31594 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 97 / Thursday, May 18, 2000 / Notices

Company Activity Date issued

BP Exploration (Northstar) ...................................................................... Development .................................. May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Meltwater North) ..................................................... Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Spark # 1) ............................................................... Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Rendezvous A&B) .................................................. Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Lookout A) .............................................................. Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Moose’s Tooth A&C) .............................................. Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Clover A&B) ............................................................ Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

ARCO Alaska, Inc. (Cairn) ...................................................................... Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

Western Geophysical (ARCO) ................................................................ Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

Western Geophysical (BP Exploration) ................................................... Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

Kuukpik/Fairweather Geophysical ........................................................... Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

BP Exploration (Point Thomson) ............................................................. Exploration ..................................... May 3, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

John W. Bridges at the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals

Management Office, 1011 East Tudor

Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503, (300)

362–5148 or (907) 786–3810.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Letters of Authorization were issued

in accordance with U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service Federal Rules and

Regulations ‘‘Marine Mammals;

Incidental Take During Specified

Activities (65 FR 16828; March 30,

2000).’’

Dated: May 8, 2000.

Mike Boylan,

Acting Deputy Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–12527 Filed 5–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Notice of Final Agency Action To Take

90.94 Acres of Land, More or Less, Into

Trust for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe

of Indians of South Dakota

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to take land into

trust.

SUMMARY: This provides notice that a

final agency determination has been

made to acquire 90.94 acres of land,

more or less, into trust for the Lower

Brule Sioux Tribe of Indians of South

Dakota. The United States will acquire

title no sooner than thirty days after this

notice is published. This notice is

published in the exercise of authority

delegated by the Secretary of the Interior

to the Assistant Secretary—Indian

Affairs by 209 DM 8.1 and pursuant to

25 CFR 151.12(b), 61 Federal Register

18082–18083, April 24, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Terrance L. Virden, Bureau of Indian

Affairs, Director, Office of Trust

Responsibilities, MS–4513/MIB/Code

200, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC

20240; telephone (202) 208–5831.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April

6, 2000, the Assistant Secretary—Indian

Affairs made a final determination that

the United States will accept 90.94 acres

of land, more or less, in trust for the

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of Indians of

South Dakota. It was determined that

the acceptance of the following

described land into trust, pursuant to 25

U.S.C. 465, would be in the best interest

of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of

Indians of South Dakota.

Lyman County, South Dakota

A portion of the Northeast Quarter of the

Northwest Quarter (NE1⁄4NW1⁄4) lying North

of Highway No. 16 (shown as Lot H–1 in

Book 3 of Plats, Page 108) and except Lot ‘‘A’’

of Lester’s Addition (a subdivision of the

NE1⁄4NW1⁄4) of Section Twenty-Four (24) and

the West Half of the Southwest Quarter

(W1⁄2SW1⁄4) of Section Thirteen (13), the

Northwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter

of the Northwest Quarter (NW1⁄4NW1⁄4NW1⁄4)

of Section Twenty-Four (24), and the

Northeast Quarter of the Northwest Quarter

of the Northwest Quarter (NE1⁄4NW1⁄4NW1⁄4)

of Section Twenty-Four (24), Township One

Hundred Four North (104N), Range SeventyTwo West (72W) of the Fifth Principal

Meridian, Lyman County, South Dakota.

Subject to any valid existing easements

for public roads and highways, for

public utilities and for railroads and

pipelines and any other rights-of-way or

reservations of record.

Dated: May 12, 2000.

Kevin Gover,

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 00–12585 Filed 5–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY090–00–1310–EJ]

Notice of Availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement for

the Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas

Exploration and Development Project,

and Proposed Amendment to the

Pinedale Resource Management Plan

AGENCY: Lead Agency—Bureau of Land

Management, Interior. Cooperating

Agencies—U.S. Forest Service,

Department of Agriculture, Corps of

Engineers, U.S. Army, State of

Wyoming.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

for the Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas

Exploration and Development Project,

Sublette County, Wyoming, and Notice

of 30-day protest period for proposed

amendment to the Pinedale Resource

Management Plan (RMP).

SUMMARY: The FEIS is an abbreviated

FEIS. The FEIS and the Draft EIS (DEIS)

comprise the entire document for filing

purposes and for the decision making

process. Please refer to the DEIS for

more detailed analysis and description

of the proposed action and alternatives.

The FEIS contains 7 Sections. Section 1,

Introduction; Section 2, Potential

Management Scenario for Continued

Exploration and Development; Section

3, Analysis of Revised Sales Gas

Pipeline Alternatives; Section 4, Errata;

Section 5, Comment Responses and

Letters; Section 6, Responses to

Environmental Group Notices and

Alerts; and Section 7, Public Hearing

Comments and Responses. BLM has

identified the Resource Protection (RP)

Alternative on Federal Lands and

Minerals as its preferred alternative

based on information contained in the

DEIS, comments received during public

scoping, and comments received on the

DEIS. BLM considers the RP Alternative

on All Lands and Minerals to be the

environmentally preferred alternative.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 97 / Thursday, May 18, 2000 / Notices 31595

The Pinedale Anticline EIS identifies

the need for amendment, planning

review, and/or maintenance of the

following 1988 Pinedale RMP items: (1)

The amendment of a Pinedale RMP offroad vehicle (ORV) designation; (2) the

update and modification, if necessary,

of visual resource management (VRM)

classification; and (3) withhold

unleased Federal lands and minerals

and/or expired leases in the Hoback

Basin, southern foothills of the Gros

Ventre Range, and the Wind River Front

from oil and gas leasing until the effects

of leasing these lands can be addressed

in a planning review of the Pinedale

RMP and Bridger-Teton Leasing EIS.

