[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33975-33976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15939]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-030-2001-1310-DB]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Conduct Scoping for the Atlantic Rim Coalbed Methane Project, Carbon 
County, Wyoming; and To Amend the Great Divide Resource Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and to conduct scoping for the Atlantic Rim Coalbed 
Methane Project, Carbon County, Wyoming, and to amend the Great Divide 
Resource Management Plan.

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SUMMARY: Under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
Rawlins Field Office, will direct the preparation of an EIS on the 
potential impacts of a proposed coalbed methane field development 
project. Up to 3,880 coalbed methane wells, with associated facilities, 
could be located within approximately 310,335 acres of Federal, State, 
and private lands during the 20 to 30 year anticipated life of the 
proposed project. The project area is located in southwestern Carbon 
County, Wyoming. The proposed action may be modified as a result of 
comments received during scoping or anytime during the preparation of 
the draft EIS. Concurrently with the preparation of the project EIS, 
the planning requirements for amending the Great Divide Resource 
Management Plan (RMP) will also be conducted because the level of oil 
and gas development under this project proposal is likely to exceed the

[[Page 33976]]

reasonably foreseeable development level analyzed in the EIS for the 
Great Divide RMP. Any needed changes in the reasonably foreseeable 
development scenario will be identified and the Great Divide RMP will 
be amended as necessary.
    In accordance with 43 CFR 3420.1-2, this notice also serves as a 
call for coal and other resource information to solicit indications of 
interest and information on the coal resource, the coal resource 
development potential in the proposed project area, and on other 
resources which may affect or be affected by the proposed project. 
Affected Federal lands are administered by the BLM Rawlins Field 
Office. The EIS will be prepared by a third-party contractor.

DATES: Written comments on the project proposal will be accepted for 30 
days following publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
Future notification of public scoping meetings and other public 
involvement activities or meetings, concerning the proposed project and 
resource management plan amendment, will be provided through public 
notices, news media releases, the Wyoming BLM homepage at 
www.wy.blm.gov, and/or mailings. These notifications will provide at 
least 15 days advance notice of public meetings or gatherings and 30 
days advance notice of written comment requests. At least two scoping 
meetings will be scheduled in the immediate future.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Bureau of Land Management, 
Rawlins Field Office, Brenda Vosika Neuman, Team Leader, 1300 North 
Third Street, P.O. Box 2407, Rawlins, Wyoming 82301, phone (307) 328-
4200, or e-mailed to: [email protected].
    The Scoping Notice will be posted on the Wyoming BLM homepage at 
www.wy.blm.gov. Your response is important and will be considered in 
the environmental analysis process. If you do respond, we shall keep 
you informed of decisions resulting from the analysis. Please note that 
public comments submitted throughout the analysis and resource 
management plan amendment process, including names, e-mail addresses, 
and street addresses of the respondents, will be available for public 
review and disclosure at the above address during regular business 
hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) Monday through Friday, except holidays. 
Individual respondents may request confidentially. If you wish to 
withhold your name, e-mail address, or street address from public 
review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you 
must state this plainly 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 who are 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
made available for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Brenda 
Vosika Neuman, Project Manager, 1300 North Third Street, P.O. Box 2407, 
Rawlins, Wyoming 82301, phone 307-328-4389, e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 24, 2001, The Petroleum Development 
Corporation (PEDCO) notified the Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins 
Field Office, that PEDCO and other operators intend to explore for and 
potentially develop coalbed methane wells in south-central Wyoming. 
Drilling is expected to last approximately 6 to 10 years, with a 20 to 
30 year expected life-of-project. The proposed project area, referred 
to as the Atlantic Rim Coalbed Methane Project Area, is generally 
located in Townships 13-20 North, Ranges 89-92 West, Sixth Principal 
meridian, Carbon County, Wyoming.
    The northern most boundary of the project area begins approximately 
6 miles southwest of Rawlins, Wyoming, and the southern most boundary 
lies approximately 1 mile north of Dixon, Wyoming. The project area is 
approximately 310,335 acres in size. The northern portion of the 
project area is in the checkerboard land pattern area which consists of 
a mixture of Federal, State, and private lands and minerals. In the 
southern portion of the project area, Federal, State and private 
surface overlies a mineral estate in which the vast majority is owned 
by the Federal Government. The Federal land surface and Federally owned 
minerals in the project area are managed by the Rawlins BLM Field 
Office.
    PEDCO and other operators propose to drill a maximum of 3,880 
coalbed methane wells and construct associated facilities, including 
roads, well pads, pipelines, and compressor stations. Information on 
the potential to economically develop coalbed methane is limited in 
most of the project area. Drilling of exploratory coalbed methane wells 
on existing Federal leases will be permitted during the preparation of 
the EIS. A site-specific environmental assessment (EA) will be prepared 
for each individual group of wells referred to as pods. Nine 
exploratory pods have been proposed over the entire project area to 
define the coal structures in the area, to determine if the coal can be 
de-watered to allow for economic development of gas, and to support 
conclusions made in the EIS.
    This EIS will address cumulative impacts and will include 
consideration of affects of other oil and gas projects addressed in 
recently completed EISs for the Mulligan Draw Gas Field Project, the 
Creston/Blue Gap Natural Gas Project, the Continental Divide/Wamsutter 
II Natural Gas Project, the South Baggs Area Natural Gas Development 
Project, and the EIS currently being prepared for the Desolation Flats 
Natural Gas Development Project. Potential issues to be addressed in 
the EIS include, but are not limited to, impacts to wildlife 
populations and their habitats, access road development and 
transportation management, impacts to surface and ground water 
resources including sedimentation/salinity to the Colorado River 
System, impacts from drilling and production activities, reclamation, 
noxious weed control, conflicts with livestock grazing operations, 
protection of cultural and paleontological resources, threatened and 
endangered species, conflicts between mineral development and 
recreational opportunities, and cumulative impacts.

    Dated: June 8, 2001.
Alan R. Pierson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 01-15939 Filed 6-25-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P