75336 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 241 / Thursday, December 16, 2004 / Notices 

(SNPLMA) (Pub. L. 105–263), and as 

expanded/amended by the Clark County 

Conservation of Public Land and 

Natural Resources Act of 2002 (Clark 

County Act) (Pub. L. 107–282).

DATES: BLM will sign the Record of 

Decision (ROD) for the FEIS the same 

day the Notice of Availability for the 

FEIS is published by the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal 

Register. The ROD will be provided 

with the FEIS and the signed copy of the 

ROD will be posted on the official Web 

site on the day of signature. Therefore, 

the 30-day period of availability will 

also serve as the appeal period for the 

entire FEIS, as provided for by 40 CFR 

1506.10(b)(2). Appeal rights will be 

explained in the ROD as well as the 

cover page of the FEIS. No actions can 

occur until the 30-day period expires.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the FEIS for the official record to: Email: jsteinme@nv.blm.gov. Fax: (702) 

515–5155. Mail: Bureau of Land 

Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 

4701 North Torrey Pines Drive, Las 

Vegas, NV 89130–2301. Individual 

respondents may request 

confidentiality. If you wish to withhold 

your name or street address from public 

review or from disclosure under the 

Freedom of Information Act, you must 

state this prominently at the beginning 

of your written comment. Such requests 

will be honored to the extent allowed by 

law. 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. Copies of the FEIS are available 

in the BLM Las Vegas Field Office at the 

above address during office hours (7:30 

to 4:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except holidays). Interested persons 

may also review the FEIS on the Internet 

at http://www.nv.blm.gov/lvdiseis.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff 

Steinmetz, BLM Las Vegas Field Office, 

telephone (702) 515–5097; e-mail 

jsteinme@nv.blm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS 

complies with NEPA, FLPMA, and BLM 

management policies as defined in the 

Las Vegas RMP of 1998. The FEIS 

contains a summary of the alternatives 

and resulting impacts of implementing 

land disposal actions, identifies the 

preferred alternative (Conservation 

Transfer), and contains a summary of 

written and verbal comments received 

during the 60-day public review period 

for the Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) and responses to the 

substantive issues raised during the 

review. The DEIS was released for 

public review on September 10, 2004. 

Shortly after approval of SNPLMA, 

the BLM received a rapid increase in the 

requests for public land disposal. The 

Clark County Act significantly increased 

the amount of land available for 

disposal by adding approximately 

22,000 acres to the Las Vegas Valley 

Disposal Area by amending the 

boundary defined and approved in 

SNPLMA. The rapid disposal rate and 

additional lands created the need to 

augment the impact analysis conducted 

for the Las Vegas Resource Management 

Plan (RMP), signed October 5, 1998. The 

FEIS addresses the intent of Congress, as 

manifested in the SNPLMA and the 

Clark County Act, to provide public 

land for local community development. 

This does not preclude other authorized 

uses of public lands such as 

applications for Rights-of-Way, Leases, 

and Recreation and Public Purpose uses 

pending disposal of public lands located 

in Clark County, Nevada. 

The FEIS analyzes three alternatives. 

The alternatives include complete 

disposal, a disposal implementation 

option (Conservation Transfer) that 

addresses sensitive environmental 

resources, and a no action alternative as 

required by NEPA. The no action 

alternative to land disposal is a 

continuation of realty management as 

specified in the RMP. Comments that 

were received on the DEIS from the 

public and internal BLM review 

comments were incorporated into the 

FEIS where appropriate. Major resource 

issues addressed in the FEIS include air 

quality, surface water hydrology and 

water quality, water supply and 

demand, protected and sensitive plant 

and wildlife species, archaeological and 

historic sites, paleontological resources, 

socio-economics, recreation 

opportunities, and visual 

characteristics. 

BLM intends to proceed with the land 

sale scheduled for February 2, 2005 (see

Notice of Realty Action, Federal 

Register, Vol. 69, No. 218, Friday, 

November 12, 2004, Notices, pages 

65450–65454), based in part on the 

Record of Decision for the Land 

Disposal FEIS. Copies of the Las Vegas 

Valley Disposal FEIS have been sent to 

affected Federal, State and local 

government agencies and to interested 

parties.

Mark T. Morse, 

Field Manager, Las Vegas.

