Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 2611 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLWO–3200000 L13100000.PP0000 L.X.EM 

OSHL000.241A] 

Potential for Oil Shale Development; 

Call for Nominations—Oil Shale 

Research, Development, and 

Demonstration (R, D, and D) Program 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The BLM solicits the 

nomination of parcels to be leased for R, 

D, and D of oil shale recovery 

technologies in Colorado, Utah, and 

Wyoming. 

DATES: Nominations for oil shale R, D, 

and D leases can be made January 15, 

2009 through March 2, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Please send nominations to 

the BLM state director for the state in 

which the parcel you are nominating is 

located: Sally Wisely, State Director, 

BLM, Colorado State Office, 2850 

Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado, 

80215–7076; Selma Sierra, State 

Director, BLM, Utah State Office, 400 

West 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake 

City, Utah, 84145–0155; and Bob 

Bennett, State Director, BLM, Wyoming 

State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, 

P.O. Box 1828, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 

82003. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charlie Beecham, BLM, Colorado State 

Office, 303–239–3773; Jeff McKenzie, 

BLM, Utah State Office, 801–539–4038; 

and Robert Janssen, BLM, Wyoming 

State Office, 307–775–6206. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 9, 

2005, the BLM published in the Federal 

Register a notice entitled ‘‘Potential for 

Oil Shale Development; Call for 

Nominations-Oil Shale Research, 

Development, and Demonstration (R, D, 

and D) Program’’ (70 FR 33753). As a 

result of that notice, the BLM issued six 

R, D, and D leases. Section 369 of the 

Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EP Act) (42 

U.S.C. 15927) addresses oil shale 

development and directs the Secretary 

of the Interior to make public lands 

available for conducting oil shale 

research and development activities. 

In accordance with the EP Act, the 

BLM is soliciting for nomination parcels 

to be leased for R, D, and D of oil shale 

recovery technologies. The lease form 

for this round of R, D, and D leases has 

been revised from the one published in 

the June 9, 2005 notice (see 70 FR 

33755) to make it consistent with the oil 

shale regulations published on 

November 18, 2008 (see 73 FR 69414), 

including changes to the provisions on 

royalty and lease conversion. As 

discussed below, the lease form is also 

revised by increasing the maximum 

acreage of the R, D, and D lease and by 

removing the option for additional 

preference-right acreage. The revised R, 

D, and D lease form can be found at: 

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/

energy/oilshale_2.html. Please contact 

Nick Douglas at (202) 557–3377 if you 

have any questions. 

The BLM is soliciting the nomination 

of parcels, not to exceed 640 acres, for 

the conduct of oil shale R, D, and D 

under a 10-year lease agreement. Under 

the conversion regulations at 43 CFR 

3926.10, an R, D, and D lease is eligible 

for conversion to a 20-year lease after 

producing commercial quantities of 

shale oil from the lease and after 

meeting the other provisions of that 

section. 

The BLM may issue one or more R, D, 

and D leases in each of the states of 

Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming based on 

review of the nominations and analysis 

under the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA). The R, D, and D 

nominations will be reviewed by an 

interdisciplinary team. The BLM will 

request the participation of a 

representative of each of the States of 

Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, as 

appropriate, and the Departments of 

Defense and Energy. The review will 

consider the potential of proposals to 

advance knowledge of effective 

technology, economic viability, and the 

means of managing the environmental 

effects of oil shale development. The 

review will also consider the potential 

environmental, social, and economic 

impacts on the site or the region 

associated with each nomination. 

The interdisciplinary team will rate 

the nominations based on the team’s 

review. Nominations that the 

interdisciplinary team rates and 

recommends for issuance of an R, D, 

and D lease will be analyzed under 

NEPA. The NEPA analysis will also 

document compliance with the National 

Historic Preservation Act, the 

Endangered Species Act, and any other 

applicable Federal statute. At the 

conclusion of the NEPA analysis, the 

BLM may issue one or more R, D, and 

D leases. 

If the BLM receives two or more 

nominations to lease the same lands, the 

BLM will issue an R, D, and D lease, if 

at all, to the qualified nominator whose 

proposal is rated highest by the 

interdisciplinary team. 

