[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66194-66195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30589]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WY-KP-00-1310-EJ]
Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas Exploration and Development
Project, Sublette County, Wyoming
AGENCY: Lead Agency--Bureau of Land Management, Interior. Cooperating
Agencies--US Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture, US Army
Corps Of Engineers, State of Wyoming.
ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS).
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability
of the Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas Exploration and Development
Project DEIS which evaluates, analyzes, and discloses to the public
direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts from continued
exploration for, and development of, natural gas resources in the
Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA) in Sublette County, Wyoming. The
DEIS analyzes a proposal by the Project operators to drill new
exploration and development wells in their leased acreage within the
PAPA (approximately 197,345 acres) in western Wyoming. The PAPA
operators include Alpine Gas Company, Anschutz Exploration Corporation,
B-P Amoco Production Company, HS Resources, Inc., Jonah Gas Gathering
Company, McMurry Oil Company, Questar Exploration & Production, Ultra
Resources, Inc., Western Gas Resources, Inc., Yates Petroleum
Corporation, and other companies (collectively referred to as the PAPA
Operators). Lands associated with the new drilling program are located
between the town of Pinedale, Wyoming, and the Jonah Natural Gas Field
located 30 miles south of Pinedale, and between the Green River and
Wyoming Highway 191.
DATES: Comments on the DEIS will be accepted for 60 days following the
date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes their
Notice of Availability of this DEIS in the Federal Register. The EPA
notice is anticipated to be published on November 26, 1999. The BLM
asks that those submitting comments on the DEIS make them as specific
as possible. Comments are more helpful if they include suggested
changes, sources, or methodologies. Comments that contain only opinions
or preferences will not receive a formal response. However, they will
be considered and included as part of the BLM decision making process.
A formal public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on January 12, 2000,
at the Pinedale High School Auditorium, 101 E. Hennick, Pinedale,
Wyoming. The purpose of the hearing will be to afford the public the
opportunity to comment on the proposed natural gas exploration and
development DEIS.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the DEIS should be sent to: Bureau of Land
Management, Bill McMahan (Project Coordinator), 280 Highway 191 North,
Rock Springs, WY 82901, or they can be e-mailed to
[email protected]
A copy of the DEIS has been sent to affected Federal, State, and
local government agencies and to those persons who responded to the BLM
that they wished to receive a copy of the DEIS. Copies of the DEIS are
available for public inspection at the following BLM office locations:
Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road,
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009
Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office, Highway 191
North, Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Bureau of Land Management, Pinedale Field Office, 432 East Mill Street,
Pinedale, Wyoming 82941
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS analyzes a proposal by the PAPA
Operators to drill new exploration and development wells in their
leased acreage within the 197,345 acre PAPA. The PAPA is located within
Townships 29 through 33 North, Ranges 107 through 110 West, 6th
Principal Meridian. The area is accessed by U.S. Highway 191 and
Wyoming Highway 351. Access to the interior of the PAPA is provided by
an existing county and BLM road network developed to service homes and
ranches located along the Green and New Fork Rivers, livestock
operations, recreation use, and past and current drilling and
production activities.
Collectively, the Pinedale Anticline Operators' proposal would
provide for the continued exploration for natural gas and, where
discoveries occur, the development of the gas resource by drilling up
to 900 new wells to achieve 700 producing locations over the next 10 to
15 years. Drilling estimates were based on the operators', BLM's, and
State of Wyoming's reasonable expectations that the ``tight-gas''
[[Page 66195]]
formation in this area could be developed at a spacing of one well
every 40 acres or 16 wells per square mile. The DEIS analysis addresses
three critical criteria bearing on how and to what extent development
in the PAPA could proceed. The criteria include: three exploration/
development scenarios which define over what portion of the PAPA (none,
all, or just a portion) development could occur; two levels of
development which define the number of well pads which could be
developed in the next 10 to 15 years; and two mitigation alternatives
which define options for reducing impacts to the environment from
future development activities. Mitigation alternatives are evaluated
based on their application on just Federal lands and minerals, as well
as on all lands and minerals in the PAPA (Federal, State and private).
The PAPA surface ownership is approximately 80 percent Federal, 15
percent private, and 5 percent State. A small infrastructure of roads
and pipelines for natural gas production are already in place within
the PAPA. Additional roads and pipelines would be necessary to link the
new wells with the existing transportation systems.
The PAPA Operators' plans and drilling schedules would be
contingent upon an adequate price for the gas at the wellhead and
anticipated increases in gas consumption in the United States. The
American Gas Association estimates a 40 percent increase by the year
2015.
Potential impacts of concern from the proposed development (not in
priority order) are: sensitive view sheds; economic, social, health,
and safety effects to Pinedale and surrounding communities; livestock
operations; recreation use associated with the Mesa; crucial big game
winter range and antelope migrations; sage grouse and raptor breeding
and nesting; special status plant and wildlife species; soil erosion
and sediment increases to the New Fork and Green Rivers; groundwater
draw down and contamination; Historic Lander Trail condition and view
shed; and cumulative effects.
This DEIS, in compliance with Section 7(c) of the Endangered
Species Act (as amended), includes the Biological Assessment for the
purpose of identifying any endangered, threatened, or proposed species
which are likely to be affected by the proposed action.
A Technical Report Document has also been prepared in conjunction
with the DEIS. It contains detailed technical information regarding air
quality modeling, wildlife habitat modeling, cultural resources, and
potential well pad location adjustments due to surface resource
restrictions. A limited number of the technical report documents are
available upon request or they may be reviewed at the BLM offices
listed above.
Comments, including the names and street addresses of respondents,
will be made available for review by the public at the addresses listed
above during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday
through Friday, except holidays, and will be published as part of the
Final EIS. However, individual respondents may request confidentiality.
If you wish to withhold your name and/or street address from public
review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you
must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment.
Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by 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.
Dated: November 18, 1999.
Alan R. Pierson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 99-30589 Filed 11-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P