61302 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 203 / Friday, October 21, 2005 / Notices 

water supply pump station with the 

water filtration/injection plants. 

The BLM consulted with the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service about potential 

effects on listed threatened and 

endangered species from project 

construction and operation. The Service 

reviewed the DEIS and provided 

comments. In March 2005, the BLM 

submitted a Biological Assessment to 

the Service, concluding that the project 

may adversely affect the Uintah Basin 

hookless cactus; may adversely affect 

the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback 

chub, bonytail and razorback sucker; 

and may adversely modify designated 

Critical Habitat for the four fish species 

through depletions from the Upper 

Colorado River System. In its Biological 

Opinion, the Service concurred with the 

BLM’s conclusions for these species. 

The Biological Opinion contains 

recommended conservation measures to 

protect and recover the Uinta Basin 

hookless cactus and the four Colorado 

River native fish. The BLM has adopted 

nearly all these conservation measures 

(with minor modifications), and has 

included these measures in the 

conditions of approval. One exception is 

the Service’s recommendation that no 

further surface occupancy by oil and gas 

facilities be approved in the Pariette 

ACEC. Due to valid existing lease rights, 

the BLM cannot stipulate a blanket ‘‘no 

surface occupancy’’ requirement for oil 

and gas development within this ACEC. 

However, BLM has decided to defer 

authorization of new wells and access 

roads within the ACEC boundaries until 

the needed inventories are completed. 

The FEIS is a complete document. It 

includes the Biological Opinion 

received from the Service, plus a 

presentation of substantive public 

comments received on the DEIS. The 

FEIS also includes BLM’s responses to 

these comments. The FEIS includes 

changes to the text in response to public 

comments on the DEIS. These changes 

were made to clarify, correct and/or 

expand information to aid the public’s 

understanding of the proposed project, 

reasonable alternatives and their effects 

on the environment. 

Dated: August 31, 2005. 

William Stringer, 

Field Manager, Vernal Field Office. 

[FR Doc. 05–21043 Filed 10–20–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

and Initiate the Public Scoping 

Process 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969 and the Federal Land Policy 

and Management Act of 1976, notice is 

hereby given that the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM), Challis Field 

Office, will be directing the preparation 

of an Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) that will analyze the mining 

impacts resulting from L&W Stone’s 

Amended Plan of Operations in Custer 

County, Idaho. 

DATES: The scoping comment period 

will commence with the publication of 

this notice and will end 45 days after 

publication of this notice. Two public 

meetings will be held during the 

scoping comment period. Comments on 

the scope of the EIS, including 

concerns, issues, or proposed 

alternatives that should be considered 

in the EIS should be submitted in 

writing to the address below. The dates 

of public meetings to be held in Challis 

and Boise, Idaho will be announced 

through the local media, newsletters, 

and BLM’s National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) mailing list. The 

draft EIS is expected to be available for 

public review and comment in June 

2006 and the final EIS is expected to be 

available in August 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be sent to Chuck Horsburgh, Project 

Leader, Idaho Falls District Office, 1405 

Hollipark Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho 

83401. Faxes should be sent to 208–

524–7505. Comments received on this 

proposal, including names and 

addresses, will be considered part of the 

public record and will be available for 

public inspection during regular office 

hours, Monday–Friday, 8–4:30 p.m. 

Individual respondents may request 

confidentiality. If you wish to withhold 

your name and street address from 

public review or from disclosure under 

the Freedom of Information Act, 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 and businesses, and 

from individuals identifying themselves 

as representatives or officials for 

organizations or businesses, will be 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chuck Horsburgh, Project Leader, Idaho 

Falls District Office, 1405 Hollipark 

Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401; or 

phone at (208) 524–7530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: L&W 

Stone Corporation mines locatable 

flagstone on public lands administered 

by the BLM’s Challis Field Office in 

Custer County, Idaho. L&W Stone 

submitted an Amended Plan of 

Operations for their quarry under the 43 

CFR 3809 Regulations in December 

2002. The BLM completed an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) 

regarding the Amended Plan of 

Operations, signed a Finding of No 

Significant Impact (FONSI), and 

approved the project. As a result of a 

lawsuit that was filed objecting to that 

approval, the BLM was ordered by a 

Federal District Court judge to prepare 

an EIS for the Amended Plan of 

Operations. The Amended Plan of 

Operations will serve as the basis for the 

EIS project description. The BLM will 

analyze a range of alternatives in the 

EIS. As proposed in the Amended Plan 

of Operations, the quarry would operate 

for up to 40 years. The main product 

that is mined is large-diameter sheets of 

rock called flagstone which is used in 

both indoor and outdoor decorative 

construction. 

Dated: August 30, 2005. 

David Rosenkrance, 

Challis Field Manager, BLM. 

[FR Doc. 05–21042 Filed 10–20–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–100–05–1310–DB] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (SEIS) for the Pinedale 

Anticline Oil and Gas and Exploration 

and Development Project, Sublette 

County, Wyoming, and Possible 

Amendment to the Pinedale Resource 

Management Plan 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to 

conduct public scoping and prepare an 

SEIS to the Pinedale Anticline Oil and 

Gas, and Exploration and Development 

Project Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision 

(ROD), July 2000. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the