21006 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices

Total Estimated Burden Hours: 8,032.

Status: Reinstate approval with

change.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 35, as

amended.

Dated: April 11, 2000.

Wayne Eddins,

Departmental Reports Management Officer,

Office of the Chief Information Office.

[FR Doc. 00–9734 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Letters of Authorization to Take Marine

Mammals

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of Letters of

Authorization to take marine mammals

incidental to oil and gas industry

activities.

SUMMARY: In accordance with section

101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal

Protection Act of 1972, as amended, and

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

implementing regulations [50 CFR

18.27(f)(3)], notice is hereby given that

Letters of Authorization to take polar

bears and Pacific walrus incidental to

oil and gas industry exploration,

development, and production activities

have been issued to the following

companies:

Company Activity Date issued

Exxon Mobil Exploration ... March 16,

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, (800)

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 5275;

February 3, 2000).’’

Dated: March 27, 2000.

Gary Edwards,

Deputy Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–9726 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT–070–99–5101–00; J–608; UTU–77149,

UTU–77164, UTU–78301, FERC Doc. No.

CP00–68–000]

San Juan County, New Mexico; La

Plata, Montezuma, Dolores, and San

Miguel Counties, Colorado; and San

Juan, Grand, Emery, Carbon, Sanpete,

Utah, Juab and Salt Lake Counties,

Utah; EIS for a Refined Petroleum

Products Pipeline, Natural Gas

Pipelines and Utility Corridor Analysis

and Plan Amendments

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Utah.

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to

Prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) (original notice was

published April 28, 1999, (FR Vol. 64,

No. 83 p. 23349–23351) for the

construction of underground pipeline

facilities and above ground structures

for the transportation of Refined

Petroleum Products and Natural Gas

and Notice of Scoping Meetings.

SUMMARY: On April 28, 1999, the Bureau

of Land Management, Utah, announced

its intent to prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) and conduct EIS

Scoping Meetings for: (1) Construction

of Pipeline Facilities and Transportation

of refined petroleum products via

underground pipeline in San Juan

County, New Mexico; La Plata,

Montezuma, Dolores, and San Miguel

Counties, Colorado; and San Juan,

Grand, Emery, Carbon, Sanpete, Utah,

Juab and Salt Lake Counties, Utah; and

(2) Construction of Pipeline Facilities

and Transportation of natural gas via an

underground pipeline in Emery, Carbon,

Sanpete, Utah, Juab, and Salt Lake

Counties. This revised notice is to

clarify the proposals, nature of the

proposals, responsible officials, roles of

responsible officials, and decisions.

This revised notice also updates the

project schedule and public

involvement.

Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) of 1969, the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM), Utah State Office,

will be the lead agency directing the

preparation of an EIS on the impacts of

proposed transportation of refined

petroleum products and natural gas

through pipelines located on public

lands, including BLM and National

Forest System, State, and private lands

in northwest New Mexico, southwest

Colorado, and southeast to north-central

Utah. In addition, the EIS will also

analyze utility corridors across the

Manti-LaSal and Uinta National Forests

to identify the use and allocate National

Forest System Lands which may or may

not expand the existing designated

corridors and/or identify other

corridors. This analysis may result in

Forest Plan amendments to the MantiLaSal and Uinta National Forest Land

and Resource Management Plans. The

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

(FERC) and USDA Forest Service,

Manti-LaSal and Uinta National Forests,

will be participating in the EIS

preparation as Cooperating Agencies in

accordance with Title 40, Code of

Federal Regulations, Section 1501.6.

The EIS will address all reasonable

alternatives including locating the

pipelines on and off USFS and public

lands.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Williams

Pipeline Company has proposed to

transport refined petroleum products to

the Wasatch Front in Utah, using a

combination of existing pipelines in

New Mexico and Colorado, and a new

segment of pipeline in Utah from near

Crescent Junction, Utah to a terminal on

the Wasatch Front. The refined

petroleum products would include

diesel fuel, fuel oil, jet fuel, and

gasoline. In addition to the Williams

proposal, Questar Pipeline Company

(Questar) and Kern River Gas

Transmission Company (Kern River)

have proposals to transport natural gas

from Price, Utah to the Wasatch Front

and connect to an existing Kern River

pipeline located in central Juab county

and western Utah county. Questar has

proposed to loop it’s existing pipeline

from Price to Payson, provide naturalgas service to the communities of

Goshen, Genola, and Elberta, and

connect to the existing Kern River

Pipeline near Elberta. Kern River has

proposed to construct a new pipeline

from Price to near Indianola, then to a

point just north of Nephi, and then

westerly to intersect the existing Kern

River Pipeline in Dog Valley.

Preliminary Issues

Issues identified at this time include:

biology; visual resources; soils, water,

and air resources and quality;

threatened, endangered and sensitive

plant and animal species; cultural and

historic resources; public health and

safety; geologic and land stability;

roadless areas; multiple entries resulting

in repetitive impacts and the ability to

meet use demands; capacity of the

utility corridor; and social and

economic impacts in association with

oil and natural gas pipeline construction

and operation. Other issues and

concerns may be identified through

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices 21007

scoping and development of this public

notification process.

Possible Alternatives

The EIS will analyze the Proposed

Action and No-Action Alternative as

well as corridor capacity. Other

alternatives may include different routes

for portions of the proposed pipelines,

fewer but larger pipelines in the

corridor, and optional sites for pipeline

facilities, as well as mitigating measures

to minimize impacts.

