[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64556-64557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25413]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

[AAK6006201 210A2100DD AOR3030.999900]


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Osage County Oil and 
Gas, Osage County, Oklahoma

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA), as the lead Federal agency, and the Osage Nation, Osage 
Minerals Council, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, have prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement. The Osage County Oil and Gas Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) analyzes the potential impacts 
that future oil and gas development will have on the surface estate and 
subsurface mineral estate in Osage County, Oklahoma. This notice 
announces that the DEIS is available for public review and that the BIA 
will hold a public meeting to receive comments.

DATES: A public meeting will be held at location and time to be 
announced. Notice of the public meeting will be made in local news 
media at least 15 days prior to the meeting. In order for written 
comments on the DEIS to be considered, the BIA must receive them within 
45 days following the date the EPA publishes its Notice of Availability 
in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Information regarding the public comment period and public 
meeting will be posted on the project website: https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/eastern-oklahoma/osage-agency/osage-oil-and-gas-eis. 
Comments on the DEIS may be submitted by any of the following methods:

[ssquf] Email: [email protected]
[ssquf] Fax: (918) 287-5700
[ssquf] Mail or hand delivery: Osage County Oil and Gas EIS, BIA Osage 
Agency, Attn: Superintendent, P.O. Box 1539, Pawhuska, OK 74056

    The DEIS may be examined at the BIA Osage Agency, 813 Grandview 
Avenue, Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The DEIS is also available for review 
online at the project website listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mosby Halterman, Supervisory 
Environmental Specialist, telephone: 918-781-4660; email: 
[email protected]; address: BIA Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, 
PO Box 8002, Muskogee, OK 74402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Osage Allotment Act of 1906 (1906 Act), 
as amended, reserved all rights to the subsurface mineral estate 
underlying Osage County, Oklahoma (Osage Mineral Estate) to the Osage 
Nation. In accordance with the 1906 Act, the Osage Mineral Estate is 
held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Osage Nation. 
All leases, applications for permits to drill, and other site-specific 
permit applications in Osage County are approved under the authority of 
the 1906 Act, as amended, and 25 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 
part 226, Leasing of Osage Reservation Lands for Oil and Gas Mining.
    The purpose of the BIA's action is to administer leasing and 
development of the Osage Mineral Estate in the best interest of the 
Osage Nation, in accordance with the 1906 Act, as amended, balancing 
resource conservation and maximization of oil and gas production in the 
long term. The BIA is required, under more generally applicable 
statutes, to include in the best interest calculation the protection of 
the environment in Osage County to enhance conservation of resources 
and protection of the health and safety of the Osage people. Based on 
these considerations, the BIA's action promotes the maximization of oil 
and gas production from the Osage Mineral Estate in a manner that is 
economic, efficient, and safe; prevents pollution; and is consistent 
with the mandates of Federal law.
    The DEIS analyzes the following four alternatives for managing oil 
and gas development in Osage County:
    [ssquf] Alternative 1, No Action Alternative.
    [ssquf] Alternative 2, Emphasize Oil and Gas Development. Minimize 
the number of permit Conditions of Approval (COAs) to allow producers 
wider latitude in determining the methods by which they will comply 
with applicable laws and regulations, such as the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 and Clean Water Act of 1972.
    [ssquf] Alternative 3, Hybrid Development. A hybrid approach, by 
applying additional protective COAs in sections with low levels of 
historical oil and gas development minimizing the number of COAs in 
sections with high levels of historical oil and gas development. The 
BIA would not approve permits for new ground-disturbing oil and gas 
development activities in certain sensitive areas.
    [ssquf] Alternative 4, Enhanced Resource Protection. Apply 
additional protective COAs in all areas and implement well-spacing 
requirements. The BIA would not approve permits for new ground-
disturbing oil and gas development activities in certain sensitive 
areas.
    The alternatives represent the range of reasonable actions that 
could be taken to satisfy the purpose of and need for the BIA's action. 
All alternatives incorporate measures necessary to address impacts on 
air quality, water resources, cultural resources, public health and 
safety, threatened and endangered species, and socioeconomics among 
other things. Additional alternatives were considered but eliminated 
from detailed analysis.
    The Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal 
Register on July 26, 2013 (78 FR 45266). At that time, analysis of oil 
and gas development in Osage County was to be included in the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM)-BIA Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas (OKT) Joint EIS/
BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP)/BIA Integrated Resource Management 
Plan (IRMP). In response to issues raised during scoping for the OKT 
Joint EIS/BLM RMP/BIA IRMP, and at the request of the Osage Minerals 
Council, the BIA decided that the Osage County Oil and Gas EIS would be 
prepared as a separate document. In November 2015, the BIA published 
the Osage County Oil and Gas DEIS (2015 DEIS). Following the

[[Page 64557]]

comment period on the 2015 DEIS, the BIA determined that a new draft 
EIS needed to be prepared to address comments received and take 
additional information into consideration.
    The Supplemental Notice of Intent to Revise the Osage County Oil 
and Gas EIS was published in the Federal Register on April 11, 2016 (81 
FR 21376). On April 28, 2016, the BIA hosted a public scoping meeting 
in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Key issues identified during scoping included 
potential impacts on visual and aesthetic resources, vegetation, soils, 
rangeland, livestock, fish and wildlife, special status species, human 
health and property, air quality and climate change; promotion of 
economic development; impacts on groundwater and surface water quality 
and quantity; impacts from roads and noise; seismicity; promotion of 
the Osage Mineral Estate; protection of cultural resources; and 
measures that can be taken to minimize adverse impacts from oil and gas 
development.
    Directions for Submitting Comments: The public is encouraged to 
comment on any and all portions of the DEIS. The BIA asks that those 
submitting comments make them as specific as possible with reference to 
chapters, sections, page numbers, and paragraphs in the DEIS. The most 
useful comments are those that include new technical or scientific 
information, identification of data gaps in the impact analysis, and 
technical or scientific rationale for stated opinions or preferences. 
Please include your name, return address, and the caption ``Draft EIS 
Comments, Osage County Oil and Gas EIS'' on the first page of your 
written comments. The BIA will respond to comments in the Final EIS. 
Comments that contain only opinions or preferences will not receive a 
formal response but will be considered as part of the BIA's decision-
making process.
    Public Comment Availability: Written comments, including names and 
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the 
BIA Osage Agency, 813 Grandview Avenue, Pawhuska, Oklahoma, during 
regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except for Federal holidays. Before including your address, telephone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, 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.
    Authority: This notice is published in accordance with Section 
1503.1 of the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500 
et seq.) and the Department of the Interior Regulations (43 CFR part 
46) implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), and in accordance with the authority delegated to the Assistant 
Secretary--Indian Affairs, in Part 209 of the Departmental Manual.

    Dated: November 18, 2019.
Tara Sweeney,
Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2019-25413 Filed 11-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4337-15-P