[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 3 (Friday, January 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-25578]



[[Page 880]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-080-2003-0369V]


Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Greater Deadman Bench Region, Uintah County, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the Greater Deadman Bench Region, Uintah County, 
Utah.

DATES: The 30-day public availability period will begin on the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. To assure that public 
comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments on 
the FEIS on or before the end of the comment period at the address 
listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Howard, Project Manager, BLM 
Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078. Ms. Howard 
may also be reached at 435-781-4400.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FEIS may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Vernal Field Office, 170 
South 500 East, Vernal, Utah 84078.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (435) 781-4480.

Please reference the QEP GDBR when submitting your comments. Comments 
and information submitted on the FEIS for the Greater Deadman Bench 
Region, Uintah County, Utah, including names, e-mail addresses, and 
street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at 
the Vernal Field Office address listed above. The BLM will not accept 
anonymous comments. 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. 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Greater Deadman Bench Region involves 
approximately 98,785 acres located in Townships 6-8 South, Ranges 21-25 
East, Salt Lake Base Meridian, about 20 miles south of Vernal, in 
Uintah County, Utah.
    Approximately 83,860 acres (85%) of surface and mineral estate are 
administered by the BLM; approximately 11,440 acres (12%) are 
administered by the State of Utah's School and Institutional Trust 
Lands Administration (SITLA); and the remaining 3,470 acres (4%) 
consist of various privately owned surface and mineral estate lands.
    The Greater Deadman Bench Region encompasses an already developed 
oil and gas field. At the time of the initiation of the EIS process (in 
2003), the Greater Deadman Bench Region contained approximately 278 
existing oil or water-injection wells, and 300 gas wells. Also, about 
57 miles of primary roads and 314 miles of secondary roads have been 
constructed within the region.
    A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on December 19, 2003, which announced the beginning of 
the scoping period. Eleven scoping letters were received from agencies, 
organizations, and individuals during the scoping period. The scoping 
comments were taken into account during the drafting of the EIS. A 
summary of the scoping comments can be found in section 1.6 of the 
FEIS.
    A NOA for the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on 
February 10, 2006. During the public comment period seven comment 
letters were received from various agencies and organizations. Comments 
received on the Draft EIS, and the responses to those comments, are 
found in Chapter 6 of the FEIS.
    The FEIS analyzes the effects of a natural gas and oil development 
scenario within the Greater Deadman Bench Region that is conceptual in 
nature. The final location of well pads, roads, and pipelines would be 
determined through future site-specific assessments required for each 
facility. Questar Exploration Production (QEP) proposes to drill 1,239 
wells at the rate of 100-120 wells per year over a period of 10 years, 
or until the resource base is fully developed. Of this total number, 
891 wells would be drilled at new locations and 348 wells would be 
drilled from existing well pads. Any additional environmental analyses 
will tier to this EIS.
    The FEIS analyzes the impacts of the Proposed Action and the No 
Action Alternative. The following is a summary of the alternatives:
    Alternative A--Proposed Action (BLM's preferred alternative): Up to 
1,020 natural gas and 219 oil wells would be drilled. About 170 miles 
of new roads and 235 miles of pipelines, 31 miles of power lines, 22 
new central tank facilities and 15 new gas compressor stations would be 
constructed to support this proposed development. In all, approximately 
4,561 acres, or 5% of the total project area, would be disturbed by the 
proposal. The Proposed Action incorporates standard operating 
procedures and applicant-committed best management practices currently 
employed on BLM-administered public lands in the Uinta Basin that 
mitigate impacts to the environment.
    Alternative B--No Action: Oil and gas development on Federal lands 
under Alternative A would not be implemented. However some level of 
development would continue to occur under Applications for Permits to 
Drill (APDs) previously approved by the BLM based upon other NEPA 
documents. An additional 130 wells would be located on land managed by 
the State of Utah and private leases.
    Eight additional alternatives were considered but eliminated from 
detailed analysis. These alternatives included: No development, 
suspension of operations, exchange of leases, full-field directional 
drilling, conventional oil and gas plan development, Best Management 
Practices (BMP), phased development, and minimum setback distances. 
These alternatives were eliminated from detailed analysis because of 
technical or economical reasons, because of their resource impact, or 
because they did not meet the purpose and need of BLM's proposed 
action.
    Copies of the FEIS for the Greater Deadman Bench Region have been 
sent to Federal, State, and local government agencies, and to parties 
who commented during the public comment period.

Howard Cleavinger,
Acting Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. E7-25578 Filed 1-3-08; 8:45 am]
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