Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Chapita Wells-Stagecoach Area (CWSA), Uintah County, UT, 879 [E7-25585]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management
• Land Management Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 3 (Friday, January 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-25585]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-080-2005-9141-EJ]


Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Chapita Wells--Stagecoach Area (CWSA), Uintah County, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the Chapita Wells--Stagecoach Area, Uintah County, 
Utah.

DATES: The 30-day public availability period will begin on the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. To assure that public 
comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments on 
the FEIS on or before the end of the comment period at the address 
listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Howard, Project Manager, BLM 
Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078. Ms. Howard 
may also be reached at 435-781-4400.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FEIS may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Vernal Field Office, 170 
South 500 East, Vernal, Utah 84078.
     E-mail: UT--Vernal--Comments@blm.gov.
     Fax: (435) 781-4410.

Please reference the CWSA when submitting your comments. Comments and 
information submitted on the FEIS for the CWSA, Uintah County, Utah, 
including names, e-mail addresses, and street addresses of respondents, 
will be available for public review at the Vernal Field Office address 
listed above. The BLM will not accept anonymous comments. 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. All 
submissions from organizations and businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, will be available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CWSA involves approximately 31,872 acres 
located in Townships 8 to 10 South, Ranges 22 and 23 East, Salt Lake 
Base Meridian, about 30 miles south of Vernal, in Uintah County, Utah. 
Approximately 22,693 acres (71%) of surface and mineral estate are 
administered by the BLM; approximately 6,577 acres (21%) are owned by 
the Ute Tribe and/or its allottees and administered by the BIA; 
approximately 1,914 acres (6%) are administered by the State of Utah's 
School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA); and the 
remaining 688 acres (2%) are privately owned.
    The CWSA encompasses an already developed oil and gas field. As of 
March 2004, the CWSA contained approximately 325 existing gas wells. 
Also, about 121 miles of roads and 115 miles of pipeline have been 
constructed within the region.
    A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on October 1, 2004, which announced the beginning of 
the scoping period. Nine scoping letters were received from agencies 
and organizations during the scoping period. The scoping comments were 
taken into account during the drafting of the EIS. A summary of the 
scoping comments can be found in section 1.6 of the FEIS.
    A NOA for the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on 
January 20, 2006. During the public comment period, eight comment 
letters were received from various agencies and organizations. Comments 
received on the Draft EIS, and the responses to those comments, are 
found in Chapter 6 of the FEIS.
    The FEIS analyzes the effects of a natural gas and oil development 
scenario within the CWSA that is conceptual in nature. The final 
location of well pads, roads, and pipelines will be determined through 
future site-specific assessments required for each facility. Any 
additional environmental analyses will be tiered to this FEIS.
    The FEIS analyzes the impacts of the Proposed Action and the No 
Action Alternative. The following is a summary of the alternatives:
    Alternative A--Proposed Action (BLM's preferred alternative): The 
proposed action includes up to 627 natural gas wells, about 99.5 miles 
of new roads and 104.5 miles of pipelines, and 5,000 hp of compression. 
EOG Resources Inc. proposes to drill 627 wells at the rate of 90 wells 
per year over a period of seven years, or until the resource base is 
fully developed. Of this total number, 473 wells would be drilled at 
new locations and 154 wells would be twin wells. In all, approximately 
1,735 acres, or 5% of the total project area, would be disturbed by the 
proposal.
    The Proposed Action incorporates standard operating procedures and 
applicant-committed best management practices currently employed on 
BLM-administered public lands in the Uintah Basin that mitigate impacts 
to the environment.
    Alternative B--No Action: Oil and gas development on Federal lands 
proposed under Alternative A would not be implemented. However 
development would continue to occur under Applications for Permits to 
Drill (APDs) previously approved by the BLM based upon other NEPA 
documents. Development would also continue on non-Federal lands. An 
additional 148 wells would be drilled on 20-acre and 40-acre spacing 
patterns (91 new wells and 57 twin wells).
    Seven additional alternatives were considered but eliminated from 
detailed analysis because of technical or economical reasons, because 
of their resource impact, or because they did not meet the purpose and 
need of BLM's proposed action.
    Copies of the FEIS for the CWSA have been sent to Federal, State, 
and local government agencies, and to parties who commented during the 
public comment period.

William Stringer,
Field Office Manager.
 [FR Doc. E7-25585 Filed 1-3-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P