SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

An operator group (OG) comprised of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Devon Energy, EOG Resources, Inc., Northwoods Energy and Occidental Petroleum, propose to develop oil and gas leases within the 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 United States Forest Service. 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 of the 64 percent) of the mineral ownership within the CCPA.

The Final EIS describes and analyzes the impacts of Alternative A, the No Action Alternative, Alternative B, the OG's Proposed Action including six options as amendments to the Casper RMP and Alternative C. The Supplement to the Draft EIS detailed options 1 through 5 for Alternative B. Option 6, the Proposed RMP Amendment, was developed to incorporate comments from the Governor of the State of Wyoming and the OG.

The agency preferred alternative and proposed plan amendment was identified in the Final EIS as Alternative B and Option 6. These presented the best means to allow for continued development in the area while minimizing impacts to resources.

Any person who participated in the planning process and has an interest which is, or may be, adversely affected by the approval or amendment of the RMP may protest such approval or amendment. A protest may raise only those issues which were submitted for the record during the planning process. Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM regarding the Proposed RMP Amendment/Final EIS may be found in the “Dear Reader” Letter of the Final EIS and Proposed RMP Amendment and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section above. Emailed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular mail or overnight delivery postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the email as an advanced copy, and it will receive full consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct emails to: protest@blm.gov.

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, 43 CFR 1610.2)

85 FR 46171