[FR Doc. 04–27487 Filed 12–15–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–070–05–1310–EJ] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment and 

Possible Plan Amendment Concerning 

Oil and Gas Leasing in the Buffalo 

Field Office, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) to 

evaluate the continued implementation 

of the oil and gas leasing decisions in 

the 1985 Buffalo Resource Management 

Plan (RMP), as amended in 2003. This 

may lead to further amendment of the 

RMP for the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) Buffalo Field Office 

in Campbell, Sheridan, and Johnson 

Counties, Wyoming. 

SUMMARY: This Notice is intended to 

satisfy the requirements at 43 CFR 

1610.2(c) for amending an RMP (if 

deemed necessary) pursuant to the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (FLPMA), and initiates scoping 

under the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA). 

The purpose of this EA is to examine 

land use allocations for oil and gas 

leasing and lease stipulations in light of 

new information, including new 

development scenarios since 1985, in 

the Buffalo Field Office (BFO). This 

action has been prompted by recent 

rulings of the Interior Board of Land 

Appeals (IBLA) and the Tenth Circuit 

Court of Appeals (the Court) which 

upheld the IBLA’s April 26, 2002, 

determination that the 1985 Buffalo 

RMP/EIS and the Wyodak EIS were 

insufficient to support certain leasing 

decisions because the RMP did not 

discuss the impacts to air and water of 

coal bed natural gas (CBNG) extraction 

and production. See Pennaco Energy v. 

DOI, 377 F.3d 1147 (10th Cir., August 

10, 2004).

DATES: The public is invited to comment 

on this proposed action, the scope of the 

EA, alternatives to be considered, and 

planning criteria. The BLM can best use 

comments and resource information that 

are submitted within 30 days of 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register. BLM does not plan to hold 

scoping meetings at this time.

ADDRESSES: Please send written 

comments or questions to the BLM 

Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, 

Buffalo, Wyoming 82834. Written 

comments must have the Environmental 

Assessment number 070–05–070 written 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 241 / Thursday, December 16, 2004 / Notices 75337

on the front page of the comments. 

Written comments, or resource 

information, may also be hand-delivered 

to the BLM Buffalo Field Office. 

Comments or questions may also be sent 

electronically to 

BFOPro_WYMail@blm.gov. The scoping 

notice and other information regarding 

this project are posted on the Wyoming 

BLM Web site at http://

www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/bfo/. Members of 

the public may examine documents 

pertinent to this proposal by visiting the 

BFO during business hours (8 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. 

Your response is important and will 

be considered in the environmental 

analysis process. If you do respond, we 

will keep you informed of the 

availability of environmental documents 

that address impacts that occur from 

this proposal. Please note that 

comments and information submitted 

regarding this project, including names, 

e-mail addresses, and street addresses of 

the respondents, will be available for 

public review and disclosure at the 

above address. Individual respondents 

may request confidentiality. If you wish 

to withhold your name, e-mail address, 

or street address from public view or 

from disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act, you must state this 

prominently at the beginning of your 

written comment. Such requests will be 

honored to the extent allowed by the 

law. All submissions from organizations 

or businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Beels, Project Manager, Buffalo Field 

Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, 

Wyoming 82401. Mr. Beels may also be 

reached by telephone at (307) 684–1168.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

action has been prompted by recent 

rulings of the IBLA and the Court 

concerning the adequacy of the 1985 

Buffalo RMP EIS to support leasing in 

areas with CBNG potential. The ruling 

also considered the adequacy of 

developmental NEPA documents, such 

as the Wyodak EIS, to support leasing 

decisions since they do not consider 

‘‘not issuing the leases at all’’ as leasing 

alternatives. The Powder River Basin 

Oil and Gas EIS Resource Management 

Plan Amendment Record of Decision 

(ROD) was signed on April 30, 2003. 

That ROD amended the 1985 Buffalo 

RMP to expand 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. These restrictions were 

designed to be implemented at the 

development stage through site-specific 

Conditions of Approval (COA) on 

permits. The PRB EIS analyzed the 

effects on air, water and other resources 

of the potential for development of 

51,000 CBNG wells. This EA will 

substantially incorporate by reference 

the impact analysis from the PRB EIS. 

This document will also analyze any 

other new information pertaining to oil 

and gas leasing in the BFO area. This 

analysis will tier to the 1985 BFO RMP 

EIS and may amend the current BFO 

RMP. Should BLM at any time during 

the process determine that it will be 

unable to make a finding of no 

significant impact, it will commence 

preparation of an environmental impact 

statement.

During the preparation of this EA, 

BLM does not intend to offer parcels in 

coal bearing areas (generally considered 

the Fort Union Formation) for oil and 

gas leasing, these being the areas 

currently productive for CBNG. 

