[Federal Register: November 7, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 217)]
[Notices]
[Page 66253-66254]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07no08-69]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[MT-020-1310-DT 050E]
Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement to the Montana
Statewide Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed
Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans
(RMPs)
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: By Order of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Montana, dated April 5, 2005, and pursuant to the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 and the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final
Supplement to the Montana Statewide Oil and Gas Environmental Impact
Statement and Proposed Amendment (Proposed SEIS/Amendment) of the
Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans (RMPs).
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed SEIS/Amendment have been sent to
affected federal, state, and local government agencies; to tribal
governments; and to interested parties. Copies of the Proposed SEIS/
Amendment are available for public inspection at the BLM Miles City
Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, Montana; and at the BLM
Montana State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana. You may
also view the Proposed SEIS/Amendment on the Internet at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.blm.gov/eis/mt/milescity_seis/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Bloom, Project Manager, by
telephone at (406) 233-2852; by mail at 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City,
MT 59301; or by e-mail at Mary_Bloom@blm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Powder River and Billings RMP areas
comprise approximately 1.5 million acres of BLM-managed surface and 5
million acres of BLM-managed mineral
[[Page 66254]]
estate. There are approximately 3.2 million acres of BLM-managed oil
and gas. The Powder River RMP area includes Powder River and Treasure
Counties, and portions of Big Horn, Carter, Custer, and Rosebud
Counties. The Billings RMP area includes Carbon, Golden Valley,
Musselshell, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Wheatland, and Yellowstone
Counties and the remaining portion of Big Horn County. The Proposed
SEIS/Amendment supplements the 2003 Montana Statewide Final Oil and Gas
Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Amendment of the Powder
River and Billings Resource Management Plans (Statewide Document).
The Statewide Document was approved on April 30, 2003. Several
lawsuits were filed against the BLM's decisions. Two of the lawsuits
resulted in an April 5, 2005, ruling by the U.S. District Court
ordering the BLM to prepare the SEIS/Amendment to consider a phased
development alternative for coal bed natural gas (CBNG) production in
the Billings and Powder River RMP areas.
Topics addressed in the Proposed SEIS/Amendment include those
provided or recommended by the U.S. District Court: Phased CBNG
development, the inclusion of the proposed Tongue River Railroad in the
cumulative impact analysis, and a discussion on how private water well
mitigation agreements help alleviate the impacts of methane migration
and groundwater drawdown. The Notice of Intent to plan for the Draft
SEIS/Amendment was published in the Federal Register in Volume 70 FR
Number 150, p. 45417, August 5, 2005.
The Draft SEIS/Amendment analyzed three new alternatives (F, G and
H) to consider phased CBNG development. Under Alternative F, the BLM
would limit the number of Federal applications for permit to drill
(APD) approved each year cumulatively and in each fourth-order
watershed. The BLM would also limit the percentage of disturbance
within identified crucial wildlife habitat. Further, the BLM would
place a limit on the volume of untreated water discharged to surface
waters from Federal CBNG wells within each fourth-order watershed.
Under Alternative G, development of CBNG on Federal leases in the
Billings and Powder River RMP areas would be done following the same
management actions as described under Alternative F. However, while the
BLM would limit the number of Federal APDs approved each year
cumulatively, development would be limited to a low range of predicted
wells based on the Statewide Document's Reasonably Foreseeable
Development scenario.
Alternative H, the BLM's preferred alternative, contained three key
components. First, a phased development approach would be implemented
where a CBNG proposal would be reviewed against four filters or screens
to determine if the proposal needed to be modified. Second, this
alternative would include extensive requirements that an operator must
meet when submitting a project Plan of Development (POD). Third,
mitigation measures, and subsequent modifications to existing
operations via adaptive management, would be considered and applied to
each POD, as appropriate.
The 90-day public comment period on the Draft SEIS/Amendment ended
May 2, 2007. During the comment period, the EPA notified the BLM of air
analysis deficiencies in the Draft SEIS/Amendment. As a result, the BLM
prepared a draft supplement to the Draft SEIS/Amendment to demonstrate
that predicted visibility effects in Class I and II areas could be
mitigated. The 90-day public comment period for the additional air
quality analyses ended March 13, 2008.
Public comments on the Draft SEIS/Amendment and supplemental air
analyses were considered in the preparation of the Proposed SEIS/
Amendment. Public comments resulted in changes to the Air Quality and
Wildlife screens in the Draft SEIS/Amendment (Alternative H). The Air
Quality Screen was modified to allow for better monitoring of air
quality. The BLM also received comments on climate change, which have
been addressed in the Proposed SEIS/Amendment. Consideration of climate
change analysis did not result in any additional changes to the Air
Quality Screen. The Wildlife Screen was modified to include population
threshold levels for pronghorn, mule deer, and sage-grouse habitat. If
the BLM management of habitat results in declines in the populations of
these species, based on the established threshold levels, the BLM would
implement mitigation measures to minimize impacts to wildlife habitat
and maintain wildlife populations. The Wildlife Screen was also
modified to include provisions that would allow for the implementation
of protective measures for other species' habitats.
The Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, in the
Department of the Interior is the responsible official for this
proposed plan amendment on public lands. The Federal Land Policy and
Management Act and its implementing regulations provide land use
planning authority to the Secretary, as delegated to the Assistant
Secretary. Because the Record of Decision will be signed by the
Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, it will be the final
decision for the Department of the Interior. This decision is not
subject to administrative review (protest) under the BLM or the
Department of the Interior regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2).
The BLM has initiated activities to coordinate and consult with the
Montana Governor. Prior to the issuance of the Record of Decision and
approval of the proposed land use plan amendment, the Governor will be
given the opportunity to identify any inconsistencies between the
Proposed SEIS/Amendment and state or local plans and to provide
recommendations in writing during the 60-day consistency review period
required by the BLM land use planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.3-2).
Gene R. Terland,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E8-26473 Filed 11-6-08; 8:45 am]