[Federal Register: January 4, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 3)]
[Notices]
[Page 880]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04ja08-48]
[[Page 880]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[UT-080-2003-0369V]
Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement
for the Greater Deadman Bench Region, Uintah County, UT
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for the Greater Deadman Bench Region, Uintah County,
Utah.
DATES: The 30-day public availability period will begin on the date the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. To assure that public
comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments on
the FEIS on or before the end of the comment period at the address
listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Howard, Project Manager, BLM
Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078. Ms. Howard
may also be reached at 435-781-4400.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the FEIS 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: UT_Vernal_Comments@blm.gov.
Fax: (435) 781-4480.
Please reference the QEP GDBR when submitting your comments. Comments
and information submitted on the FEIS for the Greater Deadman Bench
Region, Uintah County, Utah, including names, e-mail addresses, and
street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at
the Vernal Field Office address listed above. The BLM will not accept
anonymous comments. 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. All submissions from organizations and
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be
available for public inspection in their entirety.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Greater Deadman Bench Region involves
approximately 98,785 acres located in Townships 6-8 South, Ranges 21-25
East, Salt Lake Base Meridian, about 20 miles south of Vernal, in
Uintah County, Utah.
Approximately 83,860 acres (85%) of surface and mineral estate are
administered by the BLM; approximately 11,440 acres (12%) are
administered by the State of Utah's School and Institutional Trust
Lands Administration (SITLA); and the remaining 3,470 acres (4%)
consist of various privately owned surface and mineral estate lands.
The Greater Deadman Bench Region encompasses an already developed
oil and gas field. At the time of the initiation of the EIS process (in
2003), the Greater Deadman Bench Region contained approximately 278
existing oil or water-injection wells, and 300 gas wells. Also, about
57 miles of primary roads and 314 miles of secondary roads have been
constructed within the region.
A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the EIS was published in the
Federal Register on December 19, 2003, which announced the beginning of
the scoping period. Eleven scoping letters were received from agencies,
organizations, and individuals during the scoping period. The scoping
comments were taken into account during the drafting of the EIS. A
summary of the scoping comments can be found in section 1.6 of the
FEIS.
A NOA for the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on
February 10, 2006. During the public comment period seven comment
letters were received from various agencies and organizations. Comments
received on the Draft EIS, and the responses to those comments, are
found in Chapter 6 of the FEIS.
The FEIS analyzes the effects of a natural gas and oil development
scenario within the Greater Deadman Bench Region that is conceptual in
nature. The final location of well pads, roads, and pipelines would be
determined through future site-specific assessments required for each
facility. Questar Exploration Production (QEP) proposes to drill 1,239
wells at the rate of 100-120 wells per year over a period of 10 years,
or until the resource base is fully developed. Of this total number,
891 wells would be drilled at new locations and 348 wells would be
drilled from existing well pads. Any additional environmental analyses
will tier to this EIS.
The FEIS analyzes the impacts of the Proposed Action and the No
Action Alternative. The following is a summary of the alternatives:
Alternative A--Proposed Action (BLM's preferred alternative): Up to
1,020 natural gas and 219 oil wells would be drilled. About 170 miles
of new roads and 235 miles of pipelines, 31 miles of power lines, 22
new central tank facilities and 15 new gas compressor stations would be
constructed to support this proposed development. In all, approximately
4,561 acres, or 5% of the total project area, would be disturbed by the
proposal. The Proposed Action incorporates standard operating
procedures and applicant-committed best management practices currently
employed on BLM-administered public lands in the Uinta Basin that
mitigate impacts to the environment.
Alternative B--No Action: Oil and gas development on Federal lands
under Alternative A would not be implemented. However some level of
development would continue to occur under Applications for Permits to
Drill (APDs) previously approved by the BLM based upon other NEPA
documents. An additional 130 wells would be located on land managed by
the State of Utah and private leases.
Eight additional alternatives were considered but eliminated from
detailed analysis. These alternatives included: No development,
suspension of operations, exchange of leases, full-field directional
drilling, conventional oil and gas plan development, Best Management
Practices (BMP), phased development, and minimum setback distances.
These alternatives were eliminated from detailed analysis because of
technical or economical reasons, because of their resource impact, or
because they did not meet the purpose and need of BLM's proposed
action.
Copies of the FEIS for the Greater Deadman Bench Region have been
sent to Federal, State, and local government agencies, and to parties
who commented during the public comment period.
Howard Cleavinger,
Acting Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. E7-25578 Filed 1-3-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P