52362 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 25, 2010 / Notices 

5240, TDD 916–978–5608, or via e-mail 

at mmayville@usbr.gov. Please notify 

Ms. Mayville as far in advance as 

possible to enable Reclamation to secure 

the needed services. If a request cannot 

be honored, the requestor will be 

notified. A telephone device for the 

hearing impaired (TDD) is available at 

916–978–5608. 

Public Disclosure 

Before including your name, address, 

phone number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in any 

correspondence, you should be aware 

that your entire correspondence— 

including your personal identifying 

information—may be made publicly 

available at any time. While you may 

ask us in your correspondence to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: July 14, 2010. 

Pablo R. Arroyave, 

Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region. 

[FR Doc. 2010–21141 Filed 8–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLUTG01100–09–L13100000–EJ0000] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

To Conduct Public Scoping for the 

Monument Butte Area Oil and Gas 

Development Project, Duchesne and 

Uintah Counties, UT 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

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

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM), Vernal Field Office, 

Vernal, Utah, will prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

to study the impacts of various 

development alternatives for oil and 

natural gas resources in the Monument 

Butte Area. This notice announces the 

public scoping period. 

DATES: A 30-day public scoping period 

will commence the date this notice is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Comments on issues, potential impacts, 

or suggestions for alternatives can be 

submitted in writing to the address 

listed below by September 24, 2010. 

Public meetings will be conducted 

during the scoping period in Duchesne 

and Vernal, Utah. The date, place, and 

time will be announced through the 

local news media and the BLM Web site 

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/ 

planning.html at least 15 days prior to 

the meetings. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• Mail: Bureau of Land Management, 

Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, 

Vernal, Utah 84078. 

• E-mail: 

UT_Vernal_Comments@blm.gov. 

• Fax: (435) 781–4410. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Wimmer, BLM Project Lead, at 

(435) 781–4400. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document provides notice that the BLM 

Vernal Field Office, Vernal, Utah, 

intends to prepare an EIS and hold a 

public scoping period. The purpose of 

the public scoping process is to 

determine relevant issues that will 

influence the scope of the 

environmental analysis and EIS 

alternatives. You may submit comments 

in writing to the BLM at the public 

scoping meetings, or you may submit 

them to the BLM using one of the 

methods listed in the ADDRESSES section 

above. The public is encouraged to 

participate during the scoping process 

to help identify issues of concern 

related to the proposed action, 

determine the depth of the analysis 

needed for issues addressed in the EIS, 

identify potential mitigation measures, 

and identify reasonable alternatives to 

be evaluated in the EIS. 

When submitting your comments, 

please reference the Monument Butte 

EIS for BLM’s recordkeeping purposes. 

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. 

The Vernal Field Office’s Approved 

Resource Management Plan, RMP, 

(October 2008) directs the management 

of BLM-administered public lands 

within the analysis area. 

Implementation of oil and gas 

development in the Monument Butte 

Project Area would conform to all 

applicable conditions and requirements 

in the Vernal RMP. 

The project and EIS will encompass 

approximately 119,830 acres in 

Duchesne and Uintah Counties, Utah. 

The project is located on lands 

administered by the BLM (103,912 

acres), the BIA-Uintah and Ouray 

Agency (36 acres), the State of Utah 

(12,866 acres), and private interests 

(3,016 acres). Mineral interests are 

owned by the BLM (89 percent), the 

State of Utah (10 percent), and private 

interests (less than 1 percent). 

The Monument Butte oil and gas field 

has been largely developed. The 

proposed action consists of secondary 

recovery using waterflood methods and 

deep gas drilling. Waterflood methods 

involve the injection of water through 

formerly producing or new wells into 

the oil-producing geologic formation. 

Nearby actively producing wells then 

extract the hydrocarbons through the 

formation as the water displaces the oil. 

