[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 203 (Friday, October 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61302-61304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21170]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-100-05-1310-DB]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (SEIS) for the Pinedale Anticline Oil and Gas and Exploration 
and Development Project, Sublette County, Wyoming, and Possible 
Amendment to the Pinedale Resource Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to conduct public scoping and prepare an 
SEIS to the Pinedale Anticline Oil and Gas, and Exploration and 
Development Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and 
Record of Decision (ROD), July 2000.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the

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Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Pinedale Field Office, announces its 
intent to prepare an SEIS on the potential impacts of authorizing year 
round natural gas and condensate/oil development activities within the 
Pinedale Anticline Oil and Gas and Exploration and Development Project 
Area (PAPA). This supplemental environmental impact analysis may be 
used to amend the Pinedale Resource Management Plan (1988). The 
Pinedale Field Manager is the authorized officer for this project.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. The BLM can 
best use 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 a meeting in Pinedale, Wyoming. The BLM 
will notify the public of the meeting date, time, and location at least 
15 days prior to the event. Announcement will be made by news release 
to the media, individual letter mailings, and posting on the BLM Web 
site listed below if it is available.

ADDRESSES: Please send written comments or resource information to the 
Bureau of Land Management, Pinedale Field Office, Matt Anderson, 
Project Manager, 432 East Mill Street, P.O. Box 768, Pinedale, Wyoming 
82941. Electronic mail may be sent to: [email protected].
    Your response is important and will be considered in the 
environmental analysis process. If you do respond, we will keep you 
informed of decisions resulting from this analysis. Please note that 
public comments and information submitted regarding this project 
including names, street addresses, and e-mail 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 confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name, address, or 
e-mail 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 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, Matt 
Anderson, Project Manager, 432 East Mill Street, P.O. Box 768, 
Pinedale, Wyoming 82941. Mr. Anderson may also be reached by telephone 
at (307) 367-5328, or by sending an electronic message to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM completed an FEIS and issued a ROD 
for the PAPA in July 2000. The BLM conducted this analysis in response 
to oil and gas field development activities on the Pinedale Anticline. 
The previous analysis considered three (3) exploration and development 
scenarios based on the density of well pad development by aliquot 
section, each with its own mitigation. To protect big game crucial 
winter range, the FEIS delineated areas within the PAPA where oil and 
gas development and its associated human activities would be restricted 
during the winter months from November 15 through April 30.
    The FEIS and ROD provided that the BLM could grant limited 
exceptions to this winter closure period based on conditions at the 
time of authorization such as presence of wintering animals or depth of 
snow cover. However, each exception was to be made on a case-by-case 
basis, annually, and usually with the condition that should winter 
conditions prevail, activities would cease.
    Starting in winter 2002-2003, the BLM authorized Questar 
Exploration and Development Company (Questar) to continue gas 
development operations at one well pad within big game crucial winter 
range under the condition that Questar cooperate fully with Wyoming 
Game and Fish in conducting studies on the impacts of these operations 
consistent with the ongoing Sublette Mule Deer Study. In November 2004, 
the BLM approved a proposal made by Questar to expand its winter 
development activities and continue conducting studies on the impacts 
to wildlife (Questar Year-Round Drilling Proposal Environmental 
Assessment, November 2004).
    Since then, other operators within the Pinedale Anticline have 
expressed interest in conducting development activities, including 
year-round drilling and completion within big game crucial winter 
range, leading to BLM's decision to supplement the PAPA FEIS and ROD.

