[Federal Register: October 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 203)]
[Notices]
[Page 61301-61302]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21oc05-104]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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