Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 241 / Thursday, December 16, 2004 / Notices 75339

leases, which include the right to 

develop CBNG. Recognizing that the 

leases have been issued, the alternatives 

to be considered in the EA will analyze 

whether to modify the leasing decisions 

in light of the remedial issue analysis 

(i.e., after consideration of the 

appropriate environmental issues 

foreseeable at the time the leases were 

offered for sale.) 

The rationale of the Court ruling 

requires that BLM consider those 

environmental issues found to have 

been inadequately considered in the 

1985 Buffalo RMP EIS. This EA may, 

however, examine a broader array of 

environmental issues associated with 

CBNG leasing decisions that were 

reasonably foreseeable prior to the 

issuance of these leases. An array of 

environmental issues was subject to indepth re-examination in the Powder 

River Basin Oil and Gas Project (PRB) 

EIS and RMP Amendment Record of 

Decision (ROD) that was signed April 

30, 2003. The ROD amended the 1985 

Buffalo RMP to raise the anticipated 

level of use of the resource area for oil 

and gas and to develop appropriate 

resource use restrictions to mitigate 

impacts to other resources. 

In the PRB EIS, the BLM carefully 

analyzed the cumulative effects on air, 

water, and other resources of the 

potential development of 51,000 CBNG 

wells. The BLM determined that with 

the leasing stipulations in the 1985 

Buffalo RMP and new mitigation 

measures approved in the PRB EIS, the 

51,000 wells would not result in any 

social, environmental, or economic 

effects that would preclude 

accomplishment of one or more of the 

1985 Buffalo RMP objectives as long as 

appropriate conditions of use are 

required. This EA may substantially 

incorporate by reference impact 

analyses from the PRB EIS. 

BLM is including in the scope of the 

EA the three leases that were the subject 

of the Court and IBLA’s decisions, as 

well as 418 additional oil and gas leases 

that have been issued since February 

2000 within the Buffalo Field Office 

administrative area. BLM will take a 

‘‘hard look’’ at the environmental 

consequence of each alternative and has 

not foreclosed, simply because of the 

difficulty of implemention, choosing to 

implement any of the alternatives under 

review. 

In addition to this EA, BLM is 

preparing an EA to consider continued 

implementation of the leasing decisions 

in the Buffalo RMP in future years. 

Potential Alternatives: For the 

purposes of analysis, the BLM has 

developed the following reasonable 

range of comprehensive alternatives, 

and will analyze particular 

environmental issues that were 

foreseeable at the time the leases were 

offered for sale: 

1. No Action Alternative: Affirm the 

issuance of 421 leases on the terms 

prescribed in the 1985 RMP, as 

amended. 

2. Modify leases to add stipulations to 

address issues such as water disposal, 

use of diesel engines, slopes, erosive 

soils, and proposed Areas of Critical 

Environmental Concern (ACEC). 

3. Modify leases to subject them to 

less restrictive stipulations consistent 

with the 1985 RMP, as amended. 

4. Modify leases to preclude 

development of CBNG. We believe that 

this is what the Court meant by ‘‘not 

issuing the leases at all,’’ since the Court 

found no problems with the adequacy of 

existing NEPA analyses to support 

leasing for conventional oil and gas.

Dated: November 30, 2004. 

Alan L. Kesterke, 

Associate State Director.

[FR Doc. 04–27580 Filed 12–15–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[CO–600–05–1610–DF] 

Notice of Public Meetings, Southwest 

Colorado Resource Advisory Council 

Meetings

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (FLPMA) and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Southwest 

Colorado Resource Advisory Council 

(RAC) will meet as indicated below.

DATES: The Southwest Colorado RAC 

meetings will be held January 21, 2005; 

March 4, 2005; May 6, 2005; and July 

22, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The Southwest Colorado 

RAC meetings will be held January 21, 

2005, at the Bill Heddles Recreation 

Center, located at 530 Gunnison River 

Dr., Delta, CO; March 4, 2005, at the 

Holiday Inn Express, located at 1391 S. 

Townsend Ave., in Montrose, CO; May 

6, 2005, at the Gunnison County 

Fairgrounds, Multipurpose Building, 

275 S. Spruce St., in Gunnison, CO; and 

July 22, 2004, at the Avon Hotel, 144 E. 

10 St., in Silverton, CO. 

The Southwest Colorado RAC 

meetings will begin at 8 a.m. and 

adjourn at approximately 3 p.m. Public 

comment periods regarding matters on 

the agenda will be at 2 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barbara Sharrow, BLM Uncompahgre 

field office manager, 2505 S. Townsend 

Ave., Montrose, CO; telephone 970–

240–5300; or Melodie Lloyd, Public 

Affairs Specialist, 2815 H Rd., Grand 

Junction, CO, telephone 970–244–3097.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Southwest Colorado RAC advises the 

Secretary of the Interior, through the 

Bureau of Land Management, on a 

variety of public land issues in 

Colorado. 

Topics of discussion for all Southwest 

Colorado RAC meetings may include the 

BLM National Sage Grouse Conservation 

Strategy, committee reports, recreation, 

fire management, land use planning, 

invasive species management, energy 

and minerals management, travel 

management, wilderness, land exchange 

proposals, cultural resource 

management, and other issues as 

appropriate. 

These meetings are open to the 

public. The public may present written 

comments to the RACs. Each formal 

RAC meeting will also have time, as 

identified above, allocated for hearing 

public comments. Depending on the 

number of persons wishing to comment 

and time available, the time for 

individual oral comments may be 

limited.

Dated: December 8, 2004. 

Barbara Sharrow, 

Uncompahgre Field Office Manager, 

Designated Federal Official for the Southwest 

Colorado RAC.

[FR Doc. 04–27515 Filed 12–15–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JB–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

Potential for Oil Shale Development, 

Extension of Public Comment Period

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of extension of comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The BLM published a Federal 

Register on November 22, 2004 seeking 

public input on the terms to be included 

in leases of small tracts for oil shale 

research and development within the 

Piceance Creek Basin, northwestern 

Colorado; the Uinta Basin, southeastern 

Utah: and the Green River and Washakie 

Basins, western Wyoming. BLM 

received a request to extend the