49696 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 29, 2007 / Notices 

SF–424b: Assurance—NonConstruction Programs. 

SF–25a: Payment Bonds. 

Estimate of Annual Burden: .25 to 4 

hours annually per response. 

Type of Respondents: Non-profit and 

for-profit institutions; institutions of 

higher education; state, local, and 

Native American tribal governments; 

individuals; foreign governments; and 

organizations. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Respondents: 14,489. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Responses per Respondent: 1–4. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 30,855 hours. 

Comment is invited on: (1) Whether 

this collection of information is 

necessary for the stated purposes and 

the proper performance of the functions 

of the Agency, including whether the 

information will have practical or 

scientific utility; (2) the accuracy of the 

Agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (4) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including the use of 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

All comments received in response to 

this notice, including names and 

addresses when provided, will be a 

matter of public record. Comments will 

be summarized and included in the 

request for Office of Management and 

Budget approval. 

Dated: August 22, 2007. 

Hank Kashdan, 

Deputy Chief, Business Operations. 

[FR Doc. E7–17040 Filed 8–28–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Duchesne Ranger District, Ashley 

National Forest, UT; South Unit Oil and 

Gas Development EIS 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Supervisor of the 

Ashley National Forest gives notice of 

the intent to prepare an environment 

impact statement (EIS) to document the 

analysis and disclose the impacts of an 

oil and gas development project on 

lands administered by the Ashley 

National Forest. The EIS analysis are 

includes approximately 25,900 acres on 

the South Unit of the Ashley National 

Forest in Duchesne County, Utah. The 

proposed project is located 11 miles 

south of Duchesne County, Utah in 

Township 6 South, Ranges 4 and 5 

West. Any authorizations and actions 

proposed for approval in the EIS will be 

evaluated to determine if they are 

consistent with direction in the 1986 

Ashley National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan (Forest 

Plan). 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received within 

45 days of publication of this notice in 

the Federal Register. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in June 2008 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in November 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

David Herron, Project Lead, Ashley 

National Forest, 355 North Vernal 

Avenue, Vernal, Utah 84078; phone: 

(435) 781–5218. Electronic comments 

may be sent to comments-intermtnashley-duchesne@fs.fed.us. Email 

correspondence should include the 

project name in the subject line. Any 

attachments must be submitted in MS 

Word (*.doc) or rich text format (*.rtf) 

and should include the project name in 

the document title. Written comments 

may also be dropped off at the above 

address during regular business hours (8 

a.m. to 5 p.m.), Monday–Friday. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Herron, Project Lead, Ashley 

National Forest, 355 North Vernal 

Avenue, Vernal, Utah 84078; phone: 

(435) 789–1181; e-mail: 

daherron@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose and need for this project 

is to respond to a formal proposal from 

the Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), 

to exercise their lease rights, and 

develop oil and gas resources within 

their existing federal oil and gas leases, 

located on the South Unit of the Ashley 

National Forest. The purpose and need 

is also to identify the terms and 

conditions necessary to protect surface 

resources and prevent conflicts with 

other activities, programs and users in 

the area of operations. 

Proposed Action 

In January 2007, Berry submitted a 

proposal to the Forest Service to drill up 

to 400 oil and gas wells on federal 

mineral leases the Company holds on 

approximately 25,900 acres in the South 

Unit of Ashley National Forest. If 

economically recoverable oil or gas 

reserves were identified from 

exploratory drilling, those wells would 

be put into production. Wells would be 

drilled from well pads constructed of 

native soil and rock material using 

standard cut and fill methods. Well pad 

construction would require an estimated 

2.5 acres of surface disturbance per well 

pad. If economic quantities of oil and/ 

or gas are found as a result of the 

drilling of vertical wells, Berry may 

attempt to directionally drill from some 

or all of the same well pads to assess 

whether oil and gas resources can be 

reached and successfully produced from 

directional wells. Approximately 100 

miles of new access roads and 21 miles 

of upgraded existing roads would be 

constructed to reach the proposed well 

pad sites. The proposal calls for a 20- 

year construction and drilling period. 

Lead and Cooperating Agencies 

The Forest Service is the lead agency. 

The Bureau of Land Management will 

participate as a cooperating agency. 

Other eligible agencies may also 

participate as cooperating agencies. 

Responsible Official 

The Responsible Official is Kevin B. 

Elliott, Forest Supervisor, Ashley 

National Forest, 355 North Vernal 

Avenue, Vernal, UT 84078. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The responsible official will decide 

whether to allow development to occur 

as proposed or to allow implementation 

of a reasonable alternative to the 

proposed action. The selected 

alternative will establish the terms, 

conditions, and mitigations needed to 

protect surface resources during the 

proposed oil and gas development. 

Specific ground disturbing 

developments (wells, roads, 

compressors, etc.) would require 

additional analysis prior to 

implementation, to determine whether 

those developments are consistent with 

the scope and requirements of the 

selected alternative. Approval for such 

actions on individual well sites would 

be conducted through the Application 

for a Permit to Drill (APD) process, in 

cooperation with the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM). 

