; Montana, North Dakota and

South Dakota

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Federal Land Policy and Management

Act and the Federal Advisory

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), 5 U.S.C.

Appendix, the Department of the

Interior, Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), has established four Resource

Advisory Councils for the State of

Montana, North Dakota and South

Dakota.

The Montana Councils are: Butte

Resource Advisory Council, Lewistown

Resource Advisory Council and Miles

City Advisory Council; North Dakota

and South Dakota: Dakotas Resource

Advisory Council.

These Councils provide representative

counsel and advice to BLM on the

planning and management of public

lands. Members of these Councils were

appointed by the Secretary of the

Interior.

Members of the Montana and Dakotas

Councils will gather to share common

issues including travel management,

land exchanges, weeds and access

beginning at 1:00 p.m. September 15

through the afternoon of September 16.

On September 17, the Montana Councils

will hold their official meetings. The

Dakotas Council will hold its official

meeting the morning of September 15

and the morning of September 17. The

four Councils will have their joint

discussions at the GranTree Inn, 1325 N.

7th Ave., Bozeman, Montana. The

individual Montana Councils will hold

their official meetings at the Holiday

Inn—Bozeman, 5 Baxter Lane, Bozeman,

Montana. The September 15 portion of

the Dakotas Council official meeting

will be held at the GranTree and the

September 17 portion of the meeting

will be held at the Holiday Inn. The

agendas for the Council meetings are as

follows:

Butte Resource Advisory Council

The council will convene at 8:00 a.m.

Thursday, September 17 at the Holiday

Inn—Bozeman, 5 Baxter Lane, Bozeman,

Montana. The main agenda topic will be

travel management. The public

comment period will begin at 11:00 a.m.