[Federal Register: June 13, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 113)]
[Notices]
[Page 32679-32680]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13jn07-107]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WO-300-9131-PP]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources
AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; and U.S. Forest Service,
Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement for Leasing of Geothermal Resources.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and
the United States Forest Service (USFS) will prepare a joint
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to analyze the
leasing of BLM- and USFS-administered lands with moderate to high
potential for geothermal resources in eleven western states and Alaska.
DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the PEIS.
The BLM and the USFS will accept written comments on the scope of the
PEIS postmarked by August 13, 2007, and electronic or faxed comments
received by August 13, 2007. Public scoping meetings to obtain comments
for the PEIS will be held in Anchorage, Alaska; Boise, Idaho; Denver,
Colorado; Missoula, Montana; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Reno,
Nevada; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Santa Fe, New
Mexico. Times and locations of the scoping meetings will be announced
at least 15 days prior to the meetings in the local news media and on
the project Web site: http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS. Public
scoping will be open until August 13, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
E-mail: geothermal_EIS@blm.gov.
Fax: 1-866-625-0707.
U.S. Mail: Geothermal Programmatic EIS, c/o EMPS Inc., 182
Howard Street, Suite 110, San Francisco, CA 94105.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, including
information on how to comment, you may contact Jack G. Peterson, Bureau
of Land Management at 208-373-4048, Jack_G_Peterson@blm.gov, or Tracy
Parker, Forest Service at 703-605-4796, tparker03@fs.fed.us or visit
the Programmatic EIS Web site at http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM and the USFS will prepare a joint
PEIS for geothermal leasing on BLM- and USFS-administered lands in the
western United States (including Alaska) with moderate to high
potential for geothermal resources. The U.S. Department of Energy plans
to participate as a cooperating agency in view of its special
expertise, and may adopt the PEIS to help it more efficiently meet its
NEPA review obligations. The analysis area includes BLM- and USFS-
administered lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho,
Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
This PEIS will not include congressionally withdrawn lands, Wilderness
Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, or lands not administered by the BLM or
the USFS. For more information related to areas in these states with
potential for geothermal resources see the public Web site: http://www.blm.gov/Geothermal_EIS.
This Web site will include links to many
source documents including United States Geological Survey Circular 790
and the Western Governor's Association Geothermal Task Force Report.
Source information will continue to be updated and expanded as a result
of this scoping process. The PEIS will be prepared in accordance with
applicable Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR 1500-
1508, and applicable BLM and USFS regulations.
[[Page 32680]]
Geothermal resources are indirectly used to generate electric power
and directly used for many things such as heating buildings and
aquaculture. Energy markets are driving increased demand for renewable
geothermal energy. Advances in the engineering, technology and
economics of geothermal exploration and improvements in the design and
development of energy generation facilities have resulted in increased
interest in areas with geothermal potential. Several recent Federal and
state actions also are driving the increase in renewable energy
activity, including geothermal energy leasing, exploration and
development activity. These actions include the President's National
Energy Policy; the Western Governors' Association Geothermal Task Force
Report; and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The goal of the PEIS is to examine the potential impacts of
geothermal leasing on certain lands administered by the BLM and the
USFS. Completion of the PEIS will improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the geothermal leasing and application process on
Federal lands. The analysis in the PEIS will serve the following two
purposes.
(1) Analyze the impacts of leasing in areas that are determined
through scoping to have reasonable near-term exploration/development
potential for geothermal resources, including areas for which leasing
applications have not yet been filed. The PEIS will thereby assist the
BLM in determining how best to amend, as appropriate, its land use
plans for these areas, by identifying the potential for geothermal
development in the areas and determining the areas where geothermal
development will be considered as an allowable use. The PEIS will
similarly address USFS-managed lands that have potential for geothermal
resources and provide the basis for future geothermal leasing
availability analysis and decisions.
(2) Enable the BLM to reduce the backlog of lease applications that
were pending on BLM- and USFS-administered lands as of January 1, 2005
by at least 90 percent as required by section 225(b)(3) of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005. This Act gives the BLM until August 8, 2010, to
achieve this goal. As of January 1, 2005, there were nearly 100
applications for geothermal leases pending on BLM and USFS lands. The
PEIS will include the necessary site specific analysis to facilitate
processing of these pending lease applications by deciding whether
geothermal leasing is appropriate and under what stipulations they may
be leased.
Comments are being solicited so as to determine: (1) The scope of
this analysis, (2) significant issues or concerns related to the
proposed actions, and (3) alternatives to the proposed actions.
The BLM will provide further information at the scoping meetings
regarding the locations of, and the planning areas and forests that may
be affected by, the actively pending applications. The purpose of the
public scoping process is to identify issues that should be addressed
in the environmental analysis and the scope of the alternatives. You
may submit comments in writing at any public scoping meeting, or you
may submit them using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES
section above. 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.
Douglas Burger,
Acting Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection,
Bureau of Land Management.
Frederick Norbury,
Associate Deputy Chief for National Forest System, U.S. Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 07-2921 Filed 6-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P