[Federal Register: January 11, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 7)]
[Notices]
[Page 1731-1732]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11ja06-15]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Bridger-Teton National Forest--Big Piney Ranger District,
Wyoming; Eagle Prospect
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service has received notification from Plains
Exploration & Production Company (PXP) that the company proposes to
drill three exploratory oil and gas wells on National Forest System
(NFS) lands in the Noble Basin area, about seven miles southeast of
Bondurant in Sublette County, Wyoming. The proposed wells would
evaluate production potential within the Eagle Prospect. The proposed
project would include improvements to existing roads and new road
construction to provide access to the drill location, construction of a
single drill pad from which three wells would be drilled, and road
decommissioning and rehabilitation of an existing low standard road
into the area. Design of the proposed project, including final access
route selection and well facilities would be required for production
testing, will also be considered in the Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed action should be received by
February 13, 2006. Comments on issues that you feel should be evaluated
as part of this analysis or are essential to this environmental
analysis process should be submitted by the above date. Please direct
any project related questions or comments to the following individuals.
The Draft EIS (DEIS) is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public comment in
September 2006 and the Final EIS (FEIS) is expected to be available in
the May 2007.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Greg Clark, District Ranger, Big
Piney Ranger District; PO Box 218; Big Piney, Wyoming 83113. Electronic
comments may be sent to mailroom_r4_bridger_teton@fs.fed.us with the
subject line ``Eagle Prospect''.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Trulock, Project Manager, at
the Big Piney Ranger District at 307-276-3375.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Project Area
The Eagle Prospect is located in the Noble Basin area, south of
Muddy Creek, within Township 36 North, Range 113 West, Sixth Principal
Meridian. The project area consists of the South Rim Unit, an
exploration unit previously by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to
ensure that exploration will be orderly and environmental effects will
be minimized. The South Rim Unit encompasses 19,427 acres of federal
minerals in Township 36 North, Range 113 West, including portions of
the Big Piney Ranger District, Bridger-Teton National Forest and
federal minerals underlying the Hoback Ranches subdivision.
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose of this proposal is for the Forest Service to analyze
exploration and development of existing federal oil and gas leases
within the South Rim Unit by PXP, the unit operator, which allows them
to exercise the leaseholders' existing rights to drill for, extract,
remove, and market oil and gas products. The National Energy Policy
recognizes the need to develop federal energy resources to meet
continuing national needs and economic demands so long as natural
resource values and uses are sustained.
Proposed Action
PXP proposes to conduct exploratory drilling to evaluate the Eagle
Prospect by constructing an access road and a single drill pad from
which three wells would be drilled. Access to the project area from
Daniel Junction, north of Pinedale, is by State Highway 354 to Merna,
and then along Sublette County Road 23-115 and forest
development roads. PXP has submitted a Notice of Staking (NOS) and an
Application for Permit to Drill (APD) to the BLM and Forest Service for
each of three oil and gas wells, Eagle 1-8, Eagle 2-
8, and Eagle 3-8, that would be drilled in the NW\1/4\SW\1/4\
or Section 8 in Township 36 North, Range 113 West. The proposed project
would include improvements to existing forest development roads over a
distance of 7.3 miles. New road construction would occur over a
distance of 4.2 miles, within portions of Sections 8, 16, 17, and 21 in
Township 36 North, Range 113 West. Proposed surface disturbance would
affect 2.6 acres for the drill pad and 15 acres for new road
construction. Construction is anticipated to begin in mid-year 2007.
After construction of the access road and drill pad is completed, well
drilling is expected to occur over three to four months. The drill pad
would be recontoured and revegetated if drilling is unsuccessful.
The proposed well access route would also be used to provide public
access to NFS lands. Road decommissioning and rehabilitation of an
existing low standard road into the area would be accomplished in
conjunction with the proposed project. This action would support
current Forest Plan guidance based on a roads analysis previously
conducted by the Forest Service.
Possible Alternatives
The proposed access route has been identified. Possible
alternatives to the proposed action include the selection of a
different access route or route segment and modification of other
project design features. PXP has designed the proposed project so that
only one drill location would be used to drill three wells. The scoping
process and environmental analysis will evaluate the feasibility of
alternatives to the proposed action.
