§ 1610.5-2 - Protest procedures.

§ 1610.5-2 Formulation of resource management alternativesProtest procedures.

(a) Alternatives development. The BLM shall consider all reasonable resource management alternatives (alternatives) and develop several complete alternatives for detailed study. The decision to designate alternatives for further development and analysis remains the exclusive responsibility of the BLM Any person who participated in the planning process and has an interest which is or may be adversely affected by the approval or amendment of a resource management plan may protest such approval or amendment. A protest may raise only those issues which were submitted for the record during the planning process.

(1) The alternatives developed protest shall be informed by the Director and deciding official guidance (see § 1610.1(a)), the planning assessment (see § 1610.4), the statement of purpose and need (see § 1610.5-1), and the planning issues (see § 1610.5-1).

(2) In order to limit the total number of alternatives analyzed in detail to a manageable number for presentation and analysis, reasonable variations may be treated as sub-alternatives.

(3) One alternative shall be for no action, which means continuation of present level or systems of resource management.

(4) The resource management plan shall note any alternatives identified and eliminated from detailed study and shall briefly discuss the reasons for their elimination.

(b) Rationale for alternatives. The resource management plan shall describe the rationale for the differences between alternatives. The rationale shall include:

(1) A description of how each alternative addresses the planning issues, consistent with the principles of multiple use and sustained yield, unless otherwise specified by law;

(2) A description of management direction that is common to all alternatives; and

(3) A description of how management direction varies across alternatives to address the planning issues.

(c) Public review of preliminary alternatives. The responsible official shall make the preliminary alternatives and the preliminary rationale for alternatives available for public review prior to the publication of the draft resource management plan and draft environmental impact statement, and as appropriate, prior to the publication of draft plan amendments when an environmental impact statement is prepared to inform the amendment.

(d) Changes to preliminary alternatives. The BLM may change the preliminary alternatives and preliminary rationale for alternatives as planning proceeds if it determines that public suggestions or other new information make such changes necessary. A description of these changes shall be made available to the public in the draft resource management plan (see § 1610.5-4).

in writing and shall be filed with the Director. The protest shall be filed within 30 days of the date the Environmental Protection Agency published the notice of receipt of the final environmental impact statement containing the plan or amendment in the Federal Register. For an amendment not requiring the preparation of an environmental impact statement, the protest shall be filed within 30 days of the publication of the notice of its effective date.

(2) The protest shall contain:

(i) The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest of the person filing the protest;

(ii) A statement of the issue or issues being protested;

(iii) A statement of the part or parts of the plan or amendment being protested;

(iv) A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that were submitted during the planning process by the protesting party or an indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the record; and

(v) A concise statement explaining why the State Director's decision is believed to be wrong.

(3) The Director shall promptly render a decision on the protest. The decision shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons for the decision. The decision shall be sent to the protesting party by certified mail, return receipt requested.

(b) The decision of the Director shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior.

[48 FR 20368, May 5, 1983, as amended at 81 FR 89661, Dec. 12, 2016; 82 FR 60555, Dec. 21, 2017]