[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32679-32680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-2921]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-300-9131-PP]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; and U.S. Forest Service, 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and 
the United States Forest Service (USFS) will prepare a joint 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to analyze the 
leasing of BLM- and USFS-administered lands with moderate to high 
potential for geothermal resources in eleven western states and Alaska.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the PEIS. 
The BLM and the USFS will accept written comments on the scope of the 
PEIS postmarked by August 13, 2007, and electronic or faxed comments 
received by August 13, 2007. Public scoping meetings to obtain comments 
for the PEIS will be held in Anchorage, Alaska; Boise, Idaho; Denver, 
Colorado; Missoula, Montana; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Reno, 
Nevada; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Santa Fe, New 
Mexico. Times and locations of the scoping meetings will be announced 
at least 15 days prior to the meetings in the local news media and on 
the project Web site: http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS. Public 
scoping will be open until August 13, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 1-866-625-0707.
     U.S. Mail: Geothermal Programmatic EIS, c/o EMPS Inc., 182 
Howard Street, Suite 110, San Francisco, CA 94105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, including 
information on how to comment, you may contact Jack G. Peterson, Bureau 
of Land Management at 208-373-4048, [email protected], or Tracy 
Parker, Forest Service at 703-605-4796, [email protected] or visit 
the Programmatic EIS Web site at http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM and the USFS will prepare a joint 
PEIS for geothermal leasing on BLM- and USFS-administered lands in the 
western United States (including Alaska) with moderate to high 
potential for geothermal resources. The U.S. Department of Energy plans 
to participate as a cooperating agency in view of its special 
expertise, and may adopt the PEIS to help it more efficiently meet its 
NEPA review obligations. The analysis area includes BLM- and USFS-
administered lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. 
This PEIS will not include congressionally withdrawn lands, Wilderness 
Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, or lands not administered by the BLM or 
the USFS. For more information related to areas in these states with 
potential for geothermal resources see the public Web site: http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS. This Web site will include links to many 
source documents including United States Geological Survey Circular 790 
and the Western Governor's Association Geothermal Task Force Report. 
Source information will continue to be updated and expanded as a result 
of this scoping process. The PEIS will be prepared in accordance with 
applicable Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR 1500-
1508, and applicable BLM and USFS regulations.

[[Page 32680]]

    Geothermal resources are indirectly used to generate electric power 
and directly used for many things such as heating buildings and 
aquaculture. Energy markets are driving increased demand for renewable 
geothermal energy. Advances in the engineering, technology and 
economics of geothermal exploration and improvements in the design and 
development of energy generation facilities have resulted in increased 
interest in areas with geothermal potential. Several recent Federal and 
state actions also are driving the increase in renewable energy 
activity, including geothermal energy leasing, exploration and 
development activity. These actions include the President's National 
Energy Policy; the Western Governors' Association Geothermal Task Force 
Report; and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
    The goal of the PEIS is to examine the potential impacts of 
geothermal leasing on certain lands administered by the BLM and the 
USFS. Completion of the PEIS will improve the efficiency and 
effectiveness of the geothermal leasing and application process on 
Federal lands. The analysis in the PEIS will serve the following two 
purposes.
    (1) Analyze the impacts of leasing in areas that are determined 
through scoping to have reasonable near-term exploration/development 
potential for geothermal resources, including areas for which leasing 
applications have not yet been filed. The PEIS will thereby assist the 
BLM in determining how best to amend, as appropriate, its land use 
plans for these areas, by identifying the potential for geothermal 
development in the areas and determining the areas where geothermal 
development will be considered as an allowable use. The PEIS will 
similarly address USFS-managed lands that have potential for geothermal 
resources and provide the basis for future geothermal leasing 
availability analysis and decisions.
    (2) Enable the BLM to reduce the backlog of lease applications that 
were pending on BLM- and USFS-administered lands as of January 1, 2005 
by at least 90 percent as required by section 225(b)(3) of the Energy 
Policy Act of 2005. This Act gives the BLM until August 8, 2010, to 
achieve this goal. As of January 1, 2005, there were nearly 100 
applications for geothermal leases pending on BLM and USFS lands. The 
PEIS will include the necessary site specific analysis to facilitate 
processing of these pending lease applications by deciding whether 
geothermal leasing is appropriate and under what stipulations they may 
be leased.
    Comments are being solicited so as to determine: (1) The scope of 
this analysis, (2) significant issues or concerns related to the 
proposed actions, and (3) alternatives to the proposed actions.
    The BLM will provide further information at the scoping meetings 
regarding the locations of, and the planning areas and forests that may 
be affected by, the actively pending applications. The purpose of the 
public scoping process is to identify issues that should be addressed 
in the environmental analysis and the scope of the alternatives. You 
may submit comments in writing at any public scoping meeting, or you 
may submit them using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES 
section above. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you 
should be aware that your entire comment--including your personal 
identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time. 
While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

Douglas Burger,
Acting Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection, 
Bureau of Land Management.
Frederick Norbury,
Associate Deputy Chief for National Forest System, U.S. Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 07-2921 Filed 6-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P