Responsible Officials

The Responsible Officials are: Sally

Wisely, the BLM Utah State Director

(Utah State Office, 324 South State

Street, Suite 301, Salt Lake City, Utah

84111; the Manti-LaSal National Forest

Supervisor (Manti-LaSal National

Forest, 599 West Price River Drive,

Price, Utah 84501); and Peter W. Karp,

the Uinta National Forest Supervisor

(Uinta National Forest, 88 West 100

North, Provo, Utah 84601). Additional

information about the natural gas

pipeline proposals is available from

Paul McKee of the FERC’s Office of

External Affairs at (202) 208–1088 (refer

to Docket No. CP00–68–000).

Decisions to be Made

The purpose of the EIS is to disclose

to the public and permitting agencies

the environmental impacts of

constructing and operating the proposed

projects. If one or more of the projects

are approved, the participating agencies

would take the following actions. The

BLM, as the lead agency, would sign the

necessary Record of Decision (ROD) for

the issuance of right-of-way grants

under the Mineral Leasing Act for the

pipeline proposals. FERC, as a

Cooperating Agency and the regulatory

agency for the transmission of natural

gas in interstate commerce, would issue

the natural gas pipeline companies

Certificates of Public Convenience and

Necessity under the Natural Gas Act.

The Forest Service, as a cooperating

agency, would sign the necessary

Record(s) of Decision for the Forest

Land and Resource Management Plan

Amendments (may include standards

and guidelines) on the Manti-LaSal and

Uinta National Forests. The USFS ROD

would also include the use and

allocation of National Forest System

Lands which may or may not expand

the existing designated utility

corridor(s) and/or identify other

corridor(s).

Tentative Project Schedule

The tentative project schedule is as

follows:

• Begin Public Comment Period—

April 1999.

• Scoping Meetings—May and June

1999, May 10, 11, 2000.

• Scoping Comment Period Ends—

May 17, 2000.

• File Draft EIS—October 1, 2000.

• File Final EIS—February 2001.

• Record of Decision—March, 2001.

Public Scoping Meetings

Nine public scoping meetings were

held on the following dates and in the

following locations: May 18, 1999,

Green River, Utah, May 19, 1999, Moab,

Utah, May 20, 1999, Price, Utah, May

25, 1999, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 26,

1999, Payson, Utah, May 27, 1999, Lehi,

Utah, June 2, 1999, Dolores, Colorado,

June 3, 1999, Durango, Colorado, and

June 23, 1999, Price, Utah. Additional

public scoping meetings will be held in

West Valley City, Utah, on May 10,

2000, and at Nephi, Utah on May 11,

2000.

Public Input Requested

Comments concerning the Proposed

Action and EIS should address

environmental issues to be considered,

feasible alternatives to examine,

possible mitigation, and information

relevant to or bearing on the Proposed

Action.

DATES: An additional comment period

for scoping of the EIS will commence

with publication of this revised notice.

Written comments must be submitted

on or before May 19, 2000.

Comments, including names and

street addresses of respondents will be

available for public review at the BLM

Utah State Office and will be subject to

disclosure under the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA). They may be

published as part of the EIS and other

related documents. Individual

respondents may request

confidentiality. If you wish to withhold

your name or street address from public

review and disclosure under the FOIA,

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 or businesses, will

be made available for public inspection

in their entirety.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

LaVerne Steah, EIS Team Leader,

Bureau of Land Management, Utah State

Office, 324 South State Street, Suite 301,

Salt Lake City, UT 84111 or at the

website: QWK–EIS.ORG.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

LaVerne Steah, (801) 539–4114 or email: LaVerne Steah@blm.gov

Dated: April 10, 2000.

Linda Colville,

Acting Utah State Director.

[FR Doc. 00–9460 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–U

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submitted for Office of

Management and Budget Review,

Comment Request

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service

(MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection.

SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, we are soliciting

comments on an information collection

titled Office of Indian Royalty

Assistance Customer Satisfaction

Survey, OMB 1010–0098, which expires

on November 30, 2000. We are

preparing an information collection

request, which we will submit to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB), for a 3-year extension of this

information collection.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The mailing address for

written comments regarding this

information collection is David S. Guzy,

Chief, Rules and Publications Staff,

Minerals Management Service, Royalty

Management Program, P.O. Box 25165,

MS 3021, Denver, Colorado 80225.

Courier address is Building 85, Room

A–613, Denver Federal Center, Denver,

Colorado 80225. The Internet address is

RMP.comments@mms.gov.

PUBLIC COMMENT PROCEDURE If you wish

to comment, you may submit your

comments by any one of several

methods and to the mailing addresses

stated in the ADDRESSES section of this

Notice. Please submit Internet

comments as an ASCII file avoiding the

use of special characters and any form

of encryption. Please also include Attn:

Office of Indian Royalty Assistance

Customer Satisfaction Survey, OMB

Control Number 1010–0098, and your

name and return address in your

Internet message. If you do not receive

a confirmation from the system that we

have received your Internet message,

contact David S. Guzy directly (303)

231–3432.

We will post public comments after

the comment period closes on the

Internet at http://www.rmp.mms.gov.

You may arrange to view paper copies

of the comments by contacting David S.

Guzy, Chief, Rules and Publications