[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 22 (Friday, February 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5081-5082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1694]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT-029-1310-DS 050E]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplement to the Statewide 
Oil and Gas Final Environmental Impact Statement and Amendment of the 
Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans (RMPs), Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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

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 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321), as 
amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft 
Supplement to the Statewide Oil and Gas Final Environmental Impact 
Statement and will amend the Powder River and Billings RMPs (Draft 
SEIS/Amendment).

DATES: The 90-day public comment period will begin the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes their Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. Tentative public meetings to 
gather comments on the draft will be held in Montana at the following 
locations: Billings, March 26, 2007; Hardin, March 27, 2007; Lame Deer, 
March 28, 2007; Broadus, March 29, 2007; and Miles City, March 30, 
2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(your name and mailing address must be submitted as part of your 
comments):
     Web Site: http://www.blm.gov/eis/mt/milescity_seis/.
     Fax: (406) 233-2921.
     Mail: CBNG Draft SEIS Comments, Bureau of Land Management, 
P.O. Box 219, Miles City, Montana 59301 or deliver to 111 Garryowen 
Road, Miles City, Montana.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Bloom, Project Manager, BLM, 
(406) 233-2852.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Powder River and Billings RMP areas 
comprise 1,506,011 acres of BLM managed surface and 5,009,784 acres of 
BLM managed mineral estate. There are 3,185,016 acres of BLM managed 
oil and gas. The Powder River RMP area includes Powder River and 
Treasure Counties; and portions of Big Horn, Carter, 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. This Draft SEIS 
is supplementing the 2003 Statewide Oil and Gas Final Environmental 
Impact Statement and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings RMPs 
(Statewide Document). The Notice of Availability was published in the 
Federal Register on January 17, 2003, and the Record of Decision was 
approved on April 30, 2003. Several lawsuits were filed against the BLM 
decision immediately following the publication of the Record of 
Decision. Two of the lawsuits resulted in an April 5, 2005, ruling by 
the U.S. District Court ordering the BLM to prepare a Supplemental EIS 
to consider a phased development alternative for coal bed natural gas 
(CBNG) production in the Billings and Powder River RMP areas of 
Montana. Topics addressed in the Draft SEIS/Amendment include those 
provided or recommended 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 help alleviate the impacts of methane migration 
and groundwater drawdown. The BLM published the Notice of Intent to 
plan for the SEIS/Amendment in the Federal Register on

[[Page 5082]]

August 5, 2005. A 30-day scoping period was held to help the BLM define 
``phased development'' and to identify relevant issues that should be 
considered and analyzed in the Draft SEIS/Amendment. The Draft SEIS/
Amendment has been prepared by an interdisciplinary team of specialists 
with expertise in archeology, air quality, economics, fisheries, 
geology, hydrology, minerals, paleontology, recreation, sociology, 
soils, vegetation and wildlife. Three new alternatives have been 
analyzed in the Draft SEIS/Amendment to consider phased development. 
Under Alternative F, the BLM would limit the number of federal 
applications for permit to drill (APD) approved each year cumulatively 
and in each fourth order watershed. The BLM would also limit the 
percentage of disturbance within identified crucial sagebrush habitat. 
Finally, the BLM would place a limit on the volume of untreated water 
discharged to surface waters from federal CBNG wells within each fourth 
order watershed. Under Alternative G, development of CBNG on federal 
leases in the Billings and Powder River RMP areas would be done 
following the same management actions as described under Alternative F. 
However, while BLM would limit the number of federal APDs approved each 
year cumulatively, development would be limited to a low range of 
predicted wells (6,470) from the Statewide Document Reasonably 
Foreseeable Development scenario. Alternative H, the BLM's preferred 
alternative, has three key components. First, a phased development 
approach would be implemented where CBNG proposals would be reviewed 
against four filters or screens to determine if the proposal needs to 
be modified. Second, this alternative would include extensive 
requirements that an operator must meet when submitting a Plan of 
Development (POD). Third, mitigation measures and subsequent 
modifications to existing operations via adaptive management would be 
considered and applied to each POD, as appropriate.
    Comments and information submitted on the Draft SEIS/Amendment, 
including names, email addresses, and street addresses of respondents, 
will be available for public review and disclosure at the above 
address. The BLM will not accept anonymous comments. Individuals may 
request confidentiality. Individuals who wish to withhold their names 
or addresses 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.

Donald S. Smurthwaite,
Acting State Director.
 [FR Doc. E7-1694 Filed 2-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P