[Federal Register: October 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 203)]
[Notices]
[Page 61302-61304]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21oc05-106]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
AGENCY: 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the
[[Page 61303]]
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Pinedale Field Office, announces its
intent to prepare an SEIS on the potential impacts of authorizing year
round natural gas and condensate/oil development activities within the
Pinedale Anticline Oil and Gas and Exploration and Development Project
Area (PAPA). This supplemental environmental impact analysis may be
used to amend the Pinedale Resource Management Plan (1988). The
Pinedale Field Manager is the authorized officer for this project.
DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. The BLM can
best use public input if comments and resources information are
submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice. To provide
the public with an opportunity to review the proposal and project
information, the BLM will host a meeting in Pinedale, Wyoming. The BLM
will notify the public of the meeting date, time, and location at least
15 days prior to the event. Announcement will be made by news release
to the media, individual letter mailings, and posting on the BLM Web
site listed below if it is available.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments or resource information to the
Bureau of Land Management, Pinedale Field Office, Matt Anderson,
Project Manager, 432 East Mill Street, P.O. Box 768, Pinedale, Wyoming
82941. Electronic mail may be sent to: WYMail_PAPA_YRA@blm.gov.
Your response is important and will be considered in the
environmental analysis process. If you do respond, we will keep you
informed of decisions resulting from this analysis. Please note that
public comments and information submitted regarding this project
including names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses of the
respondents will be available for public review and disclosure at the
above address during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may
request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name, address, or
e-mail address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom
of Information Act, you must state this plainly at the beginning of
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent
allowed by the law. All submissions from organizations or businesses,
and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or
officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for
public inspection in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Matt
Anderson, Project Manager, 432 East Mill Street, P.O. Box 768,
Pinedale, Wyoming 82941. Mr. Anderson may also be reached by telephone
at (307) 367-5328, or by sending an electronic message to:
matt_anderson@blm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM completed an FEIS and issued a ROD
for the PAPA in July 2000. The BLM conducted this analysis in response
to oil and gas field development activities on the Pinedale Anticline.
The previous analysis considered three (3) exploration and development
scenarios based on the density of well pad development by aliquot
section, each with its own mitigation. To protect big game crucial
winter range, the FEIS delineated areas within the PAPA where oil and
gas development and its associated human activities would be restricted
during the winter months from November 15 through April 30.
The FEIS and ROD provided that the BLM could grant limited
exceptions to this winter closure period based on conditions at the
time of authorization such as presence of wintering animals or depth of
snow cover. However, each exception was to be made on a case-by-case
basis, annually, and usually with the condition that should winter
conditions prevail, activities would cease.
Starting in winter 2002-2003, the BLM authorized Questar
Exploration and Development Company (Questar) to continue gas
development operations at one well pad within big game crucial winter
range under the condition that Questar cooperate fully with Wyoming
Game and Fish in conducting studies on the impacts of these operations
consistent with the ongoing Sublette Mule Deer Study. In November 2004,
the BLM approved a proposal made by Questar to expand its winter
development activities and continue conducting studies on the impacts
to wildlife (Questar Year-Round Drilling Proposal Environmental
Assessment, November 2004).
Since then, other operators within the Pinedale Anticline have
expressed interest in conducting development activities, including
year-round drilling and completion within big game crucial winter
range, leading to BLM's decision to supplement the PAPA FEIS and ROD.
Description of the Proposed Action
On September 16, 2005, the BLM received from Anschutz Pinedale
Corporation (Anschutz), Shell Exploration and Production Company
(Shell), and Ultra Resources Inc. (Ultra) representing themselves and
other lease holders in the area (collectively referred to as the
Operators), a proposal for year-round access to drill and develop
leaseholds within the PAPA. The Operators propose to conduct year round
drilling and development activities within the PAPA including areas the
State deems to be big game crucial winter range. The PAPA encompasses
approximately 197,345 acres of primarily Federal lands (nearly 80
percent), and State and private land. Approximately 83 percent of the
mineral estate underlying the PAPA is Federally-owned. The Operators
have proposed developing the oil and gas resources from between 400 and
475 pad locations with multiple wells from each pad. The bottom hole
well spacing is proposed at approximately 1 well per 10 acres. The
Operators propose to conduct natural gas drilling and development,
including placement of ancillary facilities such as gas gathering lines
and road construction on a year-round basis. Development is expected to
take 15 to 18 years as proposed with an operational field life of
approximately 50 years.
To develop an entire aliquot section (640 acres) at a bottom hole
spacing of approximately 1 well per 10 acres, the Operators propose to
place one large well pad in a central location where feasible. Where
topographical conditions are limiting, the Operators propose to
construct two well pads per section. The centralized well pads are
estimated to range in size from 10 to 15 acres for a pad with 16 well
bores and 20 to 30 acres for a pad with 64 well bores.