In response to the Court’s decision, 

the BLM is initiating a separate EA to 

examine its leasing decisions between 

February 2000 and August 2004 in the 

coal bearing areas of the BFO area. 

In the PRB EIS, BLM carefully 

reviewed the 1985 land use objectives 

for the BFO and 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 

Buffalo RMP objectives, as long as 

appropriate mitigation measures are 

required and applied in site-specific 

authorizations. 

Given the extensive analyses of 

development stage impacts that have 

already been prepared to support the 

increase in the level of use for CBNG 

and establish the necessary protective 

measures to be applied at the project 

level, the purpose of this document will 

be to take a hard look at oil and gas land 

use allocations and lease stipulations. 

This EA will consider options open to 

the BLM prior to lease issuance and 

identify those practices that should be 

applied to leases as stipulations. The 

options include closing an area to 

leasing or applying lease stipulations 

beyond the standard lease stipulations 

applicable to every lease. Any new 

restrictions would be applied to the 

extent lawful and appropriate through 

the use of Conditions of Approval 

(COAs) on future development for new 

leases. An interdisciplinary team 

approach will be used to develop the 

EA. At a minimum, the following key 

disciplines will be represented: air 

quality, hydrology and ground water, 

and fluid minerals specialist or 

petroleum engineer (or both). 

Existing land use plan decisions that 

will be evaluated, and may be amended, 

include the following: 

• Areas to be open, closed, or ‘‘open 

subject to protective stipulations or 

restrictions to future oil and gas 

leasing.’’

• The necessary level of program 

constraints, management intensity, and 

management practices (such as lease 

stipulations) sufficient to mitigate the 

impacts of CBNG development and 

ensure that other resource programs will 

continue to meet the goals and 

objectives in the RMP. 

• Other decisions as appropriate. 

Potential Alternatives: The BLM 

invites scoping comments on seven 

potential alternatives: 

1. The No Action alternative: 

Maintain existing land use allocations 

and leasing decisions based on the 1985 

RMP, as amended in 2003. 

2. Open the entire Field Office area to 

leasing while applying standard lease 

terms and conditions; i.e., standard 

environmental and resource protections. 

3. Maintain existing land use 

allocations for areas to be open or closed 

to consideration for leasing. Develop 

and consider a new mix of management 

constraints such as protective 

stipulations (see the examples below) to 

be attached as terms of use at lease 

issuance based on new information, 

current development scenarios (i.e., PRB 

Reasonably Foreseeable Development 

scenario) and new technologies. For 

example:

—Develop stipulations that can be 

attached to new leases for some 

management practices adopted in the 

2003 EIS that are currently applied 

only on a site-specific basis as COAs 

on development, such as water 

management practices and best 

available control technology for air 

emissions. 

—No surface occupancy stipulations on 

slopes greater than 10 percent and on 

highly erosive soils. 

—No surface occupancy in six areas 

proposed as Areas of Critical 

Environmental Concern (ACEC) as 

described in Appendix R to the PRB 

EIS. 

—New stipulations that provide 

additional protection for greater sagegrouse from development-related 

threats, including practices favorable 

to the spread of West Nile virus.

4. Modify areas currently designated 

as open to leasing with a special lease 

75338 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 241 / Thursday, December 16, 2004 / Notices 

stipulation that precludes development 

of CBNG until the planned Buffalo RMP 

revision, scheduled to begin in FY 2008, 

is completed. Upon revision of the 

Buffalo RMP, lessees subject to this 

restriction may seek modification or 

waiver pursuant to the terms of the 

revised RMP following a 30-day public 

review period. 

5. Maintain existing land use 

allocations and leasing decisions, but 

close to leasing areas within the six 

proposed ACECs. 

6. Adopt a moratorium on lease sales 

until completion of the Buffalo RMP 

revision. 

7. Close the BFO to oil and gas 

leasing. 

Planning Criteria: Criteria proposed 

will include:

—Balancing the level of land use 

restrictions or other management 

practices needed at the leasing stage 

to protect resources, while keeping 

the public lands and resources 

available for public use under FLPMA 

principles of multiple use and 

sustained yield. 

—The potential for the occurrence and 

development of mineral resources, 

including conventional oil and gas 

and coalbed natural gas production. 

—Consistency with the land use plans, 

programs, and policies of other 

Federal agencies, State and local 

governments, and Native American 

tribes. 

