Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Osage County Oil and Gas, Osage County, Oklahoma, 64556-64557 [2019-25413]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 226 / Friday, November 22, 2019 / Notices
and 33 respondents for fulfillment
reports.
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: 40 hours for applications and
1 hour for fulfillment reports.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 240 hours for
applications and 1,353 hours for
fulfillment reports, totaling 1,593 hours.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain or retain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: One time for
applications, and an average of once
every 9 days per respondent for
fulfillment reports.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: None.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
The authority for this action is the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Dated: November 19, 2019.
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2019–25366 Filed 11–21–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[AAK6006201 210A2100DD
AOR3030.999900]
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for Osage County Oil and Gas, Osage
County, Oklahoma
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
This notice advises the public
that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),
as the lead Federal agency, and the
Osage Nation, Osage Minerals Council,
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), as cooperating agencies, have
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement. The Osage County Oil and
Gas Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) analyzes the potential
impacts that future oil and gas
development will have on the surface
estate and subsurface mineral estate in
Osage County, Oklahoma. This notice
announces that the DEIS is available for
public review and that the BIA will hold
a public meeting to receive comments.
DATES: A public meeting will be held at
location and time to be announced.
Notice of the public meeting will be
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:57 Nov 21, 2019
Jkt 250001
made in local news media at least 15
days prior to the meeting. In order for
written comments on the DEIS to be
considered, the BIA must receive them
within 45 days following the date the
EPA publishes its Notice of Availability
in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Information regarding the
public comment period and public
meeting will be posted on the project
website: https://www.bia.gov/regionaloffices/eastern-oklahoma/osage-agency/
osage-oil-and-gas-eis. Comments on the
DEIS may be submitted by any of the
following methods:
D Email: osagecountyoilandgaseis@
bia.gov
D Fax: (918) 287–5700
D Mail or hand delivery: Osage County
Oil and Gas EIS, BIA Osage Agency,
Attn: Superintendent, P.O. Box 1539,
Pawhuska, OK 74056
The DEIS may be examined at the BIA
Osage Agency, 813 Grandview Avenue,
Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The DEIS is also
available for review online at the project
website listed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Mosby Halterman, Supervisory
Environmental Specialist, telephone:
918–781–4660; email:
mosby.halterman@bia.gov; address: BIA
Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, PO
Box 8002, Muskogee, OK 74402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Osage
Allotment Act of 1906 (1906 Act), as
amended, reserved all rights to the
subsurface mineral estate underlying
Osage County, Oklahoma (Osage
Mineral Estate) to the Osage Nation. In
accordance with the 1906 Act, the Osage
Mineral Estate is held in trust by the
United States for the benefit of the
Osage Nation. All leases, applications
for permits to drill, and other sitespecific permit applications in Osage
County are approved under the
authority of the 1906 Act, as amended,
and 25 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), part 226, Leasing of Osage
Reservation Lands for Oil and Gas
Mining.
The purpose of the BIA’s action is to
administer leasing and development of
the Osage Mineral Estate in the best
interest of the Osage Nation, in
accordance with the 1906 Act, as
amended, balancing resource
conservation and maximization of oil
and gas production in the long term.
The BIA is required, under more
generally applicable statutes, to include
in the best interest calculation the
protection of the environment in Osage
County to enhance conservation of
resources and protection of the health
and safety of the Osage people. Based on
these considerations, the BIA’s action
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
promotes the maximization of oil and
gas production from the Osage Mineral
Estate in a manner that is economic,
efficient, and safe; prevents pollution;
and is consistent with the mandates of
Federal law.
The DEIS analyzes the following four
alternatives for managing oil and gas
development in Osage County:
D Alternative 1, No Action
Alternative.
D Alternative 2, Emphasize Oil and
Gas Development. Minimize the number
of permit Conditions of Approval
(COAs) to allow producers wider
latitude in determining the methods by
which they will comply with applicable
laws and regulations, such as the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 and
Clean Water Act of 1972.
D Alternative 3, Hybrid Development.
A hybrid approach, by applying
additional protective COAs in sections
with low levels of historical oil and gas
development minimizing the number of
COAs in sections with high levels of
historical oil and gas development. The
BIA would not approve permits for new
ground-disturbing oil and gas
development activities in certain
sensitive areas.
D Alternative 4, Enhanced Resource
Protection. Apply additional protective
COAs in all areas and implement wellspacing requirements. The BIA would
not approve permits for new grounddisturbing oil and gas development
activities in certain sensitive areas.
