Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 22 / Friday, February 1, 2008 / Notices 6201 

activities and uses be managed? (2) 

What facilities and infrastructure are 

appropriate to provide visitor 

interpretation and administration of the 

Monument? (3) How will the BLM 

manage resource uses and protect the 

biological, historical, cultural, and 

visual values of the Monument? (4) How 

will Monument management be 

integrated with other agency and 

community plans? (5) How will 

transportation and access be managed? 

(6) How will Monument management 

affect economic and social conditions in 

the area? 

Copies of the Proposed RMP and 

Final EIS for the Upper Missouri River 

Breaks National Monument have been 

sent to affected Federal, State, and Local 

Government agencies and to interested 

parties. Copies of the Proposed RMP 

and Final EIS are available for public 

inspection at the BLM Lewistown Field 

Office, 920 Northeast Main Street, 

Lewistown, Montana or at the Missouri 

Breaks Interpretive Center, 701 Seventh 

Street, Fort Benton, Montana. Interested 

persons may also review the Proposed 

RMP and Final EIS on the Internet at: 

http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/ 

lewistown_field_office/um_rmp

_process.html. 

Comments on the Draft RMP/EIS 

received from the public and internal 

BLM review comments were 

incorporated into the Proposed RMP 

and Final EIS. Public comments 

resulted in the addition of clarifying 

text, but did not significantly change 

proposed land use decisions. 

Instructions for filing a protest with 

the Director of the BLM regarding the 

Proposed RMP and Final EIS may be 

found at 43 CFR 1610.5–2. E-mail and 

faxed protests will not be accepted as 

valid protests unless the protesting 

party also provides the original letter by 

either regular or overnight mail 

postmarked by the close of the protest 

period. Under these conditions, the 

BLM will consider the e-mail or faxed 

protest as an advance copy and it will 

receive full consideration. If you wish to 

provide the BLM with such advance 

notification, please direct faxed protests 

to the attention of Brenda HudgensWilliams, Protest Coordinator, at 202–

452–5112, and e-mails to 

Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov. All 

protests, including the follow-up letter 

(if e-mailing or faxing) must be in 

writing and mailed to the following 

address: 

Regular Mail: Director (210), 

Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 

66538, Washington, DC 20035. 

Overnight Mail: Director (210), 

Attention: Brenda Williams, 1620 L 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20036. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

protest, you should be aware that your 

entire protest—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your protest to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

The Director will promptly render a 

decision on a protest. The decision will 

be in writing and will be sent to the 

protesting party by certified mail, return 

receipt requested. The decision of the 

Director is the final decision of the 

Department of the Interior. 

Gene R. Terland, 

State Director. 

[FR Doc. E8–1790 Filed 1–31–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–$$–P 

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[UT–070–1310–EJ] 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the West Tavaputs Plateau Natural Gas 

Full Field Development Plan, Carbon 

and Duchesne Counties, Utah 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

availability of the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (DEIS) for the West 

Tavaputs Plateau Natural Gas Full Field 

Development Plan prepared pursuant to 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (NEPA). The DEIS evaluates the 

impacts of development of natural gas 

resources on approximately 137,700 

acres of public, state, and private lands 

on the West Tavaputs Plateau in Carbon 

and Duchesne Counties, Utah. This 

NEPA analysis will provide a basis for 

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

to amend the applicable land use plan 

per 43 CFR 1610 if necessary. 

DATES: The 90-day public review and 

comment period of the DEIS will 

commence on the date the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes its notice of availability in the 

Federal Register. Comments must be 

submitted to the Price Field Office 

during this period to assure their 

consideration. Public open house 

meetings will be held in Price, 

Roosevelt, and in the Salt Lake City area 

to assist the public in its review of the 

DEIS and to accept written comments. 

Notice of these meetings will be 

publicized through various media, 

including the Utah BLM Environmental 

Notification Bulletin Board, at least 15 

days prior to the meetings. 