In addition to waterflood plans, some 

portions of the project area along the 

northwest and southern project 

boundaries would be subject to step out 

development (expansion away from 

existing development). 

Integral to the project is the phased 

installation of a field electrification 

system in the project area to be 

completed over approximately 7 years. 

Electrical power would then be used to 

run water treatment and injection 

facilities, centralized tank batteries, 

compressor stations, engines and 

turbines at the proposed gas processing 

plant, and at most well site facilities to 

power dehydrators, separators, and 

pump jacks. 

The project includes a total of 5,750 

wells consisting of: 750 vertical oil 

wells (to be converted to injection wells 

for waterflood recovery), 2,500 

directional oil wells, 2,500 vertical deep 

gas wells, 238 miles of new access road, 

361 miles of upgraded road, 599 miles 

of rights-of-way (some collocated with 

roads), 20 new compressor stations, 

expansion of 3 existing compressor 

stations, 8 new and expansion of 6 

existing electric water treatment and 

injection facilities, 12 new and 

expansion of 2 existing centralized tank 

batteries, 1 new 50 MMscf/d (Million 

standard cubic feet per day) centralized 

gas processing plant, 599 miles of 

overhead or buried electrical 

distribution/transmission lines for fieldwide electrification, 1 freshwater 

collector well for waterflood operations, 

and 6 new 200-hp water pump stations. 

The following resources have been 

identified by the Vernal Field Office as 

potentially impacted by the Monument 

Butte Project: Air quality, cultural 

resources, livestock grazing, 

paleontological resources, recreation, 

socioeconomics, soil resources, Pariette 

and Lower Green River Areas of Critical 

Environmental Concern, suitable Lower 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 25, 2010 / Notices 52363 

Green River Wild and Scenic River 

segment, wilderness characteristics, 

threatened or endangered plant species, 

vegetation, visual resources, water 

resources, and wildlife. This is not an 

all-inclusive list, but rather a starting 

point for public input and a means of 

identifying resource disciplines needed 

to conduct the analysis. 

Juan Palma, 

State Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–21184 Filed 8–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R4–R–2009–N272; 40136–1265–0000– 

S3] 

Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife 

Refuge, Ouachita Parish, LA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability: Final 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

finding of no significant impact. 

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service), announce the 

availability of our final comprehensive 

conservation plan (CCP) and finding of 

no significant impact (FONSI) for the 

environmental assessment for Black 

Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge 

(NWR). In the final CCP, we describe 

how we will manage this refuge for the 

next 15 years. 

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of 

the CCP by writing to: Mr. George 

Chandler, North Louisiana National 

Wildlife Refuge Complex, 11372 

Highway 143, Farmerville, LA 71241. 

The CCP may also be accessed and 

downloaded from the Service’s Web 

site: http://southeast.fws.gov/planning/ 

under ‘‘Final Documents.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

George Chandler; telephone: 318–726– 

4222; fax: 318–726–4667; e-mail: 

george_chandler@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Introduction 

With this notice, we finalize the CCP 

process for Black Bayou Lake NWR. We 

started this process through a notice in 

the Federal Register on May 8, 2008 (73 

FR 26139). 

The Black Bayou Lake NWR is a unit 

of the North Louisiana National Wildlife 

Refuge Complex. In addition to Black 

Bayou Lake NWR, the Complex includes 

D’Arbonne, Upper Ouachita, Handy 

Brake, and Red River NWRs, and the 

Louisiana Farm Service Agency Tracts. 

Each refuge has unique issues and has 

had separate planning efforts and public 

involvement. 

The Black Bayou Lake NWR plays an 

important role regionally in fulfilling 

the national goals of the National 

Wildlife Refuge System. Its close 

proximity to a major metropolitan 

center gives the public the ability to 

participate in educational opportunities 

that promote wildlife stewardship and 

to learn about environmental issues. 

