[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 165 (Friday, August 26, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50399-50401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16953]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-070-1310-00]


Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and to Conduct Public Scoping for the West Tavaputs Natural Gas 
Full Field Development Plan, Carbon and Duchesne Counties, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to conduct public scoping and prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the West Tavaputs Natural Gas 
Full Field Development Plan, Carbon and Duchesne Counties, UT.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Price 
Field Office, Price, Utah, will prepare an EIS on the impacts of 
efficient and orderly development of the natural gas resources in the 
West Tavaputs Plateau area on approximately 137,700 acres of public, 
state, and private lands in Carbon and Duchesne Counties in eastern 
Utah, as well as considering a site-specific development proposal on a 
portion of the West Tavaputs Plateau area. The Price Field Office 
Manager will be the authorized officer for this project.

DATES: A public scoping period of at least 30 days will commence on the 
date this notice is published in the Federal Register. If you have any 
information, data or concerns related to the potential impacts of the 
proposed action, or have suggestions for additional alternatives, or 
have comments on the proposed planning amendment criteria, please 
submit them to the address listed below within 30 days of the date this 
Notice is published, or within 15 days after the last public meeting is 
held. Public open houses and informational meetings will be conducted 
during the scoping period in Price, Roosevelt, and Salt Lake City, 
Utah. Details on these meetings will be publicized in the respective 
city's newspapers at least 15 days prior to their scheduled dates.

ADDRESSES: Written scoping comments should be sent to: Field Manager, 
Bureau of Land Management, Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, 
Price, Utah 84501, ATTN: West Tavaputs Natural Gas Full Field 
Development Plan. Comments, including names and street addresses of 
respondents will be available for public review at the BLM Price Field 
Office and will be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA). They may be published as part of the EIS and 
other related documents. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street address 
from public review and disclosure under the FOIA, 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 or businesses will be made available for public 
inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred O'Ferrall, (435) 636-3607.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Bill Barrett Corporation (BBC), together 
with some other lessees, has submitted a proposal to develop the 
natural gas resources on leased lands under their control in the West 
Tavaputs Plateau area. The BLM has determined that a comprehensive plan 
for full field development of the natural gas resources in the larger 
field area would allow more flexibility. A more comprehensive area 
analysis will reduce the need for redundant future analyses, since the 
analysis of the comprehensive plan would also evaluate the impacts of 
other development proposals on existing lessees in the area and the 
impacts of development on lands not currently under lease. The EIS will 
consider and analyze potential impacts of natural gas development at 
the levels projected by BBC or as refined during the scoping process on 
both leased and unleased lands in the entire West Tavaputs Plateau 
area. This analysis will include a site-specific evaluation of BBC's 
proposal under an appropriate range of alternatives, and will also 
consider mitigation measures as Conditions of Approval under which the 
development may take place.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to consider and determine the conditions 
under which full field development of natural gas resources within the 
West Tavaputs area (an area larger than, but encompassing, BBC's 
``project area'') would be approved. The BLM anticipates analyzing the 
proposed action and also intends to rely on this EIS to evaluate and, 
if appropriate, approve site-specific individual drilling applications 
and right-of-way authorizations, where applicants (such as, BBC) can 
provide sufficiently detailed information for inclusion into this 
process. The development plan proposal includes multiple wells, roads, 
access routes, production facilities, and utilities. The total number 
of wells ultimately drilled for field development depends on many 
factors, such as reservoir properties, production success, per well 
recovery, emergent engineering technologies, economic factors, 
availability of commodity markets, and lease stipulations and 
restrictions.

Site-Specific Project Proposal by BBC and Others

    The project area identified by BBC encompassing approximately 
137,700 acres, is located approximately 25 miles east of Price, Utah 
and 60 miles southwest of Vernal, Utah and is within Carbon and 
Duchesne Counties in Eastern Utah. The full field development area/EIS 
involves approximately 87% BLM-administered lands (119,661 acres); 8% 
State of Utah-administered lands (10,434 acres); and 5% private mineral 
land (7,605 acres). Approximately 98 percent of the BBC proposed 
project is located on the top of the West Tavaputs plateau. The 
remaining area, approximately two percent, is proposed to be located in 
the narrow canyon bottoms of the Nine Mile Canyon region and in 
portions of Jack Canyon and Desolation Canyon Wilderness Study Areas, 
on existing Federal leases with valid existing rights.
    The long-term BBC proposal for full development (along with other 
operators) of their mineral leases includes drilling up to 750 new 
wells (Federal, state and private minerals) on a maximum of 500 surface 
locations over a period of 20 years or until such date as the resource 
base is fully developed. The number of wells drilled each year would 
average about 30, although peak activity in any one year might reach 70 
or more wells. The BBC development proposal contemplates some year-
round drilling which would require applications for one-time exceptions 
and/or waiver of existing lease stipulations imposed to protect 
seasonal range habitat for elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep.
    Preliminary estimates anticipate that the amount of surface 
disturbance will range from two to four thousand acres out of the 
137,700 acre full field development area and that the projected field 
life will be 40 or more years. Directional and other drilling 
techniques are included in BBC's proposal and will also be used, as 
appropriate, throughout the area to keep the number of surface 
locations to the minimum necessary to effectively and efficiently 
recover the hydrocarbon resources (BBC is proposing 750 wells from 500 
surface locations in its project area, assuming 80-acre spacing for 
resource recovery). In addition to the

