83 FR 3767 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Converse County Oil and Gas Project, Converse County, Wyoming

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 18 (January 26, 2018)

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as the lead Federal agency, and the United States Forest Service (USFS), participating as a cooperating agency, have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) that evaluates, analyzes, and discloses to the public direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of a proposal to develop oil and natural gas in Converse County, Wyoming. This notice announces a 45-day public comment period to meet the requirements of NEPA and section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3767-3768]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01320]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWYP06000.LL13100000.DB0000.17X]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Converse County Oil and Gas Project, Converse County, 
Wyoming

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as the 
lead Federal agency, and the United States Forest Service (USFS), 
participating as a cooperating agency, have prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) that evaluates, analyzes, 
and discloses to the public direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental impacts of a proposal to develop oil and natural gas in 
Converse County, Wyoming. This notice announces a 45-day public comment 
period to meet the requirements of NEPA and section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Converse County Oil and Gas Project Draft EIS 
within 45 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM 
will announce future meetings and any other public involvement 
activities at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media 
releases, mailings, and/or at the BLM website http://bit.ly/2oxHxeq.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Converse County Oil and Gas Project may be 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Website: http://bit.ly/2oxHxeq.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 307-261-7587.
     Mail or hand delivery: Converse County Oil and Gas Project 
EIS, BLM Casper Field Office, Attn: Mike Robinson, Project Manager, 
2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, WY 82604.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the 
following offices:
     BLM Casper Field Office, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, WY 
82604;
     USFS Douglas Ranger District Office, 2250 East Richards 
Street, Douglas, WY 82633; and
     BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, 
WY 82009.

Interested persons may also view the documents online at: http://bit.ly/2oxHxeq.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Robinson, Project Manager, 
telephone: 307-261-7520; address: 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, WY 
82604; email: [email protected]. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay 
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above person during 
normal business hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a 
week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An Operator Group (OG) comprised of Anadarko 
Petroleum Company, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Devon Energy, EOG 
Resources, Inc., and SM Energy, proposes to develop oil and gas leases 
within the Converse County Project Area (CCPA) in Converse County, 
Wyoming.
    The CCPA encompasses approximately 1.5 million acres of land, of 
which approximately 88,466 surface acres (6 percent of the CCPA) are 
public lands administered by the BLM and approximately 63,911 surface 
acres (4 percent of the CCPA) are administered by the USFS. The 
remaining surface estate consists of approximately 101,012 surface 
acres (7 percent) administered by the State of Wyoming and 
approximately 1,247,477 surface acres (83 percent) that are privately 
owned. The BLM administers approximately 964,525 acres of mineral 
estate (64 percent) within the CCPA. Split estate lands, lands with 
private surface and Federal mineral ownership, comprise approximately 
812,189 acres of those 964,525 acres (54 percent of the 64 percent) of 
the Federal mineral ownership of land within the CCPA.
    The Draft EIS describes and analyzes the impacts of the OG's 
Proposed Action (Alternative B) and two alternatives, the No Action 
Alternative (Alternative A) and Alterative C. Additional alternatives 
were considered, but eliminated from detailed analysis. All 
alternatives incorporate best management practices

[[Page 3768]]

