Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Castle Peak and Eight Mile Flat Oil and Gas Expansion Project, Newfield Rocky Mountains, Inc., 61301-61302 [05-21043]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 203 / Friday, October 21, 2005 / Notices
inspection at the Service’s Regional Web
site at https://westerngraywolf.fws.gov.
All comments received from individuals
become part of the official public
record. Requests for such comments will
be handled in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act and the
Council on Environmental Quality’s
National Environmental Protection Act
regulations [40 CFR 1506.6(f)]. Our
practice is to make comments, including
names and home addresses of
respondents, available for public review
during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that
we withhold their home address from
the record, which we will honor to the
extent allowable by law. If a respondent
wishes us to withhold his/her name
and/or address, this must be stated
prominently at the beginning of the
comment.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1539(c).
Dated: September 22, 2005.
Mary G. Henry,
Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. 05–21055 Filed 10–20–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[UT–080–05–1310–DB]
Notice of Availability of the Final
Environmental Impact Statement and
Record of Decision for the Castle Peak
and Eight Mile Flat Oil and Gas
Expansion Project, Newfield Rocky
Mountains, Inc.
Bureau of Land Management.
Notice of Availability of Final
Environmental Impact Statement and
Record of Decision for the Castle Peak
and Eight Mile Flat Oil and Gas
Expansion Project, Newfield Rocky
Mountains, Inc., Uintah and Duchesne
Counties, Utah, and Notice of 30-day
appeal period for the Record of
Decision.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: Under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and associated
regulations, the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) announces the
availability of a Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of
Decision (ROD) for the Castle Peak and
Eight Mile Flat oil and gas expansion
project proposed by Newfield Rocky
Mountains, Inc., formerly Inland
Resources, Inc. This FEIS and ROD are
being announced concurrently per 40
CFR part 1506 (b) (2).
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:13 Oct 20, 2005
Jkt 208001
Vernal Field Manager William
Stringer signed the ROD on August 24,
2005. The Decision will become final
within 30 days after the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes the filing
notice for this FEIS and ROD in the
Federal Register, pending any appeals
to the Interior Board of Land Appeals as
per 43 CFR 4.21.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the FEIS and ROD
has been sent to the affected Federal,
State, and local government agencies,
Native American Tribes and to
interested parties. Copies of the FEIS
and ROD are available for public
inspection at the following BLM office
locations: Bureau of Land Management,
Utah State Office Public Room, 440
West 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake
City, Utah 84101–1345 and the Bureau
of Land Management, Vernal Field
Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT
84078.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean
Nitschke-Sinclear, Project Manager,
BLM Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500
East, Vernal, UT 84078. Ms. NitschkeSinclear may also be reached at 435–
781–4400.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 8,
2002 the BLM published a Notice of
Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register
announcing the preparation of an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
in response to a proposal submitted by
Inland Resources, Inc. Inland Resources
proposed to expand its existing
waterflood oil recovery in the project
area, located about 25 miles southwest
of Vernal, Utah. The expansion would
involve about 64,000 acres in Uintah
and Duchesne counties. As proposed,
drilling would involve about 973
additional wells to fully develop the
resource base. The proposed wells
would be drilled on 40-acre spacing,
drilling about 50% of the wells as
producing wells and 50% as water
injection wells.
The Draft EIS (DEIS) was made
available to the public for a 45-day
review period during October-November
2004. The BLM held a public meeting to
receive oral comments on November 4,
2004. A total of 94 written comments on
the DEIS were received during the
comment period.
Based on the information contained in
the DEIS, public comments received on
the DEIS, consultation with 13 Native
American Tribes having historical and/
or ethnological ties to the Uinta Basin,
and information received from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Services, the BLM has
approved the agency-preferred
alternative (Alternative A). This
alternative allows oil and gas wells and
associated ancillary facilities located on
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
61301
BLM-administered public lands located
outside the existing Pariette Wetlands
Area of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACEC). The BLM has decided to defer
approval of new wells and ancillary
facilities located on BLM-administered
public lands within the Pariette
Wetlands ACEC until a comprehensive
population inventory has been
completed for the federally listed Uinta
Basin hookless cactus (Sclerocactus
glaucus) within suitable habitat on BLM
lands within the Pariette Wash
watershed. Future authorization of all or
a portion of the wells on BLMadministered public lands within the
ACEC will depend upon the location
and size of cactus populations within
the ACEC, and the results of sitespecific NEPA analysis on oil and gas
development proposals within the
ACEC boundary, including consultation
with the Service.
