4140 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 18 / Friday, January 28, 2005 / Notices 

ACTION: Call for nominations for the 

Steens Mountain Advisory Council 

(SMAC). 

SUMMARY: BLM is publishing this notice 

under Section 9(a)(2) of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act. Pursuant to 

the Steens Mountain Cooperative 

Management and Protection Act of 2000 

(Public Law 106–399), BLM gives notice 

that the Secretary of the Interior intends 

to call for nominations for terms 

expiring on the SMAC. This notice 

requests the public to submit 

nominations for membership on the 

SMAC. Any individual or organization 

may nominate one or more persons to 

serve on the SMAC. Individuals may 

nominate themselves for SMAC 

membership. Nomination forms may be 

obtained from the Burns District Office, 

Bureau of Land Management (see 

address below). To make a nomination, 

submit a completed nomination form, 

letters of reference from the represented 

interests or organizations, and any other 

information that speaks to the 

nominee’s qualifications, to the Burns 

District Office. Nominations may be 

made for the following categories of 

interest: 

• One person who is a grazing 

permittee on Federal land in the Steens 

Mountain Cooperative Management and 

Protection Area (CMPA) (appointed 

from nominees submitted by the County 

Court of Harney County); 

• One person who is a recognized 

environmental representative from the 

local area (appointed from nominees 

submitted by the Governor of Oregon); 

• A person who participates in what 

is commonly called dispersed 

recreation, such as hiking, camping, 

nature viewing, nature photography, 

bird watching, horseback riding, or trail 

walking (appointed from nominees 

submitted by the Oregon State Director 

of the BLM); and 

• A person with expertise and 

interest in wild horse management on 

Steens Mountain (appointed from 

nominees submitted by the Oregon State 

Director for BLM). 

The specific category the nominee 

will represent should be identified in 

the letter of nomination. The Burns 

District will collect the nomination 

forms and letters of reference and 

distribute them to the officials 

responsible for submitting nominations 

(County Court of Harney County, the 

Governor of Oregon, and BLM). BLM 

will then forward recommended 

nominations to the Secretary of the 

Interior, who has responsibility for 

making the appointments.

DATES: Nominations should be 

submitted to the address listed below no 

later than 30 days after publication of 

this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rhonda Karges, Management Support 

Specialist, Burns District Office, 28910 

Hwy 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738, 

(541) 573–4433, or 

Rhonda_Karges@or.blm.gov or from the 

following Web site http://

www.or.blm.gov/steens (Public Law 

106–399 in its entirety can be found on 

the Steens Web site as previously cited.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the SMAC is to advise BLM 

on the management of the CMPA as 

described in Title 1 of Public Law 106–

399. Each member will be a person who, 

as a result of training and experience, 

has knowledge or special expertise 

which qualifies him or her to provide 

advice for one or more of the interest 

categories listed above. 

Members of the SMAC are appointed 

for terms of 3 years. The Grazing 

Permittee, Environmental 

Representative, Dispersed Recreation, 

and Wild Horse Management position 

terms will expire August 2005. These 

four positions will begin no earlier than 

August 2005 and will end August 2008. 

Members will serve without monetary 

compensation, but will be reimbursed 

for travel and per diem expenses at 

current rates for Government 

employees. The SMAC shall meet only 

at the call of the Designated Federal 

Official, but not less than once per year.

Dated: December 21, 2004. 

Karla Bird, 

Andrews Resource Area Field Manager, 

Bureau of Land Management, Burns, Oregon.

[FR Doc. 05–1596 Filed 1–27–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–33–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[AK–931–1310–DT–NPRA] 

Notice of Availability of the 

Amendment to the Northeast National 

Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Final 

Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental 

Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The Amendment to the 

Northeast National Petroleum ReserveAlaska (NPR-A) Final Integrated 

Activity Plan/ Environmental Impact 

Statement (IAP/EIS) will be made 

available to the public for a 30-day 

period beginning on the date the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

files a Notice of Availability of the Final 

IAP/EIS in the Federal Register. The 

EPA notice is expected to occur on or 

about January 28, 2005. A Record of 

Decision (ROD) will be issued after the 

30-day availability period. The ROD 

will identify the selected alternative as 

well as mitigation measures. 

The Final IAP/EIS addresses two 

primary objectives for the amendment of 

the Northeast National Petroleum 

Reserve-Alaska IAP/EIS. 