—Compliance with all Federal laws 

including the Clean Air Act, Clean 

Water Act, National Historic 

Preservation Act, and the Endangered 

Species Act. 

—Balancing the requirements of FLPMA 

and the Mineral Leasing Act. 

—Because this effort focuses on 

planning-level use restrictions such as 

stipulations that are applied at the 

lease issuance stage, the reexamination of site-specific 

development stage conditions of 

approval for CBNG development and 

production is beyond the scope of this 

EA. Those site-specific mitigation 

issues were examined in detail in the 

PRB EIS which resulted in the 2003 

BFO plan amendment. 

—Those ACECs proposed for 

designation in the PRB EIS will not be 

designated through this analysis. Only 

the measures necessary to protect 

their eligibility will be considered. 

Designation will be deferred until the 

planned Buffalo RMP revision. BLM 

projects that this revision will 

commence in FY 2008.

Dated: November 30, 2004. 

Alan L. Kesterke, 

Associate State Director.

[FR Doc. 04–27579 Filed 12–15–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–070–05–1310–EJ] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment 

Concerning Oil and Gas Leasing in the 

Buffalo Field Office, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Assessment that would 

evaluate the leasing for oil and gas of 

421 identified parcels in the Buffalo 

Resource Area leased since February 

2000. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) is commencing 

preparation of an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 

purpose of the analysis is to examine 

particular environmental effects of the 

oil and gas lease issuance decisions 

made since February 2000. This EA 

responds to rulings of the Interior Board 

of Land Appeals (IBLA) and the Tenth 

Circuit Court of Appeals (the Court), 

which held that certain effects of coal 

bed natural gas (CBNG) development 

were not analyzed, or contemplated, in 

the 1985 Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) Buffalo Resource Management 

Plan (RMP) Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS). See Pennaco Energy v. 

DOI, 377 F.3d 1147 (10th Cir., filed 

August 10, 2004).

DATES: The public is invited to comment 

on this proposed action, the scope of the 

EA, and alternatives to be considered. 

The BLM can best use comments and 

resource information that are submitted 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register. BLM 

does not plan to hold scoping meetings 

at this time.

ADDRESSES: Please send written 

comments or questions to the BLM 

Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, 

Buffalo, Wyoming 82834. Written 

comments, or resource information, may 

also be hand-delivered to the BLM 

Buffalo Field Office. Written comments 

must have the Environmental 

Assessment number 070–05–064 written 

on the front page of the comments. 

Comments or questions may also be sent 

electronically to 

BFORet_WYMail@blm.gov. The scoping 

notice and other information regarding 

this project are posted on the Wyoming 

BLM Web site at http://

www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/bfo/. Members of 

the public may examine documents 

pertinent to this proposal by visiting the 

Buffalo Field Office during business 

hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday 

through Friday, except holidays. 

Your response is important and will 

be considered in the environmental 

analysis process. If you respond, we will 

keep you informed of the availability of 

environmental documents that address 

impacts that occur from this proposal. 

Please note that comments and 

information submitted regarding this 

project, including names, e-mail 

addresses, and street addresses of the 

respondents, will be available for public 

review and disclosure at the above 

address. Individual respondents may 

request confidentiality. If you wish to 

withhold your name, e-mail address, or 

street address from public view or from 

disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act, you must state this 

prominently at the beginning of your 

written comment. Such requests will be 

honored to the extent allowed by the 

law. All submissions from organizations 

or businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Beels, Project Manager, BLM, Buffalo 

Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, 

Wyoming 82401. Mr. Beels may also be 

reached by telephone at (307) 684–1168.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

action has been prompted by a recent 

ruling of the IBLA and the Court 

concerning the adequacy of the 1985 

Buffalo RMP EIS and developmental 

NEPA documents, such as the Wyodak 

EIS, to support certain oil and gas 

leasing decisions. In August 2004, the 

Court reversed a Federal District court 

and affirmed the decision of the IBLA 

that concluded that BLM had 

insufficient NEPA analysis to make a 

decision in February 2000 to issue three 

leases for oil and gas in an area where 

CBNG was likely to be produced. The 

Court reinstated IBLA’s remand of the 

issuance of these three leases to BLM for 

‘‘additional appropriate action.’’

In the course of its opinion, the Court 

stated that the NEPA analysis upon 

which the BLM relied in issuing three 

leases ‘‘did not consider pre-leasing 

options, such as not issuing leases at 

all.’’ Accordingly, the BLM will evaluate 

whether to affirm, modify, or cancel the