The decision to approve the agencypreferred alternative, with
modifications, recognizes that oil and
gas development has been ongoing
within the area for over 50 years, and
that nearly the entire project area has
been leased. These leases represent
valid existing rights. The decision also
acknowledges that there are important
natural and cultural resources within
the area, including listed threatened
species, and existing BLM Areas of
Critical Environmental Concern
(Pariette Wetlands, Lower Green River).
This decision balances the rights to
develop oil and gas, while protecting
surface resources over the long term. It
also acknowledges an unresolved
conflict between oil and gas
development, and protection and
recovery of the Uinta Basin hookless
cactus, a listed threatened species. By
acquiring additional information about
the location and condition of
populations of this species within the
ACEC and adjacent areas, the BLM will
make better-informed decisions about
where and how to place future oil and
gas facilities.
The decision provides the BLM
approval to permit the following project
components on BLM-administered
lands within the Castle Peak and Eight
Mile Flat Expansion Area: 778 oil and
gas well locations; 261 miles of new and
existing access roads, with adjacent
parallel utility corridors for buried
water and buried and/or surface natural
gas gathering pipelines; 2 water
filtration/injection plants and an
associated 6.9 mile 12 kV electrical
powerline; 3 to 5 new water wells
installed in the Green River alluvium,
connected to a centralized pump
station; and 7.5 miles of buried water
pipeline connecting the Green River
E:\FR\FM\21OCN1.SGM
21OCN1
61302
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 203 / Friday, October 21, 2005 / Notices
water supply pump station with the
water filtration/injection plants.
The BLM consulted with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service about potential
effects on listed threatened and
endangered species from project
construction and operation. The Service
reviewed the DEIS and provided
comments. In March 2005, the BLM
submitted a Biological Assessment to
the Service, concluding that the project
may adversely affect the Uintah Basin
hookless cactus; may adversely affect
the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback
chub, bonytail and razorback sucker;
and may adversely modify designated
Critical Habitat for the four fish species
through depletions from the Upper
Colorado River System. In its Biological
Opinion, the Service concurred with the
BLM’s conclusions for these species.
The Biological Opinion contains
recommended conservation measures to
protect and recover the Uinta Basin
hookless cactus and the four Colorado
River native fish. The BLM has adopted
nearly all these conservation measures
(with minor modifications), and has
included these measures in the
conditions of approval. One exception is
the Service’s recommendation that no
further surface occupancy by oil and gas
facilities be approved in the Pariette
ACEC. Due to valid existing lease rights,
the BLM cannot stipulate a blanket ‘‘no
surface occupancy’’ requirement for oil
and gas development within this ACEC.
However, BLM has decided to defer
authorization of new wells and access
roads within the ACEC boundaries until
the needed inventories are completed.
The FEIS is a complete document. It
includes the Biological Opinion
received from the Service, plus a
presentation of substantive public
comments received on the DEIS. The
FEIS also includes BLM’s responses to
these comments. The FEIS includes
changes to the text in response to public
comments on the DEIS. These changes
were made to clarify, correct and/or
expand information to aid the public’s
understanding of the proposed project,
reasonable alternatives and their effects
on the environment.
Dated: August 31, 2005.
William Stringer,
Field Manager, Vernal Field Office.
[FR Doc. 05–21043 Filed 10–20–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–22–P
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:13 Oct 20, 2005
Jkt 208001
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
and Initiate the Public Scoping
Process
AGENCY:
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c)
of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 and the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976, notice is
hereby given that the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), Challis Field
Office, will be directing the preparation
of an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) that will analyze the mining
impacts resulting from L&W Stone’s
Amended Plan of Operations in Custer
County, Idaho.
DATES: The scoping comment period
will commence with the publication of
this notice and will end 45 days after
publication of this notice. Two public
meetings will be held during the
scoping comment period. Comments on
the scope of the EIS, including
concerns, issues, or proposed
alternatives that should be considered
in the EIS should be submitted in
writing to the address below. The dates
of public meetings to be held in Challis
and Boise, Idaho will be announced
through the local media, newsletters,
and BLM’s National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) mailing list. The
draft EIS is expected to be available for
public review and comment in June
2006 and the final EIS is expected to be
available in August 2007.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be sent to Chuck Horsburgh, Project
Leader, Idaho Falls District Office, 1405
Hollipark Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho
83401. Faxes should be sent to 208–
524–7505. Comments received on this
proposal, including names and
addresses, will be considered part of the
public record and will be available for
public inspection during regular office
hours, Monday–Friday, 8–4:30 p.m.
