[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 150 (Friday, August 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 45417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15189]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT-020-05-1310-DO-CBMP]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplement to the Statewide Oil and 
Gas Final Environmental Impact Statement and Amendment of the Powder 
River and Billings Resource Management Plans; MT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Supplement to the Montana 
Statewide Oil and Gas Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 
Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans 
(Statewide Document) and to initiate public scoping.

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SUMMARY: By Order of the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Montana, pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
and 43 CFR 1610.2(c) for amending resource management plans (RMPs), and 
in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321), as amended, and the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) is preparing a Supplement to the Statewide Document (SEIS/
Amendment) and will amend the Powder River and Billings RMPs. The SEIS/
Amendment will evaluate the effects of phased coal bed natural gas 
(CBNG) development and production in the Billings and Powder River RMP 
areas. The tentative completion date of the Record of Decision for the 
SEIS/Amendment is December 2006.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the SEIS/Amendment and the 
proposed planning criteria may be submitted for 30 days from the date 
of this notice. Public scoping meetings will be held in Miles City, 
Broadus, Lame Deer and Billings, Montana. Meeting locations and dates 
for each town will be announced through the local news media.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods. 
Written comments must be signed.
    Mail: BLM, Attn: Mary Bloom, SEIS/Amendment Comments, 111 Garryowen 
Road, Miles City, MT 59301.
    E-mail: [email protected].
    Fax: (406) 233-2921.
    Hand-Deliver: Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles 
City, Montana.
    Comments may also be submitted to the BLM at the public scoping 
meetings. Documents pertinent to the SEIS/Amendment may be examined at 
the Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT. 
Proposed planning criteria may be obtained by contacting the BLM at the 
above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Mary Bloom, Project Manager, BLM, 
Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT 59301, 
telephone (406) 233-2852.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Powder River and Billings RMP areas 
comprise approximately 1,506,011 acres of BLM managed surface and 
5,009,784 acres of BLM managed mineral estate. There are approximately 
3,185,016 acres of BLM managed oil and gas.
    The Powder River RMP area includes Powder River, Carter, and 
Treasure counties; and portions of Big Horn, Custer, and Rosebud 
counties. The Billings RMP area includes Carbon, Golden Valley, 
Musselshell, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Wheatland, and Yellowstone 
counties; and the remaining portion of Big Horn County.
    BLM published the original Notice of Intent for the Montana 
Statewide Oil and Gas Final EIS and Amendment of the Powder River and 
Billings RMPs in the Federal Register on December 19, 2000. The 
Statewide Document Notice of Availability was published in the Federal 
Register on January 17, 2003, and the Record of Decision approved on 
April 30, 2003. The State of Montana and BLM were co-leads for the 
Statewide Document. Several lawsuits were filed immediately against the 
BLM decision. Two of the lawsuits resulted in an April 5, 2005 ruling 
by the U.S. District Court ordering BLM to prepare a Supplemental EIS 
to consider a phased development alternative for CBNG production in the 
Billings and Powder River RMP Areas of Montana.
    Topics to be addressed in the SEIS/Amendment are those provided by 
the U.S. District Court: Phased CBNG development, the inclusion of the 
proposed Tongue River Railroad in the cumulative impact analysis, and a 
discussion on how private water well mitigation agreements will help 
alleviate the impacts of methane migration and groundwater drawdown. 
The purpose of the public scoping period is to help BLM define ``phased 
development'' and to identify relevant issues that should be considered 
and analyzed in the SEIS/Amendment, in addition to those mentioned 
above.
    The SEIS/Amendment will be prepared by an interdisciplinary team of 
specialists for recreation, fisheries, economics, sociology, 
archeology, air quality, wildlife, realty, minerals and range 
management.
    Please note that comments and information submitted regarding this 
SEIS/Amendment, including names, e-mail addresses and street addresses 
of respondents, will be available for public review and disclosure at 
the above address. BLM will not accept anonymous comments. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. Individuals who wish to 
withhold their name or street address from public review or from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act must state this 
prominently at the beginning of their written comments. 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.

    Dated: July 27, 2005.
David McIlnay,
Field Manager, BLM Miles City, Montana Field Office.
[FR Doc. 05-15189 Filed 8-4-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P