[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 22 (Friday, February 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6201-6202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1760]


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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.

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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

[[Page 6202]]

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