80 FR 72733 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Previously Issued Oil and Gas Leases in the White River National Forest, CO

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 224 (November 20, 2015)

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado River Valley Field Office (CRVFO), Silt, Colorado, prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) reconsidering previous decisions to issue 65 leases on lands within the White River National Forest (WRNF).

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 224 (Friday, November 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72733-72734]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29717]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCON04000 L16100000.DP000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for Previously Issued Oil and Gas Leases in the White River 
National Forest, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado 
River Valley Field Office (CRVFO), Silt, Colorado, prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) reconsidering previous decisions 
to issue 65 leases on lands within the White River National Forest 
(WRNF).

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Previously Issued Oil and Gas Leases in the 
WRNF Draft EIS within 49 days following the date the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of Availability in the 
Federal Register. The BLM will host four public meetings on the Draft 
EIS from 4 to 7 p.m., at the following locations:
     December 14, Glenwood Springs Community Center, 100 
Wulfson Rd., Glenwood Springs, CO 81601.
     December 15, DeBeque Elementary School, 730 Minter Ave., 
De Beque, CO 81630.
     December 16, Roaring Fork High School, 2270 Hwy. 133, 
Carbondale, CO 81623.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Previously Issued Oil 
and Gas Leases in the WRNF Draft EIS by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/crvfo.html.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 970-876-9090.
     Mail: BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office, Attn: WRNF 
Leases, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, CO 81652.

Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the CRVFO at 
the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Larson, Project Manager, at the 
address above, by telephone at 970-876-9000, or by email at 
[email protected]. You may contact Mr. Larson to request to have your 
name added to our mailing list. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339

[[Page 72734]]

to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS 
is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to leave a message or 
question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during 
normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM developed this Draft EIS to address 
a NEPA defect identified by the IBLA related to the issuance of the oil 
and gas leases on WRNF lands from 1995 to 2004. In 2007, the Interior 
Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) ruled that before including WRNF parcels 
in an oil and gas lease sale, the BLM must either formally adopt NEPA 
analysis completed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) or conduct a NEPA 
analysis of its own (Board of Commissioners of Pitkin County, 173 IBLA 
173 (2007)). The BLM has identified 65 existing leases with effective 
dates ranging from 1995 to 2012 that were leased by the BLM without 
adopting USFS NEPA or without the BLM preparing its own NEPA analysis. 
The most recent USFS decision to make these lands available for oil and 
gas leasing was analyzed in the 1993 WRNF Oil and Gas Leasing EIS, a 
decision that was reaffirmed in the 2002 WRNF Plan. Before offering and 
subsequently issuing the leases at issue in an oil and gas lease sale, 
the BLM obtained concurrence from the USFS; however, as noted above, it 
did not adopt the USFS's NEPA analysis or prepare its own. As a result, 
the BLM has determined additional actions need to be taken to correct 
this defect. Because the BLM has determined that the WRNF NEPA analysis 
conducted is no longer adequate, the BLM is conducting its own NEPA 
analysis through this EIS regarding previous decisions to lease WRNF 
lands for oil and gas development.
    The BLM will determine whether these 65 leases should be cancelled, 
reaffirmed, or modified with additional or different terms. Under a 
separate effort, the WRNF updated its 1993 Oil and Gas Leasing EIS to 
address future oil and gas leasing availability. The USFS released the 
Final EIS and Draft Record of Decision in December 2014. The BLM 
incorporated as much of the new USFS NEPA analysis of future oil and 
gas leasing on WRNF lands as possible into its analysis of existing 
leases.
    Five alternatives are considered in the BLM's Draft EIS. The No 
Action alternative reaffirms the lease stipulations in the 65 leases as 
they were issued; the BLM would take no action by continuing to 
administer the leases with their current stipulations. Alternative 2 
would address inconsistencies by adding stipulations identified in the 
1993 WRNF EIS that were not attached to eight leases. Alternative 3 
would modify the 65 leases to match the stipulations identified for 
future leasing in the 2014 USFS Final EIS Proposed Action. Alternative 
4 is the BLM's Proposed Action. It would modify or cancel the 65 leases 
to match the stipulations and availability decision for future leasing 
identified in the 2014 USFS Draft Record of Decision. In areas the USFS 
identified as open to future leasing, lease stipulations would be 
modified; all or part of 25 existing leases in areas identified as 
closed to future leasing would be cancelled. Alternative 5 would cancel 
all 65 leases.
    The BLM developed this range of alternatives to respond to public 
comments received during public scoping and input from cooperating 
agencies. The BLM held a public scoping period from April 1 to May 16, 
2014, and received more than 32,000 public comments. The BLM held four 
public meetings during the scoping period. Since the end of the public 
scoping period, the BLM worked with cooperating agencies (including the 
EPA; USFS; the Colorado Department of Natural Resources including 
Colorado Parks and Wildlife; Garfield, Mesa, Pitkin, and Rio Blanco 
counties; the Town of Carbondale; the City of Glenwood Springs; the 
Town of New Castle; the Town of Parachute; the City of Rifle; and the 
town of Silt) to prepare the Draft EIS.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses and email addresses of persons who 
submit comments will be available for public review and disclosure at 
the above address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), 
Monday through Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your address, phone number, email 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.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Ruth Welch,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-29717 Filed 11-19-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P