[Federal Register: December 26, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 248)]
[Notices]
[Page 78768-78769]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26de02-33]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Equity 23-21 and 32-4 Oil and Gas Wells, Dakota Prairie
Grassland, Billings County, North Dakota
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environment impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement to document the analysis and disclose the environmental
impacts of the construction of the well pads, access roads, production
facilities, utilites, and pipelines proposed under the Surface Use Plan
of Operations (SUPO's) for the Equity 23-21 and 32-4 oil and gas wells
located in the Bell Lake Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA).
The purpose and need of these oil and gas well projects is to honor
valid existing lease rights which grant the exclusive right to drill
for, mine, extract, remove and dispose of all oil and gas (except
helium) in the lands described within the lease, together with the
right to build and maintain necessary improvements thereupon.
This proposal is consistent with the provisions of the Dakota
Prairie Grasslands (DPG) Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP),
specifically Goal 2c, Objective 1, which focuses on providing
opportunities for oil and gas exploration consistent with the DPG LRMP.
This proposal is consistent with key energy legislation including the
Energy Security Act of 1980, the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management
Act of 1982, the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of
1987, Executive Order 13212, and the Forest Services's Energy
Implementation Plan.
Decisions to be made under this proposal include: whether to
approve, deny, or modify the Surface Use Plan of Operations as
submitted and whether to allow the use of herbicides for control of
vegetation and noxious weeds on the well pads and access roads.
Preliminary issues include the fact that the proposed projects are
located within the Bell Lake Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA). Honoring
the oil and gas lease will mean that access roads and well pads will be
constructed in the Bell Lake IRA.
ADDRESSES: The responsible official is David M. Pieper, Dakota Prairie
Grasslands Supervisor. Please send written comments to Ronald W.
Jablonski, Jr., District Ranger, Medora Ranger District, 161 21st
Street West, Dickinson ND 58601. Comments may also be electronically
submitted to rjablonski@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Adams, ID Team Leader, Medora
Ranger District, 161 21st Street West, Dickinson ND 58601 or by e-mail
to jcadams@fs.fed.us.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service proposes to approve the
SUPO's for the Equity 23-21 and 32-4 oil and gas well sites located in
the NESW of Section 21, T143N, R103W, and the SWNE of Section 4, T143N,
R103W, Billings County, North Dakota. This proposal would occur on
National Forest System lands. The SUPO includes construction,
maintenance, and reclamation proposals for the well pads, access roads,
and needed oil production facilities, pipelines, and electric lines.
The Equity 23-21 and 32-4 proposals would include constructing
approximately 4,475 and 2,501 feet of new access road, respectively.
Each well pad would disturb an area, approximately 2.5 acres in size.
Pipelines and electric utilities would be buried along the access
roads. Production facilities (i.e., tanks, heater treater, and well
pump) would be located on each well pad.
The entire 11,270 acre Bell Lake IRA is leased for oil and gas
exploration and development. There are 320 acres of private mineral
rights within the IRA. Under the recently signed DPG LRMP, the area
within the IRA is to be managed as Management Area (MA) 6.1 ``Rangeland
with Broad Resource Emphasis''. This MA directs that valid leases will
be honored.
Public participation is important to this analysis. Part of the
goal of public involvement is to identify additional issues and to
refine general issues. Scoping notices will be mailed to the public on
or before January 10, 2003.
People may visit with Forest Service officials at any time during
the analysis and prior to the decision. Two periods are specifically
designated for comments on the analysis: (1) During the scoping
process, and (2) during the draft EIS period.
Durin the scoping process, the Forest Service seeks additional
information and comments from individuals, organizations, and federal,
state, and local agencies that may be interested in or affected by the
proposed action. The Forest Service invites written comments and
suggestions on this action, particularly in terms of issues and
alternative development.
The draft EIS is anticipated to be available for review in May of
2003. The final EIS is planned for completion in August of 2003.
The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The Forest Service
will also publish a legal notice of its availability in the Bismarck
Tribune Newspaper, Bismarck, North Dakota. The 45-day comment period
will begin the day after the legal notice is published.
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
draft environmental impact statements 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.
519,553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at
the draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion of the final environmental impact statement 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 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 environment impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement 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 draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer
to the Council on Environmental
[[Page 78769]]
Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these
points.
The responsible official will make the decision on this proposal
after considering comments and responses, environmental consequences
discussed in the final EIS, applicable laws, regulations, and policies.
The decision and reasons for the decision will be documented in