Individual respondents may request
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold
your name and street address from
public review or from disclosure under
the Freedom of Information Act, you
must state this prominently at the
beginning of your written comment.
Such requests will be honored to the
extent allowed by law. All submissions
from organizations and businesses, and
from individuals identifying themselves
as representatives or officials for
organizations or businesses, will be
available for public inspection in their
entirety.
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chuck Horsburgh, Project Leader, Idaho
Falls District Office, 1405 Hollipark
Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401; or
phone at (208) 524–7530.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: L&W
Stone Corporation mines locatable
flagstone on public lands administered
by the BLM’s Challis Field Office in
Custer County, Idaho. L&W Stone
submitted an Amended Plan of
Operations for their quarry under the 43
CFR 3809 Regulations in December
2002. The BLM completed an
Environmental Assessment (EA)
regarding the Amended Plan of
Operations, signed a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI), and
approved the project. As a result of a
lawsuit that was filed objecting to that
approval, the BLM was ordered by a
Federal District Court judge to prepare
an EIS for the Amended Plan of
Operations. The Amended Plan of
Operations will serve as the basis for the
EIS project description. The BLM will
analyze a range of alternatives in the
EIS. As proposed in the Amended Plan
of Operations, the quarry would operate
for up to 40 years. The main product
that is mined is large-diameter sheets of
rock called flagstone which is used in
both indoor and outdoor decorative
construction.
Dated: August 30, 2005.
David Rosenkrance,
Challis Field Manager, BLM.
[FR Doc. 05–21042 Filed 10–20–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WY–100–05–1310–DB]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS) for the Pinedale
Anticline Oil and Gas and Exploration
and Development Project, Sublette
County, Wyoming, and Possible
Amendment to the Pinedale Resource
Management Plan
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to
conduct public scoping and prepare an
SEIS to the Pinedale Anticline Oil and
Gas, and Exploration and Development
Project Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision
(ROD), July 2000.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C)
of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the
E:\FR\FM\21OCN1.SGM
21OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 203 (Friday, October 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61301-61302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21043]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[UT-080-05-1310-DB]
Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement and Record of Decision for the Castle Peak and Eight Mile
Flat Oil and Gas Expansion Project, Newfield Rocky Mountains, Inc.
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement
and Record of Decision for the Castle Peak and Eight Mile Flat Oil and
Gas Expansion Project, Newfield Rocky Mountains, Inc., Uintah and
Duchesne Counties, Utah, and Notice of 30-day appeal period for the
Record of Decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and associated
regulations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the
availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and
Record of Decision (ROD) for the Castle Peak and Eight Mile Flat oil
and gas expansion project proposed by Newfield Rocky Mountains, Inc.,
formerly Inland Resources, Inc. This FEIS and ROD are being announced
concurrently per 40 CFR part 1506 (b) (2).
DATES: Vernal Field Manager William Stringer signed the ROD on August
24, 2005. The Decision will become final within 30 days after the
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the filing notice for this
FEIS and ROD in the Federal Register, pending any appeals to the
Interior Board of Land Appeals as per 43 CFR 4.21.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the FEIS and ROD has been sent to the affected
Federal, State, and local government agencies, Native American Tribes
and to interested parties. Copies of the FEIS and ROD are available for
public inspection at the following BLM office locations: Bureau of Land
Management, Utah State Office Public Room, 440 West 200 South, Suite
500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1345 and the Bureau of Land Management,
Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Nitschke-Sinclear, Project
Manager, BLM Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078.
Ms. Nitschke-Sinclear may also be reached at 435-781-4400.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 8, 2002 the BLM published a Notice of
Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register announcing the preparation of an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in response to a proposal
submitted by Inland Resources, Inc. Inland Resources proposed to expand
its existing waterflood oil recovery in the project area, located about
25 miles southwest of Vernal, Utah. The expansion would involve about
64,000 acres in Uintah and Duchesne counties. As proposed, drilling
would involve about 973 additional wells to fully develop the resource
base. The proposed wells would be drilled on 40-acre spacing, drilling
about 50% of the wells as producing wells and 50% as water injection
wells.
