Planning criteria are the standards, rules, and other factors developed by managers and interdisciplinary team members for use in forming judgements about decision making, analysis, and data collection during the planning process.  The BLM has identified some preliminary planning criteria to guide development of the RMP amendment, to avoid unnecessary data collection and analysis, and to ensure the RMP amendment is tailored to the issues.  The planning criteria provides a summary list for the BLM land use planning process.  These, when combined with the purpose and need for action, establish the scope of the land use plan amendment, and set the framework for the decisions to be made in the EIS/RMPA.