ADDRESSES: Address written comments 

to: Bureau of Land Management, Price 

Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, 

Utah 84501, Attn: West Tavaputs 

Plateau Natural Gas Full Field 

Development Plan DEIS, or submit them 

electronically at http://www.blm.gov/ut/ 

st/en/fo/price/energy/oil_gas/. 

Comments and information submitted 

on the DEIS, including names, e-mail 

addresses, and street addresses of 

respondents, will be available for public 

review and disclosure at the above 

address. All comment submittals must 

include the commenter’s name and 

street address. Before including your 

address, phone number, e-mail address, 

or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

FOR FURTHER INROMATION CONTACT: Brad 

Higdon, Environmental Coordinator, 

Price Field Office at (435) 636–3613. 

The West Tavaputs Plateau Natural Gas 

Full Field Development Plan DEIS is 

available online at http://www.blm.gov/ 

ut/st/en/fo/price/energy/oil_gas/ or at 

the Price Field Office. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS 

evaluates a proposal by Bill Barrett 

Corporation and other operators to 

develop up to 807 natural gas wells on 

approximately 538 well pads within the 

137,700 acre project area. The 

development plan proposal also 

includes a network of access roads, 

production facilities, and other 

operational infrastructure. 

To address potential effects on the 

multiple resources which make up the 

affected environment, the BLM, in 

coordination with its cooperating 

agencies, has developed five alternatives 

in the DEIS. The alternatives include a 

No Action Alternative, the Proposed 

Action, a Transportation Impact 

Reduction Alternative, a Conservation 

Alternative, and an Agency Preferred 

Alternative, which includes 

components from each of the former 

alternatives. The alternatives 

incorporate best management practices 

for oil and gas development and other 

measures necessary to adequately 

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6202 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 22 / Friday, February 1, 2008 / Notices 

address impacts to transportation, 

public safety, cultural resources, 

recreational opportunities, Wilderness 

Study Areas (WSA), non-WSA lands 

with wilderness characteristics, areas 

proposed for designation as Areas of 

Critical Environmental Concern, 

wildlife, Threatened and Endangered 

Species, visual resources, air quality, 

and other relevant issues. 

If components of the Proposed Action 

conflict with the Price River 

Management Framework Plan, the BLM 

must consider whether or not to amend 

the plan as part of its decision on full 

field development. A plan amendment 

would be necessary if the BLM, as part 

of its decision, approves an action that 

does not conform to the plan. Therefore, 

the DEIS discloses which full field 

development activities would not be in 

conformance with the plan and 

identifies which land use plan decisions 

would be amended. 

Selma Sierra, 

Utah State Director. 

[FR Doc. E8–1760 Filed 1–31–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1310–EJ–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Reclamation 

Yakima River Basin Water Storage 

Feasibility Study; Benton, Yakima, and 

Kittitas Counties, Washington 

INT–DES 08–03 

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability and 

Public Hearings on the Draft Planning 

Report and Environmental Impact 

Statement. 

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

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the 

Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) 

has prepared a combined Draft Planning 

Report and Environmental Impact 

Statement (Draft PR/EIS) on the Yakima 

River Basin Water Storage Feasibility 

Study (Storage Study). The Washington 

Department of Ecology (Ecology) is a 

joint lead with Reclamation in the 

preparation of the Draft PR/EIS which 

will also be used to comply with 

requirements of the Washington State 

Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The 

cooperating agencies on this study are 

Yakima County; the U.S. Department of 

the Army: Yakima Training Center and 

the Seattle District of the U.S. Corps of 

Engineers; and the U.S. Department of 

Energy: Office of River Protection. 

The purpose of the Yakima River 

Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study is 

to evaluate alternatives that would 

create additional water storage for the 

Yakima River basin and assess their 

potential to supply the water needed for 

ecosystem aquatic habitat, basin-wide 

agriculture, and municipal demands. 