Responsible Official
Greg Clark, District Ranger; Big Piney Ranger District; P.O. Box
218; Big Piney, Wyoming 83113.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The decision, which is based on this analysis, will be to decide
whether to approve or modify the Surface Use Programs for the APDs
submitted for the Eagle 1-8, Eagle 2-8, and Eagle
3-8 wells, and to specify the access route and other project
design criteria, best management practices, mitigating measures, and
monitoring requirements that will be included in the drilling and
surface use programs or as conditions of
[[Page 1732]]
approval for these wells. The decision will include reasonable measures
identified as being needed during this analysis process in addition to
any prescribed in the Forest Plan.
Scoping Process
The Forest Service is seeking information, comments, and assistance
from individuals, organizations and federal, state, and local agencies
that may be interested in or affected by the proposed action (36 CFR
219.6).
Public comments will be used and disclosed in the environmental
analysis documented in the Eagle Prospect EIS. Public participation
will be solicited by notifying in person and/or by mail known
interested and affected parties. A legal notice and news releases will
be used to give the public general notice. Open houses will be held
from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, January 30, 2006, at the Bondurant
Elementary School in Bondurant and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday,
January 31, 2006 at the Public Library in Pinedale. Forest Service and
PXP representatives will be available to explain the project and answer
questions.
A reasonable range of alternatives will be evaluated and reasons
will be given for eliminating alternatives from detailed study. A ``no-
action alternative'' is required, meaning that the Surface Use Programs
for the APDs under consideration by the BLM and Forest Service would
not be approved. Alternatives will provide different access routes and
project design criteria in response to public issues, management
concerns, and resource opportunities identified during the scoping
process. Scoping comments and existing condition reports will also be
used to develop alternatives. It is possible that no other action
alternative, other than the proposed action, will be determined to be
feasible by the environmental analysis.
Preliminary Issues
The Forest Service has identified the following potential issues.
No determination has been made as to which issues will be examined in
detail in the environmental analysis. Your input will help determine
which of these issues merit detailed analysis and will also help
identify additional issues related to the proposed action that may not
be listed here.
Effects of improved road access on inventoried roadless
areas.
Effects of improved road access on travel management and
enforcement.
Effects of drilling on groundwater resources and nearby
water wells.
Effects of project activities on streams and watersheds.
Effects on wetlands and riparian areas.
Effects of project activities on air quality.
Effects on the scenic resources and the visual character
of the project area.
Effects on the Hoback Ranches subdivision.
Rights-of-way across private lands.
Effects on individuals, property, and highway traffic.
Effects on local communities, including Bondurant and
Pinedale.
Public safety during project activities.
Effects on areas with sensitive soils or potential slope
sstability hazards.
Effects on recreational uses, including hunting, fishing,
and snowmobiling.
Effects on wildlife and fisheries habitats and special
status species (threatened and endangered species, sensitive species,
and management indicator species).
Potential for harassment or illegal hunting of wildlife
during project activities.
Potential for vehicle collisions with wildlife or
livestock.
Concern that newly discovered gas resources from the Eagle
Prospect could be added to the Lower Valley Energy (LVE) pipeline
currently being evaluated by the Forest Service. (Note: The proposed
LVE pipeline is a transmission line that will only carry processed gas
and will not function as a gathering line that could accommodate
unprocessed gas from an exploratory well.)
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review
The Draft EIS (DEIS) is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public comment in
September 2006. At that time, the EPA will publish a notice of
availability for the DEIS in the Federal Register. The comment period
on the DEIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the notice
of availability in the Federal Register.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
the DEIS must structure their participation in the environmental review
of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts an agency to the
reviewer's position and contentions; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp.
v. NRDC. 435 U.S. 519, 533 (1978). Also, environmental objections that
could be raised at the DEIS stage but are not raised until after
completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) may be
waived or dismissed by the courts; City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F. 2d
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc., v. Harris,
490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court
rulings, it is very important that those interested in this proposed
action participate by the close of the 45 day comment period on the
DEIS so that substantive comments and objections are made available to
the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and
respond to them in the Final EIS (FEIS).
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the DEIS should be as
specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to specific
pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also address the
adequacy of the DEIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated and
discussed in the statements. Reviewers may wish to refer to the Council
on Environmental Quality Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing
these points.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: January 3, 2006.
Greg W. Clark,
District Ranger, Big Piney Ranger District, Bridger-Teton National
Forest.
[FR Doc. 06-244 Filed 1-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M