[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 245 (Friday, December 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70207-70208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27286]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[19X.LLIDI02000.L71220000.FR0000.LVTFD1915100.241A.4500131504]
Notice of Availability for the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Proposed Blackrock Land Exchange, Bannock and Power
Counties, Idaho
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Pocatello Field Office, in Pocatello, Idaho, has prepared a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Blackrock Land
Exchange. By this notice, the BLM is announcing the beginning of the
45-day public comment period for the Draft EIS.
DATES: In order to have comments considered for inclusion in the Final
EIS, the BLM must receive comments on the Draft EIS by February 3,
2020, or 45 days following the date that the Environmental Protection
Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register,
whichever is greater.
The date(s) and location(s) of public meetings are:
January 7, 2020 from 4-6 p.m. at the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel
and Event Center, 777 Bannock Trail Avenue, Fort Hall, Idaho
January 8, 2020 from 5-7 p.m. at the BLM Pocatello Field
Office, 4350 Cliffs Drive, Pocatello, Idaho
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the proposed Blackrock
Land Exchange only by the following methods:
Website: https://go.usa.gov/xEUuc.
Fax: 208.478.6376.
Mail: BLM, Pocatello Field Office, Attention: Blackrock
Land Exchange, 4350 S Cliffs Dr., Pocatello, ID 83204.
A copy of the Draft EIS is available at the BLM's ePlanning
website: https://go.usa.gov/xEUuc. A hard copy of the document can be
reviewed at the BLM Pocatello Field Office, at the address listed
above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryce Anderson, Project Manager, by
telephone: 208-478-6353; address: 4350 S Cliffs Dr., Pocatello, ID
83204; or email: [email protected]. People who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr. Anderson. The FRS is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question
with Mr. Anderson. You will receive a reply during normal business
hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM is the lead agency for the proposed
land exchange. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ),
Idaho Governor's Office of Energy and Mineral Resources (OEMR), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Department of Interior
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are Cooperating Agencies.
In 1994, the J.R. Simplot Company (Simplot) submitted an
application to acquire 719 acres of Federal land managed by the BLM in
exchange for 667 acres of non-Federal land. The Federal lands are
adjacent to Simplot's Don Plant in Power and Bannock Counties, Idaho.
The non-Federal lands are located in the Blackrock and Caddy Canyon
areas in Bannock County approximately 5 miles east-southeast of
Pocatello.
In 1998, pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response
Compensation and Liability Act, the Don Plant facilities and the
surrounding area, known as the Eastern Michaud Flats (EMF), were
designated as a Superfund Site, including a portion of the proposed
Federal lands to be exchanged. The BLM prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) to analyze the proposed land exchange and issued a
Decision Record/Finding of No Significant Impact (DR/FONSI) on December
21, 2007. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes litigated the decision in
District Court. In May 2011, the Court granted the tribes' motion and
remanded the DR/FONSI to the BLM, ordering the agency to prepare an
EIS.
The BLM's purpose is to evaluate the land exchange proposal. If
approved, the proposal would improve resource management in an area
containing crucial mule deer winter range and secure permanent public
access within a popular recreation area. The BLM's need is to respond
to the proposal pursuant to FLPMA. Simplot's purpose for the proposed
land exchange is to implement legally enforceable controls as directed
by the EPA and IDEQ. To meet fluoride reduction requirements from a
2016 Consent Order with the IDEQ, Simplot has proposed construction of
cooling ponds adjacent to the Don Plant, which would require the
acquisition of adjacent Federal lands. Additionally, this acquisition
would allow Simplot to maximize the operational life of its ongoing
phosphate processing operations at the Don Plant by expanding gypsum
stacks onto adjacent land.
A Notice of Intent to prepare this EIS was published in the Federal
Register on May 20, 2019 (84 FR 22893), initiating a 45-day public
scoping period during which the BLM accepted comments on the proposed
land exchange. Key resource issues identified during scoping include:
Air quality, cultural resources, fish and wildlife, hazardous and solid
wastes, lands and realty, recreation, socioeconomics, environmental
justice, tribal treaty rights, visual resources, and water resources.
Based on feedback from Cooperating Agencies, stakeholders, and public
scoping, the BLM has developed alternatives to the Proposed Action,
including a No Action Alternative, which are detailed in the Draft EIS.
The BLM will fulfill the public involvement requirements under the
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. 306108) as
provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3) through the NEPA process. Information
the BLM receives about historic and cultural resources within the area
potentially affected by the proposed action will assist the BLM in
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources in the context of
both NEPA and Section 106 of the NHPA.
The BLM will continue consulting with Native American tribes on a
government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175
and other policies. The BLM will give tribal concerns due
consideration, including impacts on Native American trust assets and
potential impacts to cultural resources.
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
[[Page 70208]]
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any
time. In your comment, you can ask to have your personal identifying
information withheld from public review, but the BLM cannot guarantee
that it will be able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)
John F. Ruhs,
BLM Idaho State Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-27286 Filed 12-19-19; 8:45 am]
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