[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-45]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[WY-040-00-1310-EJ]


Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas Exploration and Development 
Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), Sublette County, 
WY

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice: Comment period extension.

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SUMMARY: Notices of Availability (NOA) of the Pinedale Anticline 
Natural Gas Exploration and Development Project Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS) were published in the Federal Register by the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (64 FR 66474) and the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) (64 FR 66194-66195) on November 26, 1999, 
providing 60 days for the public to review and comment on the DEIS. BLM 
is extending that review and comment period 10 days. A letter regarding 
the extension of time has been sent to all parties receiving the DEIS.

DATES: Comments on the DEIS will now be due on February 4, 2000. The 
formal public hearing will still be held at 7 p.m. on January 12, 2000, 
at the Pinedale High School Auditorium, 101 E. Hennick, Pinedale, WY. 
The purpose of the hearing will be to afford the public the opportunity 
to verbalize their comments on the proposed natural gas exploration and 
development DEIS.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the DEIS should be sent to the 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].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Wyoming BLM State Director received 
requests from the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Wyoming Wildlife 
Federation, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the Wyoming Outdoor 
Council for a 30-day extension of time to review and comment on the 
DEIS. After carefully considering the request for extension of the 60-
day public comment period provided for this DEIS, the Wyoming BLM State 
Director decided to extend the comment period for 10 days rather than 
30 days for the following reasons: The Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations, Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1506, require 
that agencies provide at least 45 days for the public to comment on 
DEISs. The 60-day comment period provided already allows the public an 
additional 15 days to review and comment on this DEIS.
    Public comment periods under those regulations commence upon the 
date that EPA publishes a NOA of the draft in the Federal Register. 
EPA's NOA for this DEIS was published on November 26, 1999. BLM mailed 
all copies of the DEIS, and the Technical Report, to interested parties 
on or before November 19, 1999, to insure that they would have the 
document in hand for the full 60-day review and comment period.
    The DEIS, along with the Technical Document, are a substantial 
work, but are comparable to other Wyoming BLM EIS's such as Continental 
Divide/Wamsutter II Natural Gas Project, the Wyodak Coalbed Methane 
Project, and other major statements BLM has prepared. We acknowledge 
that holiday activities and obligations, along with concurrent review 
timeframes of other environmental documents, may affect interested 
parties' ability to review them. However, we do not believe those are 
compelling reasons to extend the comment period more than 10 days.

    Dated: December 28, 1999.
Alan R. Pierson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 00-45 Filed 1-3-00; 8:45 am]
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