[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12029-12030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5431]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Oil and Gas Management Plan, Final Environmental Impact 
Statement, Padre Island National Seashore, Texas

ACTION: Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement and Oil 
and Gas Management Plan for Padre Island National Seashore, Kenedy, 
Kleberg and Willacy Counties, Texas.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, and the regulations promulgated by the Council on 
Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1505.2), the Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, announces the availability of a Final 
Environmental Impact Statement and Oil and Gas Management Plan (FEIS/
O&GMP) for Padre Island National Seashore, Texas.

DATES: A 30-day no-action period will follow the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's notice of availability of the FEIS/O&GMP.

ADDRESSES: Public reading copies of the FEIS/O&GMP will be available 
for review at the following locations:

Office of the Superintendent, Padre Island National Seashore, 20301 
Park Road 22, Corpus Christi, Texas 78418, Telephone: (361) 949-8173
Minerals/Oil and Gas Program Office, Intermountain Support Office-Santa 
Fe, National Park Service, 1100 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New 
Mexico 87501, Telephone: (505) 988-6095
Planning and Environmental Quality Program Office, Intermountain 
Support Office-Denver, National Park Service, 12795 W. Alameda Parkway, 
Lakewood, Colorado 80228, Telephone: (303) 969-2851
Office of Public Affairs, National Park Service, 18th and C Streets, 
NW, Washington, D.C. 20240, Telephone: (202) 208-6843

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The FEIS/O&GMP analyzes three (3) 
alternatives to manage oil and gas operations in a manner that provides 
for hydrocarbon development, while protecting natural and cultural 
resources, visitor use values, and human health and safety. The plan 
will serve as a guide over the next 15-20 years for directing access 
for

[[Page 12030]]

geophysical exploration, exploratory drilling, production, and 
transportation of nonfederal oil and gas resources in the park. It will 
also provide a greater degree of certainty to operators, since it 
provides up-front information on the location of Sensitive Resource 
Areas and suggests needed mitigation. Current legal and policy 
requirements would be a basis component of any alternative selected. 
Current legal and policy requirements means the application of all 
pertinent federal and state laws, regulations, policies, and direction 
governing oil and gas operations conducted in the park. These include 
NPS regulations at 36 CFR 9B, which require operators to use technology 
and methods least damaging to park resources while ensuring the 
protection of human health and safety.
    Alternative A, Proposed Action, is the agency's Preferred 
Alternative. Under Alternative A, Sensitive Resource Areas (SRAs) would 
be formally designated comprising 68,731 acres or 53 percent of the 
park, in which no surface occupancy or specific restricted access for 
oil and gas operations would be applied. SRAs are areas that are 
particularly sensitive to adverse impacts from oil and gas activities. 
Generally, geophysical (seismic) exploration could be allowed in SRAs 
under current legal and policy requirements. In all other areas of the 
park, oil and gas activities would be permitted under current legal and 
policy requirements. Alternative B, No Action/Current Management, 
describes the current management strategy, and provides a baseline to 
compare Alternatives A and C. Under Alternative B, nonfederal oil and 
gas operations could be permitted in all areas (100 percent) of the 
park by applying current legal and policy requirements. Under 
Alternative B, areas that are particularly susceptible to adverse 
impacts from oil and gas operations would be identified on a case-by-
case basis during development and review of plans of operations, during 
which mitigation measures would be implemented as needed. Under 
Alternative C, Sensitive Resource Areas would be formally designated 
(similar to Alternative A), comprising 68,731 acres or 53 percent of 
the park, and maximum resource protection would be provided these areas 
by applying a ``no surface access'' stipulation within all SRAs. In all 
other areas of the park, oil and gas activities would be permitted by 
applying current legal and policy requirements. Under both Alternatives 
A and C, where surface access is restricted in SRAs, directional 
drilling technology to reach a bottomhole target underneath an SRA from 
a surface location outside an SRA, or to place a pipeline under an SRA 
to avoid surface impacts, would also be permitted.
    The FEIS/O&GMP evaluates the environmental consequences of the 
proposed action and the other alternatives on oil and gas exploration 
and development, air quality, soils and water resources, floodplains, 
vegetation, wetlands, fish and wildlife, threatened and endangered 
species, cultural resources, and visitor experience.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Padre Island National 
Seashore, at the above address and telephone number.

    Dated: February 28, 2000.
John A. King,
Acting Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 00-5431 Filed 3-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M