Whenever possible the Operators propose to reuse and expand
existing pads before constructing new pads. Well pads would accommodate
the simultaneous drilling of multiple directional wells and completion
and production operations. Concurrent with the drilling and development
activities, the Operators propose to collect data, monitor, and study
and evaluate the effects of these types of activities during the winter
months (November 15 through April 30) on big game, sage-grouse and
other sage brush obligates and their habitats. This proposal is in
accordance with BLM's multiple-use mandate and the goals and objectives
of the President's National Energy Policy.
Purpose and Need
The purpose of the year-round drilling proposal is to exercise
existing lease rights and expedite production of domestic oil and gas
resources from the PAPA in an efficient and orderly manner and deliver
those resources to the market and consumers. One of the
[[Page 61304]]
identified needs for the EIS at this time is based on the continuing
increase in the United States' demand for natural gas. Year round
development will expedite delivery of trillions of cubic feet of
natural gas and thousands of barrels of oil/condensate to the market.
Identified benefits that may be derived from oil and gas development
also include increased royalty and tax revenue to local, State and
Federal governments and additional opportunities for employment and
economic benefits at the local and regional level. This proposal meets
the goals and objectives of the National Energy Policy.
Anticipated Issues and Management Concerns
Preliminary issues identified at this time include: (1)
Paleontological, archaeological, historic and cultural resources; (2)
wildlife, including big game species (mule deer, antelope, etc.); (3)
Threatened and Endangered plant and animal species; (4) BLM sensitive
species such as the greater sage-grouse; (5) surface and ground water
resources; (6) transportation and road access; (7) vegetation
(including the potential introduction of noxious weeds, short-term re-
vegetation and rehabilitation of disturbed areas, and long-term
establishment and stabilization of perennial vegetation through
recommended reclamation measures); (8) air quality and existing scenic
quality of the landscape; (9) socio-economic impact; and (10) potential
for amendment to the Pinedale Resource Management Plan.
This list of preliminary issues is not final. Identification of
additional issues and/or issue refinement through the public
participation process is anticipated. Comments should address: (1)
Issues to be considered for analysis; (2) reasonable alternatives; and
(3) relevant information for consideration relating to the analysis of
year-round field development in the PAPA. The EIS will consider
comments and other issues/concerns raised during the scoping period in
addition to those issues identified in this notice. The BLM may use the
information collected during the scoping period to: (1) Develop/analyze
appropriate mitigation as Conditions of Approval under which the
proposed development may take place; (2) consider potential reasonable
alternatives to the proposed action; or (3) both.
Consistency With Land Use Plans, NEPA, and Potential Plan Amendments
The Pinedale RMP/EIS revision is currently under development. The
BLM will ensure that its actions with respect to future decisions are
consistent with the applicable laws and regulations. In the event the
decision on this EIS includes an amendment to the existing Pinedale
RMP, the amendment will be based on the following preliminary Planning
Criteria: (1) The plan amendment will recognize the existence of valid
existing rights; (2) lands covered in the RMP amendment will be public
lands, which include federal mineral estate with private surface; (3)
the BLM will use a collaborative and multi-jurisdictional approach,
where possible, to jointly determine the desired future condition of
public lands; (4) the BLM will make all possible attempts to ensure
that its management prescriptions and amended planning actions are as
complementary as possible to other planning jurisdictions, within the
boundaries described by law and policy; (5) the BLM will consider the
management prescriptions on adjoining lands to minimize inconsistent
management and, to the extent possible, BLM will coordinate
inventories, planning, and management programs with other federal,
state, tribal, and local governments and agencies; (6) management
prescriptions will focus on the relative values of resources and not
necessarily the combination of uses that will give the greatest
economic return or economic output; (7) to the extent possible, the BLM
will use current scientific information, research, new technologies and
the results of resource assessments, monitoring and coordination to
determine appropriate local and regional management strategies that
will enhance or recover impaired ecosystems; and (8) the plan amendment
will be completed in compliance with FLPMA, NEPA, and all other
relevant federal laws, executive orders and management policies of the
BLM.
Alternatives
The BLM has identified three preliminary alternatives including the
proposed action:
The no action alternative which would continue to allow
drilling and development subject to winter restrictions.
An alternative that would provide for year-round drilling
and development activities without winter restrictions.
An alternative that would provide for limited year-round
drilling and development activities combined with application of timing
restrictions to only the most critical wildlife habitats.
Site-Specific NEPA
While this EIS is intended to analyze site-specific impacts,
additional site-specific NEPA analysis and/or documentation may be
required before individual activities are approved based on a review of
the specific conditions and any new information on environmental
effects not considered in existing NEPA documentation at the time
activities are proposed.
Alan L. Kesterke,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 05-21170 Filed 10-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P