The alternatives represent the range of
reasonable actions that could be taken to
satisfy the purpose of and need for the
BIA’s action. All alternatives
incorporate measures necessary to
address impacts on air quality, water
resources, cultural resources, public
health and safety, threatened and
endangered species, and
socioeconomics among other things.
Additional alternatives were considered
but eliminated from detailed analysis.
The Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS
was published in the Federal Register
on July 26, 2013 (78 FR 45266). At that
time, analysis of oil and gas
development in Osage County was to be
included in the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM)-BIA Oklahoma,
Kansas, and Texas (OKT) Joint EIS/BLM
Resource Management Plan (RMP)/BIA
Integrated Resource Management Plan
(IRMP). In response to issues raised
during scoping for the OKT Joint EIS/
BLM RMP/BIA IRMP, and at the request
of the Osage Minerals Council, the BIA
decided that the Osage County Oil and
Gas EIS would be prepared as a separate
document. In November 2015, the BIA
published the Osage County Oil and Gas
DEIS (2015 DEIS). Following the
E:\FR\FM\22NON1.SGM
22NON1
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 226 / Friday, November 22, 2019 / Notices
comment period on the 2015 DEIS, the
BIA determined that a new draft EIS
needed to be prepared to address
comments received and take additional
information into consideration.
The Supplemental Notice of Intent to
Revise the Osage County Oil and Gas
EIS was published in the Federal
Register on April 11, 2016 (81 FR
21376). On April 28, 2016, the BIA
hosted a public scoping meeting in
Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Key issues
identified during scoping included
potential impacts on visual and
aesthetic resources, vegetation, soils,
rangeland, livestock, fish and wildlife,
special status species, human health
and property, air quality and climate
change; promotion of economic
development; impacts on groundwater
and surface water quality and quantity;
impacts from roads and noise;
seismicity; promotion of the Osage
Mineral Estate; protection of cultural
resources; and measures that can be
taken to minimize adverse impacts from
oil and gas development.
Directions for Submitting Comments:
The public is encouraged to comment
on any and all portions of the DEIS. The
BIA asks that those submitting
comments make them as specific as
possible with reference to chapters,
sections, page numbers, and paragraphs
in the DEIS. The most useful comments
are those that include new technical or
scientific information, identification of
data gaps in the impact analysis, and
technical or scientific rationale for
stated opinions or preferences. Please
include your name, return address, and
the caption ‘‘Draft EIS Comments, Osage
County Oil and Gas EIS’’ on the first
page of your written comments. The BIA
will respond to comments in the Final
EIS. Comments that contain only
opinions or preferences will not receive
a formal response but will be considered
as part of the BIA’s decision-making
process.
Public Comment Availability: Written
comments, including names and
addresses of respondents, will be
available for public review at the BIA
Osage Agency, 813 Grandview Avenue,
Pawhuska, Oklahoma, during regular
business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except for
Federal holidays. Before including your
address, telephone number, email
address, or other personal identifying
information in your comment, 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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:57 Nov 21, 2019
Jkt 250001
review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Authority: This notice is published in
accordance with Section 1503.1 of the
Council on Environmental Quality
regulations (40 CFR 1500 et seq.) and
the Department of the Interior
Regulations (43 CFR part 46)
implementing the procedural
requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.), and in accordance with the
authority delegated to the Assistant
Secretary—Indian Affairs, in Part 209 of
the Departmental Manual.
Dated: November 18, 2019.
Tara Sweeney,
Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2019–25413 Filed 11–21–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLOR932000.L16100000.DP0000.
LXSSH0930000.19X.HAG 19–0118]
Notice of Availability of the San Juan
Islands National Monument Proposed
Resource Management Plan/Final
Environmental Impact Statement
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) has prepared
the San Juan Islands National
Monument Proposed Resource
Management Plan (RMP) and Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
and by this notice is announcing its
availability and the opening of a 30-day
protest period concerning the Proposed
RMP. In accordance with the John D.
Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management,
and Recreation Act of 2019, this notice
also announces the opening of a 60-day
public comment period regarding the
proposed closure of the Monument
(which encompasses scattered parcels
totaling approximately 1,000 acres) to
recreational target shooting (referred to
as ‘‘discharge of firearms’’ in the RMP).