The time required for NEPA analysis 

and documentation may differ 

depending on: (1) Whether the 

application is for a tract that has 

previously been the subject of NEPA 

analysis for oil shale operations, (2) the 

method of shale oil extraction, and (3) 

whether the application involves 

mining or in-place shale oil recovery. 

Accordingly, some R, D, and D leases 

may be awarded prior to others. Each 

applicant will be responsible for the 

costs of NEPA analysis of its 

nomination. 

Lease nominations must, at a 

minimum, contain the following 

information: 

(1) Name, address, and telephone 

number of the applicant, and the name, 

address, and telephone number of the 

representative of the applicant who will 

be responsible for conducting the 

operational activities. 

(2) Statement of qualifications to hold 

a mineral lease under the Mineral 

Leasing Act (MLA). Qualification 

requirements can be found in 43 CFR 

subpart 3902 of the final oil shale 

regulations (see 73 FR 69414). 

(3) Description of the lands, not to 

exceed 640 acres, in accordance with 43 

CFR 3901.10 of the oil shale regulations, 

together with any rights-of-way required 

to support the development of the oil 

shale R, D, and D lease. 

(4) A narrative description of the 

proposed methodology for recovering 

oil from oil shale, including a 

description of all equipment and 

facilities needed to support the 

proposed technology. 

(5) A narrative description of the 

results of laboratory and/or field tests of 

the proposed technology. 

(6) A schedule of operations for the 

life of the project and proposed plan for 

processing, marketing, and delivering 

the shale oil to the market. 

(7) A map of existing land use 

authorizations on the nominated 

acreage. 

(8) Estimated shale oil and/or oil 

shale resources within the nominated 

acreage boundary. 

(9) The method of shale oil storage 

and the method of spent oil shale 

disposal. 

(10) A description of any interim 

environmental mitigation and 

reclamation. 

(11) The method of final reclamation 

and abandonment and associated 

projected costs of final reclamation. 

(12) Proof of investment capacity. 

(13) A description of the 

commitments of partners, if any. 

(14) A statement from a surety 

qualified to furnish bonds to the United 

States Government of the bond amount 

for which the applicant qualifies under 

the surety’s underwriting criteria. 

(15) A non-refundable application fee 

of $4,000.00. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
2612 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 

The non-refundable application 

processing fee is increased from $2,000 

to $4,000 per application based on 

estimates of costs for processing the 

previous R, D, and D lease applications 

and a similar $4,000 processing fee 

authorized under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 

110–161) for oil and gas activities. 

Applications submitted for lands 

within the multi-mineral leasing zone in 

Colorado must demonstrate the 

potential capability to extract shale oil, 

dawsonite, and nahcolite or 

demonstrate a potential capability to 

extract shale oil while preserving the 

other minerals for future recovery. 

An applicant should prominently 

note and segregate any information 

submitted with the application that 

contains proprietary information or 

trade secrets, if the disclosure of this 

information to the public would cause 

commercial or financial injury to the 

applicant’s competitive position. The 

BLM will protect the confidentiality of 

such information to the extent permitted 

by the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA). Any FOIA requests for such 

information will be handled in 

accordance with the regulations at 43 

CFR 2.23. 

The original R, D, and D leases were 

issued to generate interest in and to 

encourage research and development of 

oil shale resources on Federal lands. As 

an incentive for performing research 

and development, additional acreage for 

a preference lease area was made 

available to the original R, D, and D 

lessees. There was significant interest in 

response to the original R, D, and D 

lease offerings and this interest in 

research and development of oil shale 

on Federal lands continues, which 

suggests that incentives for R, D, and D 

beyond those conferred by the R, D, and 

D lease itself, are not needed. Since 

offering the original R, D, and D leases, 

and completing an analysis of oil shale 

potential and availability on public 

lands, the Department has determined 

that an R, D, and D lease of 640 acres 

is likely to provide reserves sufficient to 

support a commercial operation. For 

these reasons, the revised R, D, and D 

leases do not provide additional 

preference lease areas over and above 

the R, D, and D acreage of 640 acres. The 

maximum acreage of the revised lease is 

increased from 160 acres to 640 acres, 

which is sufficient to accommodate an 

R, D, and D project based on public 

comments to the initial Federal Register 

Notice of November 22, 2004 (69 FR 

67935). Public comments received at 

that time indicated that a reasonable 

acreage size for an R, D, and D lease 

ranged from 40 to 640 acres. The BLM 

believes that 640 acres is sufficient 

acreage to support research and 

development and also to allow for the 

eventual expansion into commercial 

operations. 