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well pads, roads, gas flow lines and gathering lines, other required 
infrastructure would include electrical lines, water (and possible 
condensate) lines, water treatment, storage and disposal facilities, 
and gas treatment and compression facilities. Gas and any condensate 
would be transported via pipeline to existing and new centralized 
compression, treatment and sales facilities. Produced water and any gas 
condensates would be transported by truck or pipeline to approved 
sales, treatment or disposal facilities.

Purpose and Need

    The purpose of the proposed development action is to extract and 
recover natural gas from the West Tavaputs plateau area in an efficient 
and orderly manner. The EIS will analyze full field development, BBC's 
proposed action, and reasonable alternatives at the appropriate scope 
(including the no action alternative as well as alternatives involving 
application of mitigation and/or other management protections for other 
resource values and programs). This is in accordance with BLM's 
multiple-use mandate and the goals and objectives of the President's 
National Energy Plan. One of the identified needs for the EIS at this 
time is based on the continuing increase in the United States' demand 
for natural gas. BBC's development proposal indicates that up to 250 
million cubic feet of natural gas per day could be produced to help 
meet the nation's growing need for natural gas. Identified benefits 
that may be derived from the natural gas development also include 
increased royalty and tax revenue to local, State and Federal 
governments, as appropriate, and additional opportunities for 
employment and economic benefits at the local and regional level.

Alternatives

    The EIS will analyze the proposed action, reasonable alternatives 
formulated through the scoping process, and the No Action Alternative 
(in which only the 38 wells presently approved under the West Tavaputs 
Drilling Program EA would be drilled). Some alternatives will consider 
and analyze mitigation and other measures to protect other resources 
and uses that could be imposed as Conditions of Approval under which 
the development may take place. At least one of the alternatives will 
consider the use of Best Management Practices such as: (1) Burying of 
flow lines for transport of water, condensate and gas to centralized 
facilities; (2) requiring extensive interim reclamation of production 
areas; (3) locating facilities and wells in visually acceptable areas 
and painting with colors that blend in with the natural environment; 
(4) minimizing the amount of surface disturbance with the use of 
alternative techniques, such as drilling of multiple wells from the 
same surface location; (5) using existing well locations and other 
techniques designed to reduce the footprint of new and existing oil and 
gas production facilities and infrastructure; and, (6) designing/
constructing all new roads to a safe and appropriate standard to 
accommodate their intended use.

Anticipated Issues and Management Concerns

    Preliminary issues identified at this time include (1) 
archaeological, historic and cultural features including late-19th-
century structures and prehistoric rock art; (2) wildlife, including 
big game species (Mule Deer, Elk, etc.); (3) Threatened and Endangered 
species (Bald Eagle, Mexican Spotted Owl, and several endangered fish 
including Colorado Pikeminnow, Humpback Chub, Bonytail, and Razorback 
Sucker); (4) Utah BLM sensitive species such as the Greater Sage 
Grouse; (5) surface and subsurface watersheds/hydrology; (6) 
transportation and roads, such as the Nine Mile Canyon National 
Backcountry Byway; (7) vegetation (including the potential introduction 
of noxious weeds, short-term re-vegetation and restoration of disturbed 
areas, and long-term establishment and stabilization of perennial 
vegetation through recommended reclamation measures); (8) drilling from 
within the canyon rims and in the narrow canyon bottoms in the region; 
(9) the proposed Nine-Mile Canyon Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern (ACEC); (10) the Jack Canyon Wilderness Study Area and the 
Desolation Canyon Wilderness Study Area; (11) the Green River and its 
potential for designation under the Wild and Scenic River Act; (12) the 
Desolation Canyon National Historic Landmark; (13) air quality and 
visual clarity; (14) recreational opportunities; and (15) existing 
scenic quality of the landscape. Other considerations include FLPMA and 
NEPA in relationship to the existing Price Management Framework Plan, 
as amended, and the proposed Price Resource Management Plan/EIS 
revision. These preliminary issues are not final. Identification of 
additional issues and/or issue refinement through the public 
participation process is anticipated.
    Comments should address: (1) Issues to be considered for analysis; 
(2) reasonable alternatives; and, (3) relevant information for 
consideration relating to the analysis of full field development, BBC's 
proposed development or its potential impacts. The EIS will consider 
comments and other issues/concerns raised during the scoping period in 
addition to those issues identified in this notice. The BLM may use the 
information collected during the scoping period to: (1) Develop/analyze 
appropriate mitigation as Conditions of Approval under which the 
proposed development may take place; (2) consider potential reasonable 
alternatives to the proposed action: or, (3) both.

