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WINNEMUCCA, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management invites interested members of the public to two meetings next week regarding a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to analyze and disclose environmental impacts associated with the proposed 10-year renewal of the Burning Man Special Recreation Permit. The public meetings will be held in Sparks at the Nugget Casino-Convention Center, 1100 Nugget Ave. 89431, Cascade 3 Room, on April 8 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and in Lovelock at the Lovelock Community Center, 820 6^th St. 89419, Seven Troughs Room, on April 9 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The public comment period will end April 29, 2019. Additional information regarding this proposed project is available online at https://go.usa.gov/xEmSY.

The DEIS meets one of the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the BLM to review the event permit application.  The draft document analyzes potential impacts from the event and includes some possible mitigations to address concerns raised by partner agencies and affected stakeholders, including Pershing County, Washoe County, the Nevada Highway Patrol, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Pollution Control and Bureau of Air Pollution Control, the Nevada State Health Department, the Nevada Department of Transportation, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Homeland Security, and others.

The meetings will provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the DEIS. The draft document analyzes environmental impacts associated with a proposal to expand the Burning Man maximum event population to 100,000. The growth would begin in 2019 with 85,000 people, increasing 5,000 each year until reaching its full growth potential of 100,000 by 2022. The entire event population includes all Burning Man Event attendees, participants, staff and volunteers. Population does not include government personnel or BLM-permitted vendors. In addition to the population increase, vehicle passes would increase to 34,000. The current number of vehicle passes is below 30,000. The Burning Man event would be located on the Black Rock Desert Playa in Pershing County, approximately 8.5 miles northeast of Gerlach and 100 miles northeast of Reno, Nevada, in the Black Rock-High Rock Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area.  The NCA is administered by the Black Rock Field Office, Winnemucca District of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

In addition, a two-phased closure order, lasting 78 days total, would decrease user conflict by maintaining a smaller area for set-up and construction of the city (9,580 acres) and expanding to the full closure order area (14,820 acres) for a total of three weeks. Alternatives identified in the DEIS were developed from comments received during the scoping period that ran from June 20 to August 4, 2018.

Written comments related to the proposed Black Rock City LLC’s Burning Man Special Recreation 10 year Permit Renewal may be submitted by any of the following methods:

Contact: Mark Hall, Black Rock Field Manager

Phone: (775) 623-1500

Fax:     (775) 623-1503

Email: blm_nv_burningmaneis@blm.gov

Mail:   Bureau of Land Management

            Black Rock Field Office

            5100 East Winnemucca Blvd.

            Winnemucca, NV 89445

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

For more information, contact Mark Hall, Acting Burning Man Project Manager, at (775) 623-1500.