DATES: The BLM planning regulations
state that any person who meets the
conditions as described in the
regulations may protest the BLM’s
Proposed RMP and Final EIS. A person
who meets the conditions and files a
protest must file the protest within 30
days of the date that the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes its Notice
of Availability in the Federal Register.
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
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64557
To ensure that comments on the
proposed target shooting closure will be
considered, the BLM must receive
written comments by January 21, 2020.
ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP and
Final EIS is available on the BLM
ePlanning project website at https://
go.usa.gov/xRphc. Hard copies of the
Proposed RMP/Final EIS are also
available for public inspection at the
BLM Lopez Island Office, 37 Washburn
Place, Lopez Island, Washington 98261;
BLM Spokane District Office, 1103
North Fancher Road, Spokane Valley,
WA 99212; and BLM Oregon/
Washington State Office, 1220 SW 3rd
Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204.
Instructions for filing a protest with
the Director of the BLM regarding the
Proposed RMP may be found online at
www.blm.gov/programs/planning-andnepa/public-participation/filing-a-planprotest and at 43 CFR 1610.5–2.
You may submit comments on the
proposed target shooting closure using
either of the following methods:
Email: blm_or_sanjuanislandsnm@
blm.gov.
Mail: Target Shooting Closure
Comments, Lopez Island BLM Office,
P.O. Box 3, Lopez, WA 98261.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lauren Pidot, Planner, 503–808–6297;
Lopez Island BLM Office, P.O. Box 3,
Lopez, Washington 98261; lpidot@
blm.gov. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to
contact the above individual during
normal business hours. The FRS is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
to leave a message or a question with
the above individual. You will receive
a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM
has prepared the San Juan Islands
National Monument Proposed RMP/
Final EIS to evaluate and revise
potential management strategies for the
San Juan Islands National Monument.
Presidential Proclamation 8947
designated the monument on March 25,
2013. The lands included in the
monument are not now, and have never
been, covered by an RMP. The BLM
currently administers these lands using
a custodial management approach
focused on meeting legal mandates.
The decision area for this planning
process comprises the approximately
1,021 acres of lands administered by the
BLM. The decision area does not
include private lands, State lands, or
Federal lands not administered by the
BLM, with the exception of
approximately 189 acres of land
currently withdrawn to the U.S. Coast
E:\FR\FM\22NON1.SGM
22NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64556-64557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25413]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[AAK6006201 210A2100DD AOR3030.999900]
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Osage County Oil and
Gas, Osage County, Oklahoma
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), as the lead Federal agency, and the Osage Nation, Osage
Minerals Council, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, have prepared a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement. The Osage County Oil and Gas Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) analyzes the potential impacts
that future oil and gas development will have on the surface estate and
subsurface mineral estate in Osage County, Oklahoma. This notice
announces that the DEIS is available for public review and that the BIA
will hold a public meeting to receive comments.
DATES: A public meeting will be held at location and time to be
announced. Notice of the public meeting will be made in local news
media at least 15 days prior to the meeting. In order for written
comments on the DEIS to be considered, the BIA must receive them within
45 days following the date the EPA publishes its Notice of Availability
in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Information regarding the public comment period and public
meeting will be posted on the project website: https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/eastern-oklahoma/osage-agency/osage-oil-and-gas-eis.
Comments on the DEIS may be submitted by any of the following methods:
[ssquf] Email: [email protected]
[ssquf] Fax: (918) 287-5700
[ssquf] Mail or hand delivery: Osage County Oil and Gas EIS, BIA Osage
Agency, Attn: Superintendent, P.O. Box 1539, Pawhuska, OK 74056
The DEIS may be examined at the BIA Osage Agency, 813 Grandview
Avenue, Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The DEIS is also available for review
online at the project website listed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mosby Halterman, Supervisory
Environmental Specialist, telephone: 918-781-4660; email:
[email protected]; address: BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office,
PO Box 8002, Muskogee, OK 74402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Osage Allotment Act of 1906 (1906 Act),
as amended, reserved all rights to the subsurface mineral estate
underlying Osage County, Oklahoma (Osage Mineral Estate) to the Osage
Nation. In accordance with the 1906 Act, the Osage Mineral Estate is
held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Osage Nation.
All leases, applications for permits to drill, and other site-specific
permit applications in Osage County are approved under the authority of
the 1906 Act, as amended, and 25 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),
part 226, Leasing of Osage Reservation Lands for Oil and Gas Mining.
