[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR2310.3-1]

[Page 84-85]
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
    CHAPTER II--BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 2300_LAND WITHDRAWALS--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart 2310_Withdrawals, General: Procedure
 
Sec. 2310.3-1  Publication and public meeting requirements.

    (a) When a withdrawal proposal is made, a notice to that effect 
shall be published immediately in the Federal Register. The notice shall 
contain the information required by Sec. 2310.1-3 of this title. In the 
event a withdrawal petition, which subsequently becomes a withdrawal 
proposal, is submitted simultaneously with a withdrawal application, the 
information requirements for notices pertaining to withdrawal 
applications (See paragraph (b) of this section) shall supersede the 
information requirements of this paragraph. However, in such instances, 
the notice required by paragraph (b) of this section shall be published 
immediately without regard to the 30-day period allowed for the filing 
for publication in the Federal Register of withdrawal application 
notices.
    (b)(1) Except for emergency withdrawals and except as otherwise 
provided in paragraph (a) of this section, within 30 days of the 
submission for filing of a withdrawal, extension or modification 
application, the authorized officer shall publish in the Federal 
Register a notice to that effect. The authorized officer also shall 
publish the same notice in at least one newspaper having a general 
circulation in the vicinity of the lands involved and, with the 
cooperation and assistance of the applicant, when appropriate, shall 
provide sufficient publicity to inform the interested public of the 
requested action.
    (2) The notice shall contain, in summary form, the information 
required by Sec. 2310.1-2 of this title, except that the authorized 
officer may exclude the information required by Sec. 2310.1-2(c)(2) of 
this title, and as much of the descriptive information required by Sec. 
2310.1-2(c) (5) and (6) of this title as the authorized officer 
considers appropriate. The notice shall:
    (i) Provide a legal description of the lands affected by the 
application, together with the total acreage of such lands;
    (ii) Specify the extent to which and the time during which any lands 
that may be involved may be segregated in accordance with Sec. 2310.2 
of this title;
    (iii) Identify the temporary land uses that may be permitted or 
allowed during the segregation period as provided for in Sec. 2310.2(c) 
of this title;
    (iv) Provide for a suitable period of at least 90 days after 
publication of the notice, for public comment on the requested action;
    (v) Solicit written comments from the public as to the requested 
action and provide for one or more public meetings in relation to 
requested actions involving 5,000 or more acres in the aggregate and, as 
to requested actions involving less than 5,000 acres, solicit and 
evaluate the written comments of the public as to the requested action 
and as to the need for public meetings;
    (vi) State, in the case of a national defense withdrawal which can 
only be made by an Act of Congress, that if the withdrawal is to be 
made, it will be made by an Act of Congress;
    (vii) Provide the address of the Bureau of Land Management office in 
which the application and the case file pertaining to it are available 
for public inspection and to which the written comments of the public 
should be sent;
    (viii) State that the application will be processed in accordance 
with the regulations set forth in part 2300 of this title;
    (ix) Reference, if appropriate, the Federal Register in which the 
notice of a withdrawal proposal, if any, pertaining to the application 
was published previously;
    (x) Provide such additional information as the authorized officer 
deems necessary or appropriate.
    (c)(1) In determining whether a public meeting will be held on 
applications

[[Page 85]]

involving less than 5,000 acres of land, the authorized officer shall 
consider whether or not:
    (i) A large number of persons have expressed objections to or 
suggestions regarding the requested action;
    (ii) The objections or suggestions expressed appear to have merit 
without regard to the number of persons responding;
    (iii) A public meeting can effectively develop information which 
would otherwise be difficult or costly to accumulate;
    (iv) The requested action, because of the amount of acreage 
involved, the location of the affected lands or other relevant factors, 
would have an important effect on the public, as for example, the 
national or regional economy;
    (v) There is an appreciable public interest in the lands or their 
use, as indicated by the records of the Bureau of Land Management;
    (vi) There is prevailing public opinion in the area that favors 
public meetings or shows particular concern over withdrawal actions; and
    (vii) The applicant has requested a public meeting.
    (2) A public meeting, whether required or determined by the 
authorized officer to be necessary, shall be held at a time and place 
convenient to the interested public, the applicant and the authorized 
officer. A notice stating the time and place of the meeting, shall be 
published in the Federal Register and in at least one newspaper having a 
general circulation in the vicinity of lands involved in the requested 
action, at least 30 days before the scheduled date of the meeting.