Scoping Process 

The Forest Service is seeking 

information, comments, and assistance 

from federal, state, and local agencies 

and individuals or organizations 

interested in or affected by the proposed 

action. The comment period on the 

proposed action will be 45 days from 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 29, 2007 / Notices 49697 

the date this Notice of Intent is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Copies of this Notice of Intent will be 

distributed to interested parties via 

mailings, posting on the Ashley 

National Forest Web site (http:// 

www.fs.fed.us/r4/ashley/projects/), and 

publication in the Uintah Basin 

Standard newspaper. Requests to be 

added to the mailing list for this project 

should be sent to: David Herron, Project 

Leader, Ashley National Forest, 355 

North Vernal Avenue, Vernal, Utah 

84078, or e-mail to daherron@fs.fed.us. 

A series of public meetings will be 

scheduled during the scoping period to 

describe the proposal and to provide an 

opportunity for public input. Public 

meetings are being planned for Salt Lake 

City, Duchesne, and Vernal, Utah. Dates 

and locations for these meetings will be 

made available via a mailed scoping 

notice, the Ashley National Forest Web 

site, and the Uintah Basin Standard. 

Preliminary Issues 

Issues that may be analyzed in all 

alternatives include: The socioeconomic 

effects of oil and gas development and 

associated activities; effects on 

terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna, 

including threatened and endangered 

species, sensitive species, and 

management indicator species; effects 

on both developed and dispersed 

recreation; effects on air quality; effects 

on water resources, including wetlands, 

floodplains, riparian areas, private and 

municipal water systems, and 

groundwater; effects on visual 

resources; effects on soils and geologic 

hazards; effects on cultural resources; 

effects on upland and riparian 

vegetation; effects on other mineral 

resource extraction activities; and 

effects on noxious weeds and invasive 

species. Issues may be added or refined 

based on public comments and internal 

review. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. The Forest Service 

requests comments on the nature and 

scope of the environmental, social, and 

economic issues, and possible 

alternatives specifically related to oil 

and gas development on Ashley 

National Forest lands currently leased 

by Berry Petroleum. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review: A draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

prepared for comment. The comment 

period on the draft environmental 

impact statement will be 60 days from 

the date the Environmental Protection 

Agency publishes the notice of 

availability in the Federal Register. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court rulings 

related to public participation in the 

environmental review process. First, 

reviewers of draft environmental impact 

statements must structure their 

participation in the environmental 

review of the proposal so that it is 

meaningful and alerts an agency to the 

reviewer’s position and contentions. 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. 

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also, 

environmental objections that could be 

raised at the draft environmental impact 

statement stage but that are not raised 

until after completion of the final 

environmental impact statement may be 

waived or dismissed by the courts. City 

of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 

1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin 

Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 

1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of 

these court rulings, it is very important 

that those interested in this proposed 

action participate by the close of the 60- 

day comment period so that substantive 

comments and objections are made 

available to the Forest Service at a time 

when it can meaningfully consider them 

and respond to them in the final 

environmental impact statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft environmental 

impact statement should be specific as 

possible. It is also helpful if comments 

refer to specific pages or chapters of the 

draft statement. Comments may also 

address the adequacy of the draft 

environmental impact statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives formulated and discussed in 

the statement. Reviewers may wish to 

refer to the Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations for implementing 

the procedural provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act at 40 

CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points. 

Comments received, including the 

names and addresses of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposal and will 

be available for public inspection. 

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21) 

Dated: August 20, 2007. 

Kevin B. Elliott, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 07–4227 Filed 8–28–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Dry Fork Station and Hughes 

Transmission Project 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft 

environmental impact statement and 

notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an 

agency delivering the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Rural Development Utilities Programs, 

hereinafter referred to as Rural 

Development, is issuing a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Dry Fork Station and Hughes 

Transmission Project. The Draft EIS was 

prepared pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) in 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 

1500–1508) and RUS regulations (7 CFR 

part 1794). 

The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate 

the potential environmental impacts of 

and alternatives to the Basin Electric 

Power Cooperative, Inc. (Basin Electric) 

application for a Rural Development 

loan guarantee to construct and operate 

a coal-fired electric generation facility 

referred to as the Dry Fork Station, 

consisting of a single maximum net 385 

Megawatt (MW) unit, at a site near 

Gillette, Wyoming, along with other 

proposed pollution controls collectively 

known as Best Available Control 

Technology (BACT). In addition, Basin 

Electric also proposes to construct and 

operate 136 miles of 230 kilovolt (kV) 

transmission line in Campbell and 

Sheridan counties, referred to as the 

Hughes Transmission Project. Basin 

Electric is not requesting a loan 

guarantee from Rural Development for 

this action. However, the Hughes 

Transmission Project is evaluated as a 

connected action for this EIS because 

the Dry Fork Station would interconnect 

with it if the Station is built. 

DATES: With this notice, Rural 

Development invites any affected 

Federal, State, and local Agencies and 

other interested persons to comment on 

the Draft EIS. Written comments on this 

Draft EIS will be accepted for 45 days 

following publication of the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

Notice of Availability for this Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

in the Federal Register. Rural 

Development will hold two (2) public 


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