Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Greater Crossbow Oil and Gas Project and Possible Amendments to the Casper Resource Management Plan, Wyoming, 65242-65243 [2015-27191]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 206 (Monday, October 26, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65242-65243]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27191]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWYP07000.LL13100000.DB0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Greater Crossbow Oil and Gas Project and Possible Amendments to the 
Casper Resource Management Plan, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended (FLPMA), and the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as 
amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as lead agency, through 
the Buffalo Field Office, Buffalo, Wyoming, intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for EOG Resources Inc.'s (EOG's) 
proposed Greater Crossbow Oil and Gas Project (Project). The proposal 
area includes Federal lands administered by the BLM's Buffalo and 
Casper Field Offices and the U.S. Forest Service's (USFS) Thunder Basin 
National Grasslands. This notice initiates the public scoping process 
for the EIS and potential land use plan amendments. The purpose of the 
public scoping process is to seek input and identify issues regarding 
the Project.

DATES: Comments may be submitted in writing until December 10, 2015. In 
order to be considered in the Draft EIS, all comments must be received 
prior to the close of the 45-day scoping period or 15 days after the 
last public meeting, whichever is later. The BLM will provide 
additional opportunities for public participation as appropriate. The 
dates and locations of any scoping meetings will be announced at least 
15 days in advance through the local news media, newspapers, and the 
BLM Web site at: https://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Buffalo.html.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Web site: https://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/bfo/GC.html.
     Email: BLM_WY_BuffaloGCEIS@blm.gov.
     Fax: 307-684-1122.
     Mail: Greater Crossbow Oil and Gas Project, BLM Buffalo 
Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming 82834.

Documents pertinent to this proposal are available for public review at 
the BLM Buffalo Field Office or the USFS Douglas Ranger District 
Office, 2250 E. Richards Street, Douglas, Wyoming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Bills, NEPA Coordinator, 
telephone: 307-684-1133; address: 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming 
82834; email: BLM_WY_BuffaloGCEIS@blm.gov. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr. Bills 
during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 
days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. 
You will receive a reply during normal business hours. You may call 
either of these numbers to have your name added to our mailing list.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    EOG proposes to develop 1,500 oil and natural gas wells on 100 
multi-well

[[Page 65243]]

pads over a 10-year period. As part of this development, EOG proposes 
to:
     Use directional, vertical, horizontal, and other drilling 
techniques;
     Develop area infrastructure to support oil and gas 
production, including well pads, roads, pipelines, power lines, 
compressor and electrical substations, and support facilities, such as 
water supply wells and water disposal facilities;
     Conduct year-round drilling where seasonal raptor 
restrictions may otherwise apply.
    Surface disturbance associated with the proposal is estimated to 
include 7,000 acres of initial surface disturbance for the construction 
of new roads, well pads, pipelines, and support facilities, of which 
approximately 3,700 acres of surface distrubance may remain for the 
life of the project.
    The proposal area lies between the towns of Wright and Bill, 
primarily west of Wyoming Highway 59, and includes approximately 
120,000 acres. The USFS manages about 5,700 surface acres, or 5 percent 
of the Project area surface. The remainder of surface area affected by 
the proposal is privately owned (88 percent) or held by the State of 
Wyoming (7 percent). The BLM does not manage any of the surface area 
potentially affected by the Project. The proposal area includes about 
74,000 acres (62 percent of the area) of BLM-administered Federal 
mineral estate. The remainder of the mineral estate in the Project area 
is privately owned (30 percent) or held by the State of Wyoming (8 
percent). The BLM has identified the following preliminary issues: 
Greater sage-grouse and raptor conservation, especially ferruginous 
hawks; year-round drilling where seasonal raptor restrictions may 
otherwise apply; potential conflicts with coal mining and other area 
resource uses; air quality; ground and surface waters and water 
injection sites affected by the proposal; area transportation; the 
level of anticipated development of oil and gas resources in the 
planning area; and, the identification of opportunities to apply 
mitigation hierarchy strategies for on-site, regional, and compensatory 
mitigation, and, as appropriate, landscape-level conservation and 
management actions to achieve resource objectives.
    Authorization of this proposal may require amendment of the Casper 
Field Office, Casper Resource Management Plan (RMP). Similarly, the 
USFS, as cooperating agency, may use the EIS analysis to support 
preparation of a land use plan amendment for the Thunder Basin National 
Grassland, Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP), if appropriate. By 
this notice, the BLM is complying with the requirements in 43 CFR 
1610.2(c) to notify the public of potential amendments to land use 
plans, based on the findings of the EIS for the Project. If land use 
plan amendments are necessary or appropriate, the BLM will integrate 
the land-use planning processes with the NEPA process for this project.
    The BLM is announcing the beginning of a scoping process to solicit 
public comments and identify issues associated with the Public. The BLM 
seeks resource information and data for public land values (e.g., air 
quality, cultural and historic resources, fire/fuels, fisheries, 
forestry, lands and realty, non-energy minerals and geology, oil and 
gas including coalbed natural gas, paleontology, rangeland management, 
recreation, soil, water, and wildlife) in the Project area. The purpose 
of this process is to ensure that the BLM's analysis of the Project has 
sufficient information and data to consider a reasonable range of 
resource uses, management options, and alternatives for managing public 
lands. The EIS for the Project will incorporate elements of the Wyoming 
Core Population Strategy and the BLM's Greater Sage-Grouse planning 
effort and decisions (76 FR 77008, December 9, 2011).
    In connection with its evaluation of any authorizations and actions 
proposed in the EIS, the BLM will determine if those actions conform to 
the decisions in the current and proposed land use plans for the 
Project area. Any proposed actions that would change the scope of 
resource uses, terms and conditions, and decisions of these plans may 
require amendment of the affected plan(s). If the BLM determines that a 
plan amendment is necessary, it would conduct the appropriate analysis 
simultaneously with preparation of the EIS for the Project. The 
planning criteria for any necessary plan amendment will follow that 
found in the affected plan(s).
    To provide the public with an opportunity to review the proposal 
and associated information, as well as any proposed plan amendments, 
the BLM will host public meetings on or before November 25, 2015. The 
BLM will notify the public of the precise date of such meetings and any 
other opportunities for the public to be involved in the process at 
least 15 days prior to the event via news release to the media, 
individual mailings, and postings on the BLM's Project Web site.
    The BLM will use and coordinate the NEPA commenting process to help 
fulfill the public involvement process under section 106 of the 
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 470f), as provided 
for in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). Information about historic and cultural 
resources in the area potentially affected by the Project will assist 
the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources in the 
context of both NEPA and section 106 of the NHPA. Native American 
tribal consultations will be conducted in accordance with applicable 
policy, and tribal concerns will be given due consideration. Federal, 
State, and local agencies, along with other stakeholders that may be 
interested or affected by the BLM's decisions on this proposal, are 
invited to participate in the scoping process and, if eligible, may 
request or be requested by the BLM to participate as a cooperating 
agency.
    Before including your address, phone number, email 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 may 
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.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1501.7, 43 CFR 1610.2.

Mary Jo Rugwell,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-27191 Filed 10-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-22-P