[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6943-6944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3692]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT-029-1310-DS CBMP]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource 
Management Plans (RMPs); Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Miles City and Billings Field 
Offices, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement and amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource 
Management Plans (RMPs); Montana.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
and the National Environmental Policy Act, the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment jointly with the 
State of Montana (State). The BLM's planning area is the oil and gas 
estate administered by BLM in the Powder River and Billings RMP areas. 
The Powder River RMP area encompasses the southeastern portion of 
Montana consisting of Treasure and Powder River counties, and portions 
of Rosebud, Big Horn, Carter, and Custer counties. There are 
approximately 2,522,950 BLM-administered oil and gas acres in the 
Powder River RMP area. The Billings RMP area encompasses the south-
central portion of Montana consisting of Wheatland, Golden Valley, 
Musselshell, Sweet Grass, Stillwater, Yellowstone, and Carbon counties, 
and the remaining portion of Big Horn County. There are approximately 
662,066 BLM-administered oil and gas acres in the Billings RMP area. 
BLM-administered oil and gas acreage in Blaine, Park, and Gallatin 
counties is not part of the BLM planning effort. The State's planning 
area is statewide.

DATES: The 90-day comment period on the Draft EIS and Amendment will 
begin the date the EPA files a notice in the Federal Register 
(anticipated February 15, 2002).

ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments by any one of several methods. 
You may mail or hand-deliver comments to: Bureau of Land Management, 
Mary Bloom, Project Manager, Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen 
Road, Miles City, MT 59301. You may also comment electronically to: 
[email protected]. Your name and return mailing address must 
be included in your electronic message. BLM's practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available 
for public review during regular business hours. If you wish to 
withhold your name 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 and businesses and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses will be available for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Bloom, Coal Bed Methane Project 
Manager, Bureau of Land Management, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT 
59301, (406) 233-3649.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft EIS and Amendment project is a 
joint effort between the BLM and the State. It is being prepared to 
analyze impacts to lands and resources as a result of proposed oil and 
gas development, primarily coal bed methane. The current Powder River 
and Billings RMPs, as amended by BLM's 1994 ``Oil and Gas Amendment of 
the Billings, Powder River, and South Dakota RMPs'', support limited 
conventional oil and gas development and limited coal bed methane 
exploration and production. About 9,500 conventional oil and gas wells 
(all ownership categories) are located in the planning area. An October 
18, 2000 meeting of the Coal Bed Methane Coordination Group indicated 
that industry projects an interest in drilling approximately 10,000 
coal bed methane wells in the Montana portion of the Powder River Basin 
over the next 10 years, in addition to an unspecified number of 
conventional oil and gas wells.
    The Draft EIS and Amendment is being prepared to analyze this 
increased interest in oil and gas activity. Five alternative management 
scenarios developed by BLM and the State present a range of feasible 
management actions to address the issues: Alternative A--existing 
management (No Action); Alternative B--emphasize soil, water, air, 
vegetation, wildlife, and cultural resources protection; Alternative 
C--emphasize coal bed methane development; Alternative D--encourage 
coal bed methane exploration and development while maintaining existing 
land uses; and Alternative E--the BLM and State Preferred Alternative, 
which combines features of Alternatives A

[[Page 6944]]

through D and manages development of CBM in an environmentally sound 
manner. The Draft EIS discloses the environmental consequences of each 
alternative.
    A copy of the Draft EIS and Amendment has been sent to all 
individuals, agencies, and groups who have expressed interest or as 
required by regulation or policy. Copies are also available upon 
request from the BLM at the address listed above.

Public Participation

    There has been continual public participation throughout the EIS 
process. A Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on December 19, 2000, initiating a 30-day public 
scoping period. The scoping period closed January 31, 2001, after a 
two-week extension. Public scoping meetings were held at Broadus, Miles 
City, Ashland, Billings, and Helena, Montana from January 4 through 
January 11, 2001. A brochure was mailed May, 2001 updating the public 
on the status of the Draft EIS and Amendment.
    Four designated cooperating agencies are also helping BLM and the 
State prepare the EIS: The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States 
Department of Energy, the Crow Tribe, and the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe declined 
to become a cooperating agency, but has been invited by BLM to 
participate in all cooperating agency activities. Consultation with 
both the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes has taken place throughout 
the process to gather their input and concerns. Consultation with FWS 
has been initiated, and the BLM has also met with individuals from the 
general public, special interest groups, industry, and local 
governments upon their request. The Coal Bed Methane Coordination 
Group, whose purpose is to share information on coal bed methane, 
consists of representatives from local governments, special interest 
groups, the tribes, other federal agencies, industry, ranchers, and the 
State. The group has shared its concerns with BLM and remains updated 
on the EIS. In addition, the State has held monthly coordination calls 
with the BLM and with the public invited to listen in.
    The BLM and the State will conduct public hearings across Montana 
(anticipated in April 2002) on the Draft EIS and Amendment. The time 
and locations of the hearings will be announced in local news releases.
    To help BLM identify and consider issues and concerns on the 
alternatives, comments on the Draft EIS and Amendment should be as 
specific as possible; for example, comments should refer to specific 
pages or chapters in the document. After the comment period ends, all 
comments will be analyzed and considered by the BLM in preparing the 
Final EIS.

    Dated: January 11, 2002.
Fred Wambolt,
Acting Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-3692 Filed 2-13-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P