[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 166 (Friday, August 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51793-51794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21161]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 166 / Friday, August 25, 2000 / 
Notices  

[[Page 51793]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Bridger-Teton National Forest Oil and Gas Leasing EIS Authorizing 
BLM To Offer Oil and Gas Leases in Management Areas 21,45,71,72. 
Bridger-Teton National Forest, Teton, Sublette and Fremont Counties, WY

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA--Lead Agency; Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) Cooperating Agency.

ACTION: Revised and updated Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: This Federal Register notice revises the Notice of Intent 
published in the January 15, 1998 Federal Register Volume 63, Number 
10. The Bridger-Teton National Forest expects to file the draft EIS 
with the Environmental Protection Agency and make it available for 
public comment in October 2000. In addition to making the leasing 
decision for these four management areas as stated in the January 1998 
Notice of Intent, the Bridger-Teton National Forest will now also re-
visit the availability decision of these management areas that was made 
in the 1990 Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). The 
Bridger-Teton National Forest will consider and analyze the 
environmental effects of leasing and of amending the 1990 Forest Plan 
to remove all or portions of these management areas from availability. 
The analysis will also consider adding restrictions (stipulations) or 
changing current stipulations in the Forest Plan which would require a 
Forest Plan amendment.
    The 1990 Bridger-Teton National Forest and Resource Management Plan 
identified all of Management Areas 21, 45, 71, and 72 as available for 
oil and gas leasing. The Forest Plan did not make the site-specific 
leasing decision for these lands, therefore, the Forest Plan did not 
make an irreversible commitment of resources. The next step in the 
leasing process is to complete a site-specific analysis of the 
Management Areas. The current oil and gas leasing analysis is tiered to 
the oil and gas analysis contained within the Bridger-Teton National 
Forest and Resource Management Plan Final Environmental Impact 
Statement and analyzes resource issues at a smaller scale and 
incorporates any new resource information. The purpose of offering 
Management Areas 21, 45, 71, and 72 is to provide opportunities for 
exploration and development of leasable minerals. A specific objective 
of the 1990 Forest Plan is to ``Provide leasable, locatable, and 
salable mineral exploration and development opportunities'' (see 
Objective 1.1(d), page 113, Bridger-Teton National Forest and Resource 
Management Plan). Additionally, the Federal government's policy for 
minerals resource management is expressed in the Mining and Minerals 
Policy Act of 1970. The Act directs the Forest Service to ``foster and 
encourage private enterprise in the development of economically sound 
and stable industries and in the orderly and economic development of 
domestic resources * * *''
    The Responsible Official is Carole `Kniffy' Hamilton, Forest 
Supervisor, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson, Wyoming. The 
decision to be made is whether or not to authorize the BLM to offer 
specific lands for lease, subject to the Forest Service ensuring that 
correct stipulations are attached to the leases issued by the BLM 
(36CFR228.102(e)) and to consider amending the Bridger-Teton National 
Forest and Resource Management Plan by adding additional stipulations 
and/or changing the availability decision made in the Plan for these 
four management areas or parts thereof. The draft EIS is expected to be 
available for public review in October 2000, with a final EIS estimated 
to be completed in March 2001. The comment period on the draft EIS will 
be 60 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concering the proposed 
action and EIS should be directed to Rick Anderson at the Forest 
Supervisor's Office, Bridger-Teton National Forest, P.O. Box 1888, 
Jackson, WY 83001, phone (307) 739-5558.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When the Bridger-Teton National Forest and 
Resource Management Plan was approved in 1990, it identified, at a 
programmatic level, the lands available for oil and gas leasing. The 
next step in the leasing process is for the Forest Service to perform a 
site-specific leasing analysis tiered to the Forest Plan. The purpose 
of this analysis is to implement the authority granted to the Forest 
Service by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987 
and the implementing regulations (36 CFR 228 E), and to make the 
leasing decision for the specific lands for which interest in leasing 
has been expressed.
    Conducting this analysis and making the necessary determinations 
will include the following steps or determinations:
    (a) Verify that the leasing of these lands is consistent with the 
Forest Plan.
    (b) Determine that the leasing has been adequately addressed in a 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document.
    (c) Determine if further analysis is needed resulting from new 
circumstances or new information.
    (d) Determine which specific lands and under what conditions the 
Forest Service will consent to authorize the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) to offer for lease.
    Conducting an environmental analysis on a proposed leasing action 
is triggered when the BLM receives an Expression of Interest in leasing 
a specific area. This Expression of Interest means an entity has 
identified a block of land that it wants to be offered for leasing. In 
cases where no site-specific analysis has been completed, this action 
requires the Forest Service to complete an analysis of the area to 
determine which of the nominated lands it will consent to be leased and 
to identify under what conditions the oil and gas activities will be 
permitted. The Bridger-Teton National Forest will analyze the entire 
management area for each of the 3 management areas where the nominated 
lands are located (MAs 21, 45, and 72), plus one additional, contiguous 
management area (MA 71).


[[Page 51794]]


    Dated: August 14, 2000.
Carole `Kniffy' Hamilton,
Forest Supervisor, Bridger-Teton National Forest, USDA Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 00-21161 Filed 8-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M