To encourage the use of new 

technologies, the BLM will only 

consider applications that demonstrate 

new technologies not currently being 

tested on the R, D, and D leases issued 

as a result of the June 9, 2005, call for 

nominations. See the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

Notice if there are questions on 

technologies currently being tested on 

the existing R, D, and D leases. 

Applications must document field 

demonstration of the feasibility of the 

proposed oil shale extraction 

methodology(ies). Entities that currently 

hold R, D, and D leases on BLM public 

lands are excluded from submitting 

additional applications for leases. The 

BLM will only accept one application 

per entity. 

Henri R. Bisson, 

Deputy Director, Operations, Bureau of Land 

Management. 

[FR Doc. E9–525 Filed 1–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–84–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[CO–921; COC–70538; CO–130; COC 69290] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Red Cliff Coal Mine and 

Associated Surface Facilities Including 

a Railroad Spur Line COC 69290, and 

Federal Coal Lease by Application 

COC 70538, in Garfield and Mesa 

Counties, CO 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM), Colorado State 

Office, Lakewood, Colorado, hereby 

gives notice that a public hearing will be 

held to receive comments on the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), 

Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) 

and Fair Market Value (FMV) of Federal 

coal to be offered. An application for 

coal lease was filed by CAM-Colorado, 

LLC (CAM) on September 12, 2006. As 

a result, the BLM offers for competitive 

lease 14,466 acres of Federal coal in 

Garfield County, Colorado. 

In accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976, the BLM has 

prepared a DEIS for the proposed Red 

Cliff Mine, located near Loma, Colorado. 

The DEIS responds to Right-of-Way 

(ROW) Applications for a railroad spur 

and associated mine facilities on 

Federal Lands, and an electrical 

transmission line. In addition, a Federal 

Coal Lease by Application (LBA) was 

submitted by CAM-Colorado, on 

September 12, 2006. The BLM is 

providing this notice to announce the 

availability of the Red Cliff Mine DEIS, 

the proposed LBA, and the public 

hearing requesting comments on the 

DEIS, MER and FMV, pursuant to 40 

CFR 1503.1 and 43 CFR 3425.4. 

The Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) is being prepared in cooperation 

with the Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM); 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); 

the Colorado Department of Natural 

Resources; the Colorado Division of 

Reclamation, Mining and Safety 

(CDRMS); the Colorado Division of 

Wildlife (CDOW); and Garfield and 

Mesa counties. 

The EIS analyzes the development of 

surface facilities for coal mining 

associated with CAM’s proposed 

underground Red Cliff Mine, including 

roads, a water pipeline, electric 

transmission line, conveyers, coal 

stockpile and waste disposal areas, a 

coal preparation plant, the mine portal, 

other administrative and operations 

facilities, and a railroad spur line that 

will connect to the existing Union 

Pacific Railroad line near Mack, 

Colorado. The EIS also considers the 

effects of extracting coal from CAM’s 

existing Federal coal leases, defined as 

logical mining unit COC–57198, and 

issuance of an adjoining Federal coal 

LBA COC–070538. This notice 

announces the opening of the public 

comment period for the DEIS. 

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS, 

MER, and FMV will be accepted for 60 

calendar days following the date that 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes a NOA in the Federal 

Register. The public hearing will be 

held at a date, time and location to be 

announced in the local media, 

displayed on the Web site http:// 

www.blm.gov/rmp/co/redcliffmine/, or 

obtained by calling the BLM Grand 

Junction Field Office at 970–244–3000, 

Monday through Friday between 7:30 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mountain Standard 

Time (MST). 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Web site: http://www.blm.gov/rmp/ 

co/redcliffmine/. 

• E-mail: 

RedCliffMineEIS@urscorp.com. 


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