The need for the study is based on the 

existing finite water supply and limited 

storage capability of the Yakima River 

basin in low water years. This finite 

supply and limited storage capacity do 

not meet the water supply demands in 

all years and result in significant 

adverse impact to the Yakima River 

basin’s economy, which is agriculturebased, and to the basin’s aquatic habitat, 

specifically, anadromous fisheries. The 

study seeks to identify means of 

increasing water storage available, 

including storage of Columbia River 

water, for purposes of improving 

anadromous fish habitat and meeting 

irrigation and municipal water supply 

needs. 

DATES: Meetings will be held on 2 days 

in two locations: 

• Wednesday, February 27, 2008, in 

Yakima, Washington. 

• Thursday, February 28, 2008, in 

Kennewick, Washington. 

On each day, an informational open 

house will occur from 1 to 2 p.m., 

followed by a public hearing to receive 

oral comments from 2 to 4 p.m. Another 

open house will occur from 6 to 7 p.m., 

followed by another public hearing from 

7 to 9 p.m. 

Requests for special assistance at the 

meetings should be submitted by 

February 15, 2008 (see SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section, Special Assistance 

for Public Meetings). 

Written comments on the draft PR/EIS 

will be accepted through March 31, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: Meetings will be held at the 

following locations: 

• Yakima, Washington: Yakima 

Convention Center, 10 North 8th St. 

• Kennewick, Washington: Three 

Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. 

Grandridge Blvd. 

The meeting facilities are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Written comments on the Draft PR/ 

EIS should be addressed to the Bureau 

of Reclamation, Upper Columbia Area 

Office, Attention: David Kaumheimer, 

Environmental Programs Manager, 1917 

Marsh Road, Yakima, Washington 

98901–2058. Comments may also be 

submitted electronically to 

storagestudy@pn.usbr.gov. Requests for 

paper or CD copies of the Draft PR/EIS 

may be made to (509) 575–5848, ext. 

612. 

See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section for locations where copies of the 

Draft PR/EIS are available for public 

review. 

Information on this project can also be 

found at http://www.usbr.gov/pn/ 

programs/storage_study/index.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Contact David Kaumheimer, 

Environmental Programs Manager, 

Telephone: (509) 575–5848, extension 

232. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Hearing Process Information 

Requests to make oral comments at 

the public hearings may be made at each 

hearing. In order to ensure that all those 

interested in providing oral comments 

have an opportunity to do so, oral 

comments at the hearings will be 

limited to 5 minutes. Comments will be 

recorded by a court reporter. Speakers 

will be called in the order indicated on 

the sign in list for speaking. Speakers 

not present when called will be recalled 

at the end of the scheduled speakers. 

Speakers may provide written versions 

of their oral comments, or other 

additional written comments, for the 

hearing record. Longer comments 

should be summarized at the public 

hearing and submitted in writing either 

at the public hearing or identified as 

hearing comments and mailed within 7 

days of the hearing date to Mr. Dave 

Kaumheimer as indicated under the 

ADDRESSES section. 

Background Information 

Reclamation has undertaken this 

study to explore ways to augment water 

supplies in the Yakima River Basin for 

the benefit of anadromous fish, irrigated 

agriculture, and municipal water supply 

under the authority of Public Law 108–

7, Title II, Section 214 which was 

passed by Congress on February 20, 

2003. Public Law 108–7 states: 

The Secretary of the Interior, acting 

through the Bureau of Reclamation, shall 

conduct a feasibility study of options for 

additional water storage in the Yakima River 

Basin, Washington, with emphasis on the 

feasibility of storage of Columbia River water 

in the potential Black Rock Reservoir and the 

benefit of additional storage to endangered 

and threatened fish, irrigated agriculture, and 

municipal water supply. There are 

authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Ecology is a joint lead with 

Reclamation in the preparation of this 

Draft PR/EIS which also complies with 

SEPA. In addition to the No Action 

Alternative, this jointly prepared Draft 

PR/EIS provides NEPA coverage for 

three storage alternatives, referred to as 

the Joint Alternatives, which 

Reclamation and Ecology are 

considering as part of the Storage Study. 

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