[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52362-52363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21184]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLUTG01100-09-L13100000-EJ0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
To Conduct Public Scoping for the Monument Butte Area Oil and Gas 
Development Project, Duchesne and Uintah Counties, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Vernal 
Field Office, Vernal, Utah, will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to study the impacts of various development 
alternatives for oil and natural gas resources in the Monument Butte 
Area. This notice announces the public scoping period.

DATES: A 30-day public scoping period will commence the date this 
notice is published in the Federal Register. Comments on issues, 
potential impacts, or suggestions for alternatives can be submitted in 
writing to the address listed below by September 24, 2010. Public 
meetings will be conducted during the scoping period in Duchesne and 
Vernal, Utah. The date, place, and time will be announced through the 
local news media and the BLM Web site http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/planning.html at least 15 days prior to the meetings.

ADDRESSES: Comments 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) 781-4410.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Wimmer, BLM Project Lead, at 
(435) 781-4400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Vernal Field Office, Vernal, Utah, intends to prepare an EIS and hold a 
public scoping period. The purpose of the public scoping process is to 
determine relevant issues that will influence the scope of the 
environmental analysis and EIS alternatives. You may submit comments in 
writing to the BLM at the public scoping meetings, or you may submit 
them to the BLM using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES 
section above. The public is encouraged to participate during the 
scoping process to help identify issues of concern related to the 
proposed action, determine the depth of the analysis needed for issues 
addressed in the EIS, identify potential mitigation measures, and 
identify reasonable alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS.
    When submitting your comments, please reference the Monument Butte 
EIS for BLM's recordkeeping purposes. 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.
    The Vernal Field Office's Approved Resource Management Plan, RMP, 
(October 2008) directs the management of BLM-administered public lands 
within the analysis area. Implementation of oil and gas development in 
the Monument Butte Project Area would conform to all applicable 
conditions and requirements in the Vernal RMP.
    The project and EIS will encompass approximately 119,830 acres in 
Duchesne and Uintah Counties, Utah. The project is located on lands 
administered by the BLM (103,912 acres), the BIA-Uintah and Ouray 
Agency (36 acres), the State of Utah (12,866 acres), and private 
interests (3,016 acres). Mineral interests are owned by the BLM (89 
percent), the State of Utah (10 percent), and private interests (less 
than 1 percent).
    The Monument Butte oil and gas field has been largely developed. 
The proposed action consists of secondary recovery using waterflood 
methods and deep gas drilling. Waterflood methods involve the injection 
of water through formerly producing or new wells into the oil-producing 
geologic formation. Nearby actively producing wells then extract the 
hydrocarbons through the formation as the water displaces the oil. In 
addition to waterflood plans, some portions of the project area along 
the northwest and southern project boundaries would be subject to step 
out development (expansion away from existing development).
    Integral to the project is the phased installation of a field 
electrification system in the project area to be completed over 
approximately 7 years. Electrical power would then be used to run water 
treatment and injection facilities, centralized tank batteries, 
compressor stations, engines and turbines at the proposed gas 
processing plant, and at most well site facilities to power 
dehydrators, separators, and pump jacks.
    The project includes a total of 5,750 wells consisting of: 750 
vertical oil wells (to be converted to injection wells for waterflood 
recovery), 2,500 directional oil wells, 2,500 vertical deep gas wells, 
238 miles of new access road, 361 miles of upgraded road, 599 miles of 
rights-of-way (some collocated with roads), 20 new compressor stations, 
expansion of 3 existing compressor stations, 8 new and expansion of 6 
existing electric water treatment and injection facilities, 12 new and 
expansion of 2 existing centralized tank batteries, 1 new 50 MMscf/d 
(Million standard cubic feet per day) centralized gas processing plant, 
599 miles of overhead or buried electrical distribution/transmission 
lines for field-wide electrification, 1 freshwater collector well for 
waterflood operations, and 6 new 200-hp water pump stations.
    The following resources have been identified by the Vernal Field 
Office as potentially impacted by the Monument Butte Project: Air 
quality, cultural resources, livestock grazing, paleontological 
resources, recreation, socioeconomics, soil resources, Pariette and 
Lower Green River Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, suitable 
Lower

[[Page 52363]]

Green River Wild and Scenic River segment, wilderness characteristics, 
threatened or endangered plant species, vegetation, visual resources, 
water resources, and wildlife. This is not an all-inclusive list, but 
rather a starting point for public input and a means of identifying 
resource disciplines needed to conduct the analysis.

Juan Palma,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-21184 Filed 8-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P