1. Consider making available all or 

portions of lands currently closed to oil 

and gas leasing in the Planning Area; 

and, 

2.Consider developing performancebased lease stipulations and ROPs to 

provide the BLM greater flexibility in 

protecting important surface resources 

from the impacts of oil and gas 

activities, similar to those developed for 

the Northwest National Petroleum 

Reserve—Alaska. 

Location of the Document: The Final 

IAP/EIS will be available in either hard 

copy or on compact disk at the Alaska 

State Office, Public Information Center 

at 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, 

Alaska 99513–7599. Copies of the Final 

IAP/EIS will also be available at the 

following locations: Tuzzy Public 

Library, Barrow, Alaska; City of 

Nuiqsut, Nuiqsut, Alaska; City of 

Atqasuk, Atqasuk, Alaska; City of 

Anaktuvuk Pass, Anaktuvuk Pass, 

Alaska; City of Bethel, Bethel, Alaska, Z. 

J. Loussac Public Library, Anchorage, 

AK; Noel Wien Public Library, 

Fairbanks, AK. 

The final IAP/EIS will also be 

available on the project Web site at 

http://nenpra.ensr.com/nenpra/

default.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Childs, BLM Alaska State office 

(907) 271–1985.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Northeast Planning Area (Planning 

Area) boundary encompasses 

approximately 4.6 million acres located 

in the northeastern portion of the 

National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The 

Planning Area is roughly bounded by 

the Beaufort Sea to the North, the 

Ikpikpuk River to the west and the 

Colville River to the east and south of 

the planning area. The 1998 Record of 

Decision (ROD) for the Northeast 

Planning area provided 87% of the area 

for oil and gas leasing; however, 

approximately 840,000 acres, much of 

the area surrounding the Teshekpuk 

Lake, including the lake, was made 

unavailable for leasing under the 1998 

ROD. In 2002, the President’s National 

Energy Policy Development Group 

recommended that the President direct 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 18 / Friday, January 28, 2005 / Notices 4141

the Secretary of the Interior to consider 

additional environmentally responsible 

oil and gas development, based on 

sound science and the best available 

technology, through further lease sales 

in the National Petroleum ReserveAlaska and that such consideration 

should include areas not currently 

leased within the northeast corner of the 

National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. In 

addition, Public Law 96–514 of 

December 12, 1980, amended the 

NPRPA authorizing oil and gas leasing 

in the reserve and as codified in 42 

U.S.C. 6508 stated, ‘‘There shall be 

conducted, not withstanding any other 

provision of law and pursuant to such 

rules and regulations as the Secretary 

may prescribe, an expeditious program 

of competitive leasing of oil and gas in 

the National Petroleum Reserve in 

Alaska; provided, that: (1) Activities 

undertaken pursuant to this section 

shall include or provide for such 

conditions, restrictions, and 

prohibitions as the Secretary deems 

necessary or appropriate to mitigate 

reasonably foreseeable and significantly 

adverse effects on the surface resources 

of the National Petroleum Reserve in 

Alaska * * *.’’ In exercising this 

authority a revised Preferred Alternative 

which incorporates additional surface 

protection measures has been developed 

to safeguard important resources and 

subsistence activities. This Final IAP/

EIS amendment contains four 

alternatives for a land management plan 

for the 4.6 million-acre planning area 

and assessments of each plan’s impacts 

on the surface resources present there, 

as well as the cumulative effects of each 

alternative. 

