The BLM and BIA want your feedback
The BLM and BIA are requesting comments on the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS. To be most helpful, your comments should be as specific as possible. When preparing your written comments, provide as much detail as possible and relate your comments back to the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS including organizing comments by resource topic and relating to specific sections. This will ensure that your comments are understood, and your concerns are fully addressed in the responses.
Please note that the comment period for the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS ended on September 25, 2020. More details are provided below.
Heet’eigo Baanitsookeisi
Listen to information about this virtual open house station in Navajo.
Why Public Comments Are Important
Public comment periods offer the opportunity for you to provide information to be considered in the decision-making process and to offer your thoughts on alternative ways to accomplish the proposal. This is an opportunity for you to offer data that the agencies can use in their analysis of the environmental effects of the proposed alternatives, as well as possible mitigation of potential harmful effects of such actions.
NEPA “… is intended to help public officials make decisions that are based on the understanding of environmental consequences…” (40 CFR 1501[e]). To achieve this, the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS considers the effects of the alternatives on economic, cultural, and natural resources in the decision area. Members of the public often have valuable information about places and resources they consider important and the potential effects proposed federal actions may have on those places and resources.
Providing Effective Comments
Comments that provide relevant and new information with sufficient detail are the most useful and are referred to as substantive comments. The BLM and BIA review all comments and identify topics that are substantive for consideration in the final published document. Try not to provide comments that offer opinion only.
Substantive and useful comments do the following:
• Question, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of information in the Draft RMPA/EIS
• Question, with reasonable basis, the adequacy of, methodology for, or assumptions used for the environmental analysis
• Present new information relevant to the analysis
• Present reasonable alternatives other than those analyzed in the Draft RMPA/EIS
• Cause changes or revisions in one or more of the alternatives
• Suggest changes within the scope of the BLM’s or BIA’s authority
BLM and BIA FMG RMPA/EIS scoping public comment meeting at the Huerfano Chapter House in 2016
Comments that are not substantive include:
Vote in favor of or against the proposed action
Agree or disagree with agency policy without justification or supporting data
Don’t pertain to the project area or the proposed project
Are vague, open-ended questions
Are generalized, covering many resource topics, without clear requests for change
Personal background information or stories that would not lend to changes in the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS
Ways to comment
The comment period for the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS was originally 90 days from February 28, 2020 to May 28, 2020, and then was extended by 120 days. The comment period for the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS ended on September 25, 2020. Comments, including anonymous comments, will be accepted at any time. However, anonymous comments and comments submitted after the close of the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS comment period will not provide the commenter with standing for administrative review and will not be included in the Final FMG RMPA/EIS. If you wish to still provide a comment on the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS outside the comment period, please use the methods described below. Please note that comments can provided in Navajo. We thank you for your participation.
Mail:
Sarah Scott, BLM FMG RMPA/EIS Project Manager, 6251 College Blvd. Suite A, Farmington, NM 87402
Robert Begay, BIA FMG RMPA/EIS Project Manager, 301 W. Hill Ave., Gallup, NM 87301
Still have questions?
For more information on the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS please contact Sarah Scott, 505-564-7689 or Robert Begay, 505-863-8515
If you have questions about the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS or wish to be added or removed from the mailing list, please contact BLM at blm_nm_ffo_rmp@blm.gov.