Description of the Proposed Action

    On September 16, 2005, the BLM received from Anschutz Pinedale 
Corporation (Anschutz), Shell Exploration and Production Company 
(Shell), and Ultra Resources Inc. (Ultra) representing themselves and 
other lease holders in the area (collectively referred to as the 
Operators), a proposal for year-round access to drill and develop 
leaseholds within the PAPA. The Operators propose to conduct year round 
drilling and development activities within the PAPA including areas the 
State deems to be big game crucial winter range. The PAPA encompasses 
approximately 197,345 acres of primarily Federal lands (nearly 80 
percent), and State and private land. Approximately 83 percent of the 
mineral estate underlying the PAPA is Federally-owned. The Operators 
have proposed developing the oil and gas resources from between 400 and 
475 pad locations with multiple wells from each pad. The bottom hole 
well spacing is proposed at approximately 1 well per 10 acres. The 
Operators propose to conduct natural gas drilling and development, 
including placement of ancillary facilities such as gas gathering lines 
and road construction on a year-round basis. Development is expected to 
take 15 to 18 years as proposed with an operational field life of 
approximately 50 years.
    To develop an entire aliquot section (640 acres) at a bottom hole 
spacing of approximately 1 well per 10 acres, the Operators propose to 
place one large well pad in a central location where feasible. Where 
topographical conditions are limiting, the Operators propose to 
construct two well pads per section. The centralized well pads are 
estimated to range in size from 10 to 15 acres for a pad with 16 well 
bores and 20 to 30 acres for a pad with 64 well bores.
    Whenever possible the Operators propose to reuse and expand 
existing pads before constructing new pads. Well pads would accommodate 
the simultaneous drilling of multiple directional wells and completion 
and production operations. Concurrent with the drilling and development 
activities, the Operators propose to collect data, monitor, and study 
and evaluate the effects of these types of activities during the winter 
months (November 15 through April 30) on big game, sage-grouse and 
other sage brush obligates and their habitats. This proposal is in 
accordance with BLM's multiple-use mandate and the goals and objectives 
of the President's National Energy Policy.

Purpose and Need

    The purpose of the year-round drilling proposal is to exercise 
existing lease rights and expedite production of domestic oil and gas 
resources from the PAPA in an efficient and orderly manner and deliver 
those resources to the market and consumers. One of the

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identified needs for the EIS at this time is based on the continuing 
increase in the United States' demand for natural gas. Year round 
development will expedite delivery of trillions of cubic feet of 
natural gas and thousands of barrels of oil/condensate to the market. 
Identified benefits that may be derived from oil and gas development 
also include increased royalty and tax revenue to local, State and 
Federal governments and additional opportunities for employment and 
economic benefits at the local and regional level. This proposal meets 
the goals and objectives of the National Energy Policy.

Anticipated Issues and Management Concerns

    Preliminary issues identified at this time include: (1) 
Paleontological, archaeological, historic and cultural resources; (2) 
wildlife, including big game species (mule deer, antelope, etc.); (3) 
Threatened and Endangered plant and animal species; (4) BLM sensitive 
species such as the greater sage-grouse; (5) surface and ground water 
resources; (6) transportation and road access; (7) vegetation 
(including the potential introduction of noxious weeds, short-term re-
vegetation and rehabilitation of disturbed areas, and long-term 
establishment and stabilization of perennial vegetation through 
recommended reclamation measures); (8) air quality and existing scenic 
quality of the landscape; (9) socio-economic impact; and (10) potential 
for amendment to the Pinedale Resource Management Plan.
    This list of preliminary issues is 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 
year-round field development in the PAPA. 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.

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

    The Pinedale RMP/EIS revision is currently under development. The 
BLM will ensure that its actions with respect to future decisions are 
consistent with the applicable laws and regulations. In the event the 
decision on this EIS includes an amendment to the existing Pinedale 
RMP, the amendment will be based on the following preliminary Planning 
Criteria: (1) The plan amendment will recognize the existence of valid 
existing rights; (2) lands covered in the RMP amendment will be public 
lands, which include federal mineral estate with private surface; (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 
complementary 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 and, 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.

Alternatives

    The BLM has identified three preliminary alternatives including the 
proposed action:
     The no action alternative which would continue to allow 
drilling and development subject to winter restrictions.
     An alternative that would provide for year-round drilling 
and development activities without winter restrictions.
     An alternative that would provide for limited year-round 
drilling and development activities combined with application of timing 
restrictions to only the most critical wildlife habitats.

Site-Specific NEPA

    While this EIS is intended to analyze site-specific impacts, 
additional site-specific NEPA analysis and/or documentation may be 
required before individual activities are approved based on a review of 
the specific conditions and any new information on environmental 
effects not considered in existing NEPA documentation at the time 
activities are proposed.

Alan L. Kesterke,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 05-21170 Filed 10-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P