DATES: Comments on the FEIS will be

accepted for 30 days following the date

that the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) publishes their Notice of

Availability in the Federal Register. The

EPA notice is anticipated to be

published on June 2, 2000. Protest of the

proposed ORV designation amendment

to the Pinedale RMP must be

postmarked within 30 days following

the date that the Environmental

Protection Agency publishes the filing

notice for the Final EIS in the Federal

Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FEIS

should be sent to Bureau of Land

Management, Bill McMahan (Project

Coordinator), 280 Highway 191 North,

Rock Springs, WY 82901, or they can be

e-mailed to bill_mcmahan@blm.gov.

Protests on the proposed ORV

designation amendment to the Pinedale

RMP should be sent to the Director

(210), Bureau of Land Management,

Attention: Brenda Williams, 1849 C

Street NW, Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill

McMahan, Project Coordinator, Bureau

of Land Management, Rock Springs,

Wyoming 82901, (307) 352–0224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS

(NOA published by EPA in the Federal

Register, November 26, 1999; comment

due date February 4, 2000, following

State Director approval of a 10 day

extension of time for review/comment

on the DEIS) analyzed a proposal by the

Pinedale Anticline Operators to drill up

to 900 new wells to achieve 700

producing locations over the next 10 to

15 years on their leased acreage within

the Pinedale Anticline Project Area

(PAPA) (approximately 197,345 acres)

in western Wyoming. Lands associated

with the new drilling program are

located between the town of Pinedale,

Wyoming, and the Jonah Natural Gas

Field (30 miles south); and between the

Green River on the west and Wyoming

Highway 191 on the east (between 8 and

15 miles wide). Comments were

received on the DEIS from a number of

groups. A total of 235 comment letters

were received. BLM held a public

hearing on January 12, 2000. A total of

86 people signed in at the hearing—17

gave statements. BLM responses to each

comment letter and hearing comments

are included in Sections 5, 6, and 7 of

the FEIS.

Factors Affecting Pinedale Resource

Management Plan (RMP) Completed in

1988—The Pinedale Anticline EIS

addresses the need for amendment,

planning review, and/or maintenance of

the Pinedale RMP. The EIS identifies

that (1) the RMP decision designating

portions of the PAPA as ‘‘open’’ to offroad vehicle (ORV) use should be

amended from ‘‘open’’ to ‘‘limited to

existing roads and trails’’ to protect

surface values and to be consistent with

other oil/gas development areas; (2) the

visual resource management (VRM)

classification for the VRM

classifications within the Resource Area

need to be updated and the RMP

modified if necessary; and (3) all

Federal lands and minerals that are

unleased and/or that have expired

leases in the Hoback Basin, southern

foothills of the Gros Ventre Range, and

the Wind River Front should be

withheld from oil and gas leasing until

the effects of leasing these lands can be

addressed in a planning review to

determine any needed modification to

the 1988 Pinedale RMP and to the

Bridger-Teton Leasing EIS (Management

Areas 21, 45, 71, and 72).

The RMP planning review for the

identified areas (see Pinedale Anticline

DEIS Figure 5–2) would address new

issues and concerns for air quality

related values, protection of scenic

values of the mountain ranges,

protection of the new and/or more

densely populated rural subdivisions

occurring on private surface underlain

by Federal minerals, and other resource

concerns. An analysis of these factors

may affect Federal mineral leasing and

other Federal authorizations on the

described lands.

The Pinedale Anticline EIS proposal

to amend the Pinedale RMP ORV

‘‘open’’ area designation to ‘‘limited to

existing roads and trails’’ is protestable.

This is the only part of the Pinedale

Anticline EIS that is protestable under

the BLM Planning Regulations (43 CFR

1610.5–2). Anyone disagreeing with the

proposed decision to change the ORV

designation within the Pinedale

Anticline project area must file a written

protest within the 30-day review period

for the FEIS. The proposed amendment

may be protested by parties who

participated in the Pinedale Anticline

EIS process, who have an interest which

is or may be adversely affected by the

proposed change, and who raised issue

with ORV use during the EIS process.

The protest must include the following

information: (1) The name, mailing

address, telephone number, and interest

of the person filing the protest; (2) a

statement of the issue(s) submitted

during the DEIS review process by the

protesting party, or an indication of the

date the issue(s) were discussed for the

record; (3) a statement of the part(s) of

the recommendation being protested; (4)

a copy of all documents addressing the

issue(s) that were submitted during the

DEIS review process by the protesting

party, or an indication of the date the

issue(s) were discussed for the record;

and (5) a concise statement explaining

why the proposed decision is believed

to be wrong.

At the end of the 30-day protest

period, the proposed change, if not

protested, will become final. If a protest

is received, approval of oil and gas

development will be based upon the

existing ORV designation until final

action on the protest has been

completed. Any significant change

made as a result of a protest will be

made available for public review and

comment before it is approved.

This DEIS, in compliance with section

7(c) of the Endangered Species Act (as

amended), includes the Biological

Assessment for the purpose of

identifying any endangered or

threatened species which are likely to

be affected by the proposed action.

Dated: May 12, 2000.

Alan L. Kesterke,

Associate State Director.

[FR Doc. 00–12495 Filed 5–17–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY–030–2000–1310–DB]

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement;

Desolation Flats Natural Gas

Development Project, Carbon and

Sweetwater Counties, Wyoming, To

Conduct a Planning Review of the

Proposed Project Area, and if

Necessary, Amend Either or Both the

Great Divide and Green River

Resource Management Plans

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare

an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS) and to conduct scoping for the

Desolation Flats Natural Gas