for oil and gas development and other measures necessary to address 
impacts to air quality, cultural resources, historic trails, public 
safety, recreational opportunities, threatened and endangered species, 
socioeconomic, transportation, vegetation, visual resources, water, 
wildlife habitats including Greater Sage-grouse and Greater Sage-grouse 
Priority Habitat Management Areas, and other relevant issues. The 
following is a summary of the alternatives:
    1. Alternative A: The No Action Alternative assumes that approval 
of the OG's proposed Project would be denied and new drilling would 
continue under approval of the appropriate permitting agency.
    2. Alternative B: The Proposed Action Alternative, which is also 
the Agency Preferred Alternative, consists of the OG's proposal to 
explore and develop potentially productive subsurface formations 
underlying the CCPA by drilling up to approximately 5,000 oil and 
natural gas wells on 1,500 single and multi-well pads within the CCPA 
over a period of 10 years. The production life of each well is 
estimated to be approximately 30 years. The OG would develop the CCPA 
using directional, vertical, horizontal, and other drilling techniques, 
as well as to develop infrastructure to support oil and gas production 
in the CCPA, including: Well pads, roads, pipelines, power lines, 
compressor stations, electrical substations, and ancillary facilities 
such as water supply wells and water disposal facilities. The total 
estimated new surface disturbance for development under Alternative B 
would be approximately 52,667 acres. This alternative includes 
requesting full-season exceptions, excluding USFS Administered lands 
(i.e. year-round drilling), to multiple timing limitation stipulations 
which serve to protect several wildlife species in the project area.
    3. Alternative C: This alternative would reduce the surface 
disturbance and related impacts from oil and gas development based on 
assumptions that a higher average number of wells would be drilled from 
each pad. Specifically, 55 percent of well pads in the CCPA would have 
up to 4 wells, 35 percent of well pads in the CCPA would have 5 to 8 
wells, and 10 percent of well pads in the CCPA would have 9 to 16 
wells. This would provide for drilling the same number of wells (5,000) 
under the same drilling rate (500 wells per year) as Alternative B. 
Furthermore, this would reduce the total number of well pads to 938, 
which would reduce the miles of access roads, gas gathering pipelines, 
water pipelines, and overhead electrical lines needed, as well as the 
acreage encumbered by the proposed project. The total estimated new 
surface disturbance for development under Alternative C would be 
approximately 37,267 acres. This alternative would require that 
multiple timing stipulations be applied as outlined in the BLM RMP and 
the USFS LRMP, thus not allowing for year-round drilling.
    The BLM NEPA Handbook (H-1790-1) calls for expression of the BLM's 
preferred alternative in the Draft EIS if one exists (BLM 2008c). The 
BLM selected Alternative B, the Proposed Action, as a preferred 
alternative for the Converse County Oil and Gas Development Project. 
The BLM believes that the Proposed Action has the necessary elements 
that would address the purpose and need for the Draft EIS and will 
review public comments on the Draft before the preferred alternative is 
identified in the Final EIS.
    The No Action Alternative (Alternative A) and each of the action 
alternatives (Alternative B and C) are discussed in terms of 
alternative-specific activities and schedule, design features, and 
surface disturbance summaries. Alternatives considered, but eliminated 
from detailed analysis also are discussed. The analysis of each 
alternative focuses on the new disturbance that would occur under each 
alternative and would be in addition to existing and permitted 
disturbance.
    The Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal 
Register on May 16, 2014 (79 FR 28538). Key issues identified during 
scoping included: Potential impacts on private landowners over Federal 
mineral estate; socioeconomic impacts on local communities and 
residents, including new jobs and economic activity in the community, 
as well as increased noise, traffic, and population growth; potential 
impacts on air quality and climate change; potential impacts to 
groundwater and surface water supply and quality; potential impacts to 
historic trails; enforcement of reclamation and other mitigation on 
non-Federal lands; impacts to area recreation, grazing, and hunting; 
the potential to impact Greater Sage-grouse, migratory birds, big game 
and other wildlife; and adequate analysis of cumulative impacts.
    The public is encouraged to comment on any and all portions of the 
document. The BLM and the USFS ask that those submitting comments make 
them as specific as possible with reference to chapters, page numbers, 
and paragraphs in the Draft EIS document.
    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. Comments that contain only opinions or preferences will 
not receive a formal response; however, they will be considered and 
included as part of the BLM and the USFS decision-making process. The 
most useful comments are those that include new technical or scientific 
information, identification of data gaps in the impact analysis, or 
technical or scientific rationale for opinions or preference.

Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)

Mary Jo Rugwell,
State Director, Wyoming.
[FR Doc. 2018-01320 Filed 1-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-22-P