The purpose of the BIA's action is to administer leasing and
development of the Osage Mineral Estate in the best interest of the
Osage Nation, in accordance with the 1906 Act, as amended, balancing
resource conservation and maximization of oil and gas production in the
long term. The BIA is required, under more generally applicable
statutes, to include in the best interest calculation the protection of
the environment in Osage County to enhance conservation of resources
and protection of the health and safety of the Osage people. Based on
these considerations, the BIA's action promotes the maximization of oil
and gas production from the Osage Mineral Estate in a manner that is
economic, efficient, and safe; prevents pollution; and is consistent
with the mandates of Federal law.
The DEIS analyzes the following four alternatives for managing oil
and gas development in Osage County:
[ssquf] Alternative 1, No Action Alternative.
[ssquf] Alternative 2, Emphasize Oil and Gas Development. Minimize
the number of permit Conditions of Approval (COAs) to allow producers
wider latitude in determining the methods by which they will comply
with applicable laws and regulations, such as the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 and Clean Water Act of 1972.
[ssquf] Alternative 3, Hybrid Development. A hybrid approach, by
applying additional protective COAs in sections with low levels of
historical oil and gas development minimizing the number of COAs in
sections with high levels of historical oil and gas development. The
BIA would not approve permits for new ground-disturbing oil and gas
development activities in certain sensitive areas.
[ssquf] Alternative 4, Enhanced Resource Protection. Apply
additional protective COAs in all areas and implement well-spacing
requirements. The BIA would not approve permits for new ground-
disturbing oil and gas development activities in certain sensitive
areas.
The alternatives represent the range of reasonable actions that
could be taken to satisfy the purpose of and need for the BIA's action.
All alternatives incorporate measures necessary to address impacts on
air quality, water resources, cultural resources, public health and
safety, threatened and endangered species, and socioeconomics among
other things. Additional alternatives were considered but eliminated
from detailed analysis.
The Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal
Register on July 26, 2013 (78 FR 45266). At that time, analysis of oil
and gas development in Osage County was to be included in the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM)-BIA Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas (OKT) Joint EIS/
BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP)/BIA Integrated Resource Management
Plan (IRMP). In response to issues raised during scoping for the OKT
Joint EIS/BLM RMP/BIA IRMP, and at the request of the Osage Minerals
Council, the BIA decided that the Osage County Oil and Gas EIS would be
prepared as a separate document. In November 2015, the BIA published
the Osage County Oil and Gas DEIS (2015 DEIS). Following the
[[Page 64557]]
comment period on the 2015 DEIS, the BIA determined that a new draft
EIS needed to be prepared to address comments received and take
additional information into consideration.
The Supplemental Notice of Intent to Revise the Osage County Oil
and Gas EIS was published in the Federal Register on April 11, 2016 (81
FR 21376). On April 28, 2016, the BIA hosted a public scoping meeting
in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Key issues identified during scoping included
potential impacts on visual and aesthetic resources, vegetation, soils,
rangeland, livestock, fish and wildlife, special status species, human
health and property, air quality and climate change; promotion of
economic development; impacts on groundwater and surface water quality
and quantity; impacts from roads and noise; seismicity; promotion of
the Osage Mineral Estate; protection of cultural resources; and
measures that can be taken to minimize adverse impacts from oil and gas
development.
Directions for Submitting Comments: The public is encouraged to
comment on any and all portions of the DEIS. The BIA asks that those
submitting comments make them as specific as possible with reference to
chapters, sections, page numbers, and paragraphs in the DEIS. The most
useful comments are those that include new technical or scientific
information, identification of data gaps in the impact analysis, and
technical or scientific rationale for stated opinions or preferences.
Please include your name, return address, and the caption ``Draft EIS
Comments, Osage County Oil and Gas EIS'' on the first page of your
written comments. The BIA will respond to comments in the Final EIS.
Comments that contain only opinions or preferences will not receive a
formal response but will be considered as part of the BIA's decision-
making process.
Public Comment Availability: Written comments, including names and
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the
BIA Osage Agency, 813 Grandview Avenue, Pawhuska, Oklahoma, during
regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except for Federal holidays. Before including your address, telephone
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, 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.
Authority: This notice is published in accordance with Section
1503.1 of the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500
et seq.) and the Department of the Interior Regulations (43 CFR part
46) implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), and in accordance with the authority delegated to the Assistant
Secretary--Indian Affairs, in Part 209 of the Departmental Manual.
Dated: November 18, 2019.
Tara Sweeney,
Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2019-25413 Filed 11-21-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-15-P
