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BLM explains NEPA rule changes and urges cooperating-agency status for local governments
Summary
BLM officials told NERMAC that recent NEPA regulatory changes add many categorical exclusions and reduce public-review steps for draft EAs and EISs; BLM recommended local governments pursue cooperating-agency status to retain review opportunities.
Elizabeth Buentes told commissioners that BLM has adopted numerous categorical exclusions from other federal agencies and that the new NEPA rules will reduce the number of environmental assessments and EISs requiring public drafts. She warned that under the new regulations there may be no draft EA public-review period and that, for EISs, public input could be limited to the scoping NOI.
Buentes recommended that local and state governments seek cooperating-agency status so they can review documents concurrently with BLM during internal review cycles rather than relying on a draft-public-review window that may no longer exist. She said Elko County has been a cooperating agency on projects such as Crescent Valley, South Railroad, and Lamoille Trails.
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