[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 194 (Friday, October 7, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58738-58739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20198]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-090-1310-DB]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Moxa Arch Area Infill Gas Development Project, Lincoln, Sweetwater 
and Uinta Counties, WY

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and to conduct scoping for the Moxa Arch Area Infill 
Gas Development Project (MAIP), Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta 
Counties, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: Under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
Kemmerer Field Office, announces its intent to prepare an EIS on the 
potential impacts of a proposed natural gas development project 
consisting primarily of conventional gas well development, in the Moxa 
Arch area, Wyoming. The proposed additional wells would fill in or 
``infill'' among existing wells drilled and developed under the 
Expanded Moxa Arch Area Natural Gas Development Project EIS and Record 
of Decision (ROD) (1997).
    Drilling is proposed to occur over a 10-year period and the life-
of-project is anticipated to be 40 years. The project area is located 
west of Green River, east of Lyman and Opal, and south of the 
Fontenelle Reservoir.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. The BLM can 
best use

[[Page 58739]]

public input if comments and resources information are submitted within 
30 days of the publication of this notice. To provide the public with 
an opportunity to review the proposal and project information, the BLM 
will host meetings in Evanston, Rock Springs, and Kemmerer, Wyoming, 
during fall 2005. The BLM will notify the public of the meetings' 
dates, times, and locations at least 15 days prior to the event. 
Announcement will be made by news release to the media, individual 
mailings, and posting on the BLM Web site listed below (if available).

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments or resource information to the 
Bureau of Land Management, Kemmerer Field Office, Michele Easley, 
Project Manager, 312 Highway 189 North, Kemmerer, WY 83101. Electronic 
mail may be sent to: [email protected]. Please include ``ATTN: 
Moxa Arch Infill'' in the subject line. Additionally, the scoping 
notice will be posted on the Wyoming BLM NEPA Web page (if available) 
at http://www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/nepadocs.htm. If you are interested in 
viewing material referenced or posted on the BLM Web site, please 
contact the Kemmerer Field Office as to its availability.
    Your input is important and will be considered in the environmental 
analysis process. BLM will keep respondents informed of decisions 
resulting from this analysis. Please note that public comments and 
information submitted regarding this project, including respondents' 
names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses, 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 confidentiality. If you 
wish to withhold any or all personal information 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 the law. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as 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, Michele 
Easley, Project Manager, 312 HWY 189 N, Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101. Ms. 
Easley may also be reached by telephone at (307) 828-4524, or by 
sending an electronic message to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area is generally located within 
Townships 15 through 23 North, Ranges 111 through 113 West, 6th 
Principal Meridian, Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta Counties, Wyoming. 
The project area is bisected by Interstate 80 through its southern 
third. It includes approximately 476,260 acres of mixed Federal, State, 
and private lands in Sweetwater, Lincoln, and Uinta counties. 
Approximately 230,400 acres (48 percent) are managed by the BLM; 31,665 
acres are managed by the Bureau of Reclamation (7 percent); 13,505 are 
owned and managed by the State of Wyoming (3 percent), and 
approximately 200,690 acres (42 percent) are privately owned. The 
Kemmerer Field Office manages the Federal mineral estate underlying the 
BLM-administered lands within the project area.
    The project proponents are EOG Resources and other operators 
(henceforth referred to as the Operators) within the Moxa Arch area. 
Since the issuance of the Expanded Moxa Arch EIS, drilling activities 
have been conducted that have led to the development of about 1,400 
producing gas wells as of February 2005. At that time, the Operators 
submitted to the BLM a proposal to infill drill within the same 
approximately 476,260 acre project area analyzed in the Expanded Moxa 
Arch EIS. The Operators propose to develop over the long term 
approximately 1,860 additional wells.
    The Operators' proposal to conduct infill drilling among the 
existing wells is based on the two zones, the core and the flank, 
described and illustrated in the Expanded Moxa Arch Natural Gas 
Development Project EIS and ROD (1997).
    About 1,400 producing gas wells, with their attendant service roads 
and pipelines, are currently active in the project area. Because of the 
success rate of drilling activities conducted since the issuance of the 
1997 Expanded Moxa Arch Area EIS, the Operators anticipate that infill 
drilling would facilitate the extraction of additional gas resources 
and extend production. The Operators propose to infill drill and 
develop approximately 1,860 additional wells at the rate of about 186 
wells per year over a period of 10 years, or until the resource base is 
fully developed. Of these additional wells, approximately 1,226 will be 
drilled in the proven production or ``core'' area and 635 in the 
remaining ``flank'' area. The anticipated life of each producing well 
is expected to be about 40 years.
    The Operators anticipate drilling infill wells to the Frontier and 
Dakota formations at varying densities ranging from 67 acres to 160 
acres per aliquot section (4 to 10 additional wells/section) in the 
core area and 320 acres per well (2 additional wells/section) in the 
flank area. The proposed wells would be drilled during a 10-year period 
after project approval.
    Approximately 75 percent of the new wells drilled south of the 
northern boundary of Township 20 North may produce ``commingled'' gas 
from both the Frontier and the Dakota formations via a common well 
bore. The use of commingled downholes generally limits overall surface 
disturbance by reducing the need to drill separate wells to distinct 
formations. The total number of wells drilled would depend largely on 
factors outside of the Operators' control, such as production success, 
engineering technology, economics, availability of commodity markets, 
and lease stipulations and restrictions.
    Infrastructure required to support gas production would include 
electric power lines, roads, gas flow lines and pipelines, well pads, 
water injection and evaporation facilities, and gas treatment 
facilities. Gas would be transported through pipelines to centralized 
compression and treatment facilities. Additional compression may be 
required on transportation pipelines to transport produced gas. Limited 
well site compression may be necessary. Produced water would be trucked 
to approved evaporation pits or water injection wells.
    Major issues at this time include potential impacts to: Air 
quality, semi-desert ecosystems and their dependent wildlife species 
(including antelope, sage grouse, and white-tailed prairie dog colonies 
and their associated species); vegetation, including noxious weeds; 
reclamation; and riparian habitat associated with the Black's Fork, 
Hams Fork, and Green River corridors. The EIS and its information may 
be used to amend the Kemmerer RMP. Alternatives identified at this time 
include the proposed action and the no action alternatives.

Alan L. Kesterke,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 05-20198 Filed 10-6-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P