The Draft EIS (DEIS) was made available to the public for a 45-day
review period during October-November 2004. The BLM held a public
meeting to receive oral comments on November 4, 2004. A total of 94
written comments on the DEIS were received during the comment period.
Based on the information contained in the DEIS, public comments
received on the DEIS, consultation with 13 Native American Tribes
having historical and/or ethnological ties to the Uinta Basin, and
information received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the BLM
has approved the agency-preferred alternative (Alternative A). This
alternative allows oil and gas wells and associated ancillary
facilities located on BLM-administered public lands located outside the
existing Pariette Wetlands Area of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACEC). The BLM has decided to defer approval of new wells and
ancillary facilities located on BLM-administered public lands within
the Pariette Wetlands ACEC until a comprehensive population inventory
has been completed for the federally listed Uinta Basin hookless cactus
(Sclerocactus glaucus) within suitable habitat on BLM lands within the
Pariette Wash watershed. Future authorization of all or a portion of
the wells on BLM-administered public lands within the ACEC will depend
upon the location and size of cactus populations within the ACEC, and
the results of site-specific NEPA analysis on oil and gas development
proposals within the ACEC boundary, including consultation with the
Service.
The decision to approve the agency-preferred alternative, with
modifications, recognizes that oil and gas development has been ongoing
within the area for over 50 years, and that nearly the entire project
area has been leased. These leases represent valid existing rights. The
decision also acknowledges that there are important natural and
cultural resources within the area, including listed threatened
species, and existing BLM Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
(Pariette Wetlands, Lower Green River). This decision balances the
rights to develop oil and gas, while protecting surface resources over
the long term. It also acknowledges an unresolved conflict between oil
and gas development, and protection and recovery of the Uinta Basin
hookless cactus, a listed threatened species. By acquiring additional
information about the location and condition of populations of this
species within the ACEC and adjacent areas, the BLM will make better-
informed decisions about where and how to place future oil and gas
facilities.
The decision provides the BLM approval to permit the following
project components on BLM-administered lands within the Castle Peak and
Eight Mile Flat Expansion Area: 778 oil and gas well locations; 261
miles of new and existing access roads, with adjacent parallel utility
corridors for buried water and buried and/or surface natural gas
gathering pipelines; 2 water filtration/injection plants and an
associated 6.9 mile 12 kV electrical powerline; 3 to 5 new water wells
installed in the Green River alluvium, connected to a centralized pump
station; and 7.5 miles of buried water pipeline connecting the Green
River
[[Page 61302]]
water supply pump station with the water filtration/injection plants.
The BLM consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about
potential effects on listed threatened and endangered species from
project construction and operation. The Service reviewed the DEIS and
provided comments. In March 2005, the BLM submitted a Biological
Assessment to the Service, concluding that the project may adversely
affect the Uintah Basin hookless cactus; may adversely affect the
Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, bonytail and razorback sucker; and
may adversely modify designated Critical Habitat for the four fish
species through depletions from the Upper Colorado River System. In its
Biological Opinion, the Service concurred with the BLM's conclusions
for these species.
The Biological Opinion contains recommended conservation measures
to protect and recover the Uinta Basin hookless cactus and the four
Colorado River native fish. The BLM has adopted nearly all these
conservation measures (with minor modifications), and has included
these measures in the conditions of approval. One exception is the
Service's recommendation that no further surface occupancy by oil and
gas facilities be approved in the Pariette ACEC. Due to valid existing
lease rights, the BLM cannot stipulate a blanket ``no surface
occupancy'' requirement for oil and gas development within this ACEC.
However, BLM has decided to defer authorization of new wells and access
roads within the ACEC boundaries until the needed inventories are
completed.
The FEIS is a complete document. It includes the Biological Opinion
received from the Service, plus a presentation of substantive public
comments received on the DEIS. The FEIS also includes BLM's responses
to these comments. The FEIS includes changes to the text in response to
public comments on the DEIS. These changes were made to clarify,
correct and/or expand information to aid the public's understanding of
the proposed project, reasonable alternatives and their effects on the
environment.
Dated: August 31, 2005.
William Stringer,
Field Manager, Vernal Field Office.
[FR Doc. 05-21043 Filed 10-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P