Black Bayou Lake NWR, established 

in 1997, is 3 miles north of the city of 

Monroe, Louisiana, just east of Highway 

165 in Ouachita Parish. It contains 4,522 

acres of wetland, bottomland hardwood, 

and upland mixed pine/hardwood 

habitats. Although the suburban sprawl 

of the city of Monroe surrounds much 

of its boundary, the refuge itself 

represents many habitat types and is 

home to a diversity of plants and 

animals. Black Bayou Lake NWR is 

situated in the Mississippi Flyway, the 

Mississippi Alluvial Valley Bird 

Conservation Region, and the Lower 

Mississippi River Ecosystem. 

Black Bayou Lake NWR was 

established for ‘‘the conservation of the 

wetlands of the nation in order to 

maintain the public benefits they 

provide and to help fulfill international 

obligations contained in various 

migratory bird treaties and conventions’’ 

16 U.S.C. 3901 (b) (Wetlands Extension 

Act). 

The central physical feature of the 

refuge is the lake itself. Black Bayou 

Lake, consisting of approximately 1,500 

acres, is studded with baldcypress and 

water tupelo trees. The western half of 

the lake is open and deeper, unlike the 

eastern side, which is thick with trees 

and emergent vegetation. This portion of 

the lake is naturally filling in. The lake 

is owned by the city of Monroe, which 

manages its water level as a secondary 

source of municipal water. The Service 

has a 99-year free lease on the lake and 

some of its surrounding land, 

constituting a total of 1,620 acres. The 

refuge owns the remaining 2,902 acres, 

consisting of upland pine/hardwood 

and bottomland hardwood forests. 

We announce our decision and the 

availability of the final CCP and FONSI 

for Black Bayou Lake NWR in 

accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) [40 

CFR 1506.6(b)] requirements. We 

completed a thorough analysis of 

impacts on the human environment, 

which we included in the Draft 

Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 

Environmental Assessment (Draft CCP/ 

EA). The CCP will guide us in managing 

and administering Black Bayou Lake 

NWR for the next 15 years. Alternative 

B is the foundation for the CCP. 

The compatibility determinations for 

wildlife observation and photography; 

environmental education and 

interpretation; big game hunting; small 

game hunting; migratory bird hunting; 

fishing; hiking, jogging, and walking; 

boating; all-terrain vehicles; plant 

gathering; bicycling; and forest 

management/timber harvest are 

available in the CCP. 

Background 

The National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 

668dd–668ee) (Administration Act), as 

amended by the National Wildlife 

Refuge System Improvement Act of 

1997, requires us to develop a CCP for 

each national wildlife refuge. The 

purpose in developing a CCP is to 

provide refuge managers with a 15-year 

plan for achieving refuge purposes and 

contributing toward the mission of the 

National Wildlife Refuge System, 

consistent with sound principles of fish 

and wildlife management, conservation, 

legal mandates, and our policies. In 

addition to outlining broad management 

direction on conserving wildlife and 

their habitats, CCPs identify wildlifedependent recreational opportunities 

available to the public, including 

opportunities for hunting, fishing, 

wildlife observation, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation. We will 

review and update the CCP at least 

every 15 years in accordance with the 

Administration Act. 

Comments 

We made copies of the Draft CCP/EA 

available for a 30-day public review and 

comment period via a Federal Register 

notice on September 20, 2009 (74 FR 

50237). We received four comments on 

the Draft CCP/EA. 

Selected Alternative 

The Draft CCP/EA identified and 

evaluated three alternatives for 

managing the refuge. After considering 

the comments we received and based on 

the professional judgment of the 

planning team, we selected Alternative 

B for implementation. 

Under Alternative B, biological 

potential of historical habitats will be 

restored and enhanced, with most 

management actions emphasizing 

natural ecological processes to foster 

habitat functions and wildlife 

populations. We will focus our efforts 

on reducing invasive species 

threatening the biological integrity of 

the refuge. Baseline inventorying and 

monitoring of management actions will 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES