The Santa Fe National Forest has completed a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and a draft record of decision (ROD) for the Geothermal Leasing Project and the Forest Plan Amendment for Geothermal Leasing in the Santa Fe National Forest. The responsible official for this decision is Forest Supervisor James Melonas. Forest Supervisor Melonas is planning to implement alternative 3 No Leasing which prohibits any surface resource disturbance for geothermal leasing and development.
Under the selected action the SFNF will amend the Forest Plan to implement discretionary closures to geothermal leasing on all lands in the project area not already closed to leasing. Approximately 194900 acres will be closed to leasing including nondiscretionary closed lands in the Jemez Natural Recreation Area (JNRA). There will be no NFS lands available for leasing in the project area under the selected action. The final EIS and draft ROD can be found at the Santa Fe National Forest website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/santafe/landmanagement/projects.
Notice of document availability will be sent to those who submitted comments on the draft EIS. A limited number of printed copies and CDs of these documents are available upon request. For more information or to request the final EIS and draft ROD contact Larry Gore of the Santa Fe National Forest at (575/289-3264). The draft ROD includes two decisions not authorized under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act: one for the Geothermal Leasing Project subject to review and objection according to 36 CFR 218 subparts A and B; and one for the Forest Plan Amendment for Geothermal Leasing in the Santa Fe National Forest subject to review and objection according to 36 CFR 219 subpart B. 36 CFR 218 Objection Process Geothermal Leasing Project Objections on the Geothermal Leasing Project must meet the content requirements of 36 CFR 218.8(d) and include the following information: 1) The objector's name and address with a telephone number or email address if available. 2) A signature or other verification of authorship upon request (a scanned signature for email may be filed with the objection). 3) When multiple names are listed on an objection identification of the lead objector as defined in 36 CPR 218.2 (verification of the identity of the lead objector must be provided upon request). 4) The name of the project being objected to the name and title of the responsible official and the name of the national forest on which the project will be implemented. 5) A description of those aspects of the project addressed by the objection including specific issues related to the project and if applicable how the objector believes the environmental analysis or draft decision specifically violates law regulation or policy; suggested remedies that would resolve the objection; and supporting reasons for the reviewing officer to consider. 6) A statement that demonstrates the connection between prior specific written comments on the particular project or activity and the content of the objection unless the objection concerns an issue that arose after the designated opportunity for formal comment. With certain exceptions (36 CFR 218.8(b)) all documents referenced in the objection must be included with the objection. Objections on the Geothermal Leasing Project including attachments must be filed with the appropriate reviewing officer within 45 calendar days following publication of the legal notice of the objection filing period in the newspaper ofrecord. 36 CFR 219 Objection Process for Forest Plan Amendment Objections on the Forest Plan Amendment for Geothermal Leasing in the Santa Fe National Forest must meet the content requirements of 36 CFR 219.54(c) and include the following information: 1) The objector's name and address (219.62) along with a telephone number or email address if available. 2) Signature or other verification of authorship upon request (a scanned signature for electronic mail may be filed with the objection). 3) Identification of the lead objector when multiple names are listed on an objection (219.62) and verification of the identity of the lead objector ifrequested. 4) The name of the plan amendment being objected to and the name and title of the responsible official. 5) A statement of the issues and/or the parts of plan amendment to which the objection applies. 6) A concise statement explaining the objection and suggesting how the proposed plan decision may be improved. If applicable the objector should identify how the objector believes that the plan amendment is inconsistent with law regulation or policy. 7) A statement that demonstrates the link between prior substantive formal comments attributed to the objector and the content of the objection unless the objection concerns an issue that arose after the opportunities for formal comment (219.53(a)). Objections on the Forest Plan Amendment for Geothermal Leasing in the Santa Fe National Forest including attachments must be filed with the appropriate reviewing officer within 60 calendar days following publication of the legal notice of the objection filing period in the newspaper of record. Within 10 days after the close of the objection period for the forest plan amendment a notice of all objections to the forest plan amendment will be published in the Albuquerque Journal and be posted online. Both Objection Processes Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted timely and specific written comments regarding the proposed project unless the issue is based on new information arising after the designated comment opportunities. For this project individuals or organizations who submitted specific written comments in response to scoping or provided comments to the draft EIS will be considered to have standing to object under 36 CFR 218 subparts A and Band 36 CFR 219 subpart B. The following address should be used for objections sent by regular mail to: Objection Reviewing Officer Southwestern Region USDA Forest Service 333 Broadway Blvd SE Albuquerque NM 87102 Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding Federal holidays for hand delivery. Objections can be faxed to the Objection Reviewing Officer at (505) 842-3173. The fax coversheet must include a subject line with "Santa Fe NF Geothermal Leasing Project Objection" or "Forest Plan Amendment for Geothermal Leasing in the Santa Fe NF Objection" and should specify the number of pages being submitted. Electronic objections must be submitted to the Objection Reviewing Officer via email to objections southwestern-regional-office@fs.fed.us with "Santa Fe NF Geothermal Leasing Project Objection" or "Forest Plan Amendment for Geothermal Leasing in the Santa Fe NF Objection" in the subject line. Electronic submissions must be submitted in a format that is readable with optical character recognition software (e.g. Word PDF Rich Text) and be searchable. An automated response should confirm your electronic objection has been received. Incomplete objections that do not respond to these requirements may be set aside by the objection reviewing officer according to 218.10 and 219.55. The publication date of this notice is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Objectors should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. It is the objector's responsibility to ensure timely filing of written objections with the reviewing officer pursuant to 218.9 or 219.56(c). All objections are available for public inspection during and after the objection process.
Reviewing Official
