[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59414-59415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24056]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[XXX.LLAZG02000.71220000.KD0000.LVTFA0958340;AZA3116]
Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Ray Land
Exchange Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Proposed
Plan Amendment, Arizona
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976,
as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Gila District,
announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Plan Amendment
for the Ray Land Exchange located in Pinal and Gila counties in
southeastern Arizona.
DATES: Simultaneous to the publication of the Record of Decision, the
BLM will publish in a local newspaper a Notice of Decision for the land
exchange, which will initiate a 45-day protest period per 43 CFR
2200.7-1(b). Protests must be received by December 19, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD are available upon request from the
Project Manager, Michael Werner, address: One North Central Avenue,
Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004-4427, or on the BLM ePlanning project
website at https://go.usa.gov/xEnKR. Copies of the ROD are available
for public inspection at the BLM Arizona State Office, and the Kingman
and Tucson Field Offices.
Protests related to the proposed land exchange, as described in the
Notice of Decision, must be submitted in writing to the State Director,
Attn: Project Manager--Ray Land Exchange Protest, U.S. Bureau of Land
Management, Arizona State Office, One North Central Avenue, Suite 800,
Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4427.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Manager Michael Werner,
telephone: 602-417-9561; email: [email protected]. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during
normal business hours. The FRS 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 BLM Arizona State Director signed the
ROD on October 24, 2019 to amend the Phoenix, Lower Sonoran and Safford
Resource Management Plans (RMPs) to change the land tenure status of
all the Selected Lands originally considered to be exchanged (10,976
acres) from ``retention'' to ``available for disposal'' (approximately
9,906 acres in the Phoenix RMP (1989); approximately 637 acres in the
Lower Sonoran RMP (2012); and approximately 433 acres in the Safford
RMP (1992, 1994)). The ROD also approved a land exchange between ASARCO
LLC and the BLM for 9,339 acres (7,196 acres of full estate and 2,143
acres of subsurface mineral estate only) of BLM-administered public
lands for acquisition by ASARCO in exchange for approximately 7,298
acres (6,938 of full estate, and 360 of surface estate only) of private
land. Implementation of the ROD occurs only upon expiration of the 45-
day protest period for the land exchange (43 CFR 2201.7-1) and the
resolution of any protests.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your appeal, you should be
aware that your entire protest--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Under the approved Ray Land Exchange with ASARCO LLC, the BLM
acquires 7,298 acres of land in Pinal and Mohave Counties,
consolidating checkerboard land ownership in those areas and improving
access to existing public lands for hunting and other types of
recreation. In exchange, the BLM transfers to ASARCO 9,339 acres of
surface and subsurface estate near ASARCO's Ray Mine Complex and Copper
Butte properties in Pinal and Gila Counties, near Kearny. Since the
public lands appraised at a higher value than the private lands, to
equalize the value, the BLM will accept a cash payment of the maximum
allowable amount (25 percent of the value of the federal lands) from
ASARCO. Approximately 1,637 acres of surface and sub-surface estate
originally selected by ASARCO will remain under BLM ownership.
The Ray Land Exchange Supplemental EIS/Plan Amendment was developed
with stakeholder dialogue throughout the planning process. The BLM was
not required to conduct scoping for the Supplemental EIS. However, the
agency has conducted public outreach activities to inform the public
and answer questions regarding
[[Page 59415]]
the proposed land exchange. The efforts included conducting four public
meetings, updating the mailing list for the project, contacting mailing
list persons via postcard and newsletter, providing a detailed project
website, and interviewing key stakeholders to present details of the
land exchange and answer questions. The BLM also put the Draft
Supplemental EIS out for a 90-day public comment period and responsed
to comments in the Final Supplemental EIS. The Final Supplemental EIS/
Proposed Plan Amendment was published on July 12, 2019.
The Ray Land Exchange Final Supplemental EIS/Proposed Plan
Amendment required a 30-day protest period after publication of the
Final Supplemental EIS. During the 30-day protest period, the BLM
Director received one protest letter. Three of the protest points in
the protest letter were remanded back to the State Director for
resolution. These three protest points are resolved in the ROD. In
addition, the protest letter contained comments on the Final
Supplemental EIS. The majority of these comments were previously
addressed in the Final Supplemental EIS as response to comments on the
Draft Supplemental EIS and responses are captured in Appendix J of the
Final Supplemental EIS. Some comments required additional explanation
and clarification in the ROD. Neither the protests nor the comments
required changes to the Final Supplemental EIS.
The BLM prepared an errata sheet to the Final Supplemental EIS to
make some clarifications on BLM's subsurface estate acreage. No
comments regarding potential inconsistencies with State and local
plans, programs, and policies were received from the Governor's Office
during the Governor's Consistency Review process.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6)
Raymond Suazo,
Arizona State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-24056 Filed 11-1-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4130-32-P