Existing Development and Prior NEPA Documents in the Plan Area

    Currently, there are 71 natural gas wells, with their attendant 
service roads and facilities, already existing within the project area. 
Of these 37 wells are capable of production and 34 are temporarily 
abandoned or plugged and abandoned. The drilling of 38 new exploration 
wells within the project area and the corresponding production 
infrastructure was previously analyzed in the West Tavaputs Drilling 
Program (EA) (UT-070-2004-28) and approved by a Decision Record and 
Finding of No Significant Impact on July 29, 2004. Construction and 
drilling associated with that exploration project approval is in 
progress. The Stone Cabin 3D Seismic Survey project (EA) (UT-070-2003-
15), now completed, also provided environmental analysis of the impacts 
of seismic exploration activities involving some of the same lands that 
are now proposed for development within the project area.

Consistency With Land Use Plans, NEPA, and Potential Plan Amendments

    The Price Resource Management Plan (RMP) revision/EIS is currently 
under development. The RMP analyzes (at the landscape level) a range of 
levels of use for natural gas development inclusive of the level of 
development as proposed by BBC, and will provide the prerequisite 
landscape level analysis and various resource protections. The BLM will 
ensure that its actions are consistent with the applicable land use 
plan. In the event approval of the Price RMP is unduly delayed, this 
EIS may alternatively serve as an amendment to the existing Management 
Framework Plan. Should such an amendment be necessary it will be based 
on the following preliminary Planning Criteria that have been 
identified to guide resolution of any planning issues that may arise as 
a result of this full field development EIS analysis: (1) The plan 
amendment will recognize the existence of valid existing rights; (2) 
lands

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covered in the RMP amendment will be public lands, which include split 
estate lands, managed by BLM. Decisions in the RMP amendment will be 
made only on lands managed by BLM; (3) the BLM will use a collaborative 
and multi-jurisdictional approach, where possible, to jointly determine 
the desired future condition of public lands; (4) the BLM will make all 
possible attempts to ensure that its management prescriptions and 
amended planning actions are as complimentary as possible to other 
planning jurisdictions, within the boundaries described by law and 
policy; (5) the BLM will consider the management prescriptions on 
adjoining lands to minimize inconsistent management. To the extent 
possible, BLM will coordinate inventories, planning, and management 
programs with other Federal, state, tribal, and local governments and 
agencies; (6) management prescriptions will focus on the relative 
values of resources and not necessarily the combination of uses that 
will give the greatest economic return or economic output; (7) to the 
extent possible, the BLM will use current scientific information, 
research, new technologies and the results of resource assessments, 
monitoring and coordination to determine appropriate local and regional 
management strategies that will enhance or recover impaired ecosystems; 
and (8) the plan amendment will be completed in compliance with FLPMA, 
NEPA, and all other relevant Federal laws, executive orders and 
management policies of the BLM.

Site-Specific NEPA

    While this EIS is intended to analyze site-specific impacts, site-
specific NEPA analysis and documentation must remain adequate and 
detailed enough to identify and support any Conditions of Approval or 
other adaptive management actions justified by future site-specific 
considerations. This is necessary so as to retain BLM's full authority 
at each decision stage to manage its lands in accordance with land use 
plans, prevent unacceptable impacts, and to support appropriate levels 
of protection and/or mitigation against effects on other resource 
values. Accordingly, additional site-specific NEPA analysis may be 
required before individual activities are approved based on a review of 
the specific conditions and the adequacy of the existing NEPA 
documentation at the time activities are proposed.

Patrick Gubbins,
Price Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 05-16953 Filed 8-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DK-P