A Draft Amended IAP/EIS was made 

available for a 76-day comment period 

on June 9, 2004. Scoping and comment 

meetings on the Draft IAP/EIS were held 

in Bethel, Nuiqsut, Atqasuk, Barrow, 

Anaktuvuk Pass, Fairbanks, Anchorage, 

and Washington, DC. The Northeast 

Planning Area provides particularly 

important habitat for caribou, 

waterfowl, subsistence species, and 

other waterfowl. Many of the local 

residents of the area rely on harvesting 

these resources for subsistence 

purposes. Ensuring adequate protection 

of these resources has been one of the 

main focuses of public comment. The 

BLM held public hearings on 

subsistence as well as public hearings 

on the Draft IAP/EIS. The first set of 

subsistence hearings was held in 

conjunction with the public hearings on 

the Draft IAP/EIS during the weeks of 

June 28, August 9 and 16 in Bethel, 

Nuiqsut, Atqasuk, Barrow, Anaktuvuk 

Pass, Fairbanks, Anchorage (all in 

Alaska) and Washington, DC. An 

additional set of subsistence hearings 

was held in the effected Alaska North 

Slope communities of Nuiqsut, 

Ataqasuk, Barrow and Anaktuvuk Pass, 

Alaska, as well as the community of 

Bethel, Alaska, in the Yukon Delta, 

during the weeks of October 25 and 

November 29. Under the final Preferred 

Alternative, approximately 4,389,000 

acres of BLM administered subsurface 

estate within the Planning Area would 

be available for oil and gas leasing. 

Teshekpuk Lake would be deferred from 

oil and gas leasing under this 

alternative. In addition, there would be 

no recommended Wilderness Study 

Areas or Wild and Scenic Rivers. Lease 

stipulations and required operating 

procedures under the final Preferred 

Alternative, would establish setbacks 

prohibiting permanent facilities within 

1⁄4 to 1 mile along major rivers and 1 to 

3 miles along Fish Creek; 1⁄4 mile 

shoreward from deep water lakes and 3⁄4

mile along coastal areas, to protect 

subsistence resources/activities and 

other important surface resources. No 

Surface Occupancy for permanent oil 

and gas development stipulations were 

included which would protect goose 

molting areas, caribou movement 

corridors, and the southern caribou 

calving grounds. Multi-year studies 

would be required prior to development 

to protect spectacled and Steller’s 

eiders, yellow-billed loons, and caribou. 

Other stipulations and required 

operating procedures would establish 

restrictions and guidance that apply to 

waste prevention and spills, water use, 

winter overland moves and seismic 

activity, exploratory drilling, aircraft use 

and subsistence consultation. 

The no action alternative calls for 

continuation of current management, 

which does provide for continued 

leasing in the area previously made 

available for oil and gas leasing through 

the 1998 Northeast National Petroleum 

Reserve-Alaska IAP/EIS and Record of 

Decision. Alternatives A through C 

make progressively more land, available 

for oil and gas leasing. The final 

Proposed Action, Altnerative D, would 

make a more land available Alternatives 

A, but less land available than 

Alternatives B or C. Alternative A, 

makes available 87% of the planning 

area available for oil and gas leasing; 

Alternative B makes 96% percent of the 

planning area available for oil and gas 

leasing; Alternative C makes 100% of 

the planning area available for oil and 

gas leasing; and the final Proposed 

Action, Alternative D, makes 

approximately 95% available for oil and 

gas leasing. Performance-based 

stipulations and (ROPs) would provide 

protection for natural and cultural 

resources under all alternatives: B, C, 

and D, but their nature, number and 

scope varies between the alternatives. 

Alternative A, the No Action 

Alternative, would continue to protect 

the planning area with stipulations 

implemented throughout the 1998 

Northeast Record of Decision.

Dated: December 6, 2004. 

Henri R. Bisson, 

State Director, Alaska.

[FR Doc. 05–1730 Filed 1–27–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[UTU76532] 

Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of 

Terminated Oil and Gas Lease, Utah 

December 22, 2004.

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with Title IV of 

the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty 

Management Act (Public Law 97–451), a 

petition for reinstatement of oil and gas 

lease UTU76532 for lands in San Juan 

County, Utah, was timely filed and 

required rentals accruing from July 1, 

2004, the date of termination, have been 

paid.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Teresa Catlin, Acting Chief, Branch of 

Fluid Minerals at (801) 539–4122.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The lessee 

has agreed to new lease terms for rentals 

and royalties at rates of $5 per acre and 

16–2⁄3 percent, respectively. The $500 

administrative fee for the lease has been 

paid and the lessee has reimbursed the 

Bureau of Land Management for the cost 

of publishing this notice. 

Having met all the requirements for 

reinstatement of the lease as set out in 

Section 31(d) and (e) of the Mineral 

Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 188), the 

Bureau of Land Management is 

proposing to reinstate lease UTU76532, 

effective July 1, 2004, subject to the 

original terms and conditions of the 

lease and the increased rental and 

royalty rates cited above.

Robert Henricks, 

Acting Chief, Branch of Fluid Minerals.

[FR Doc. 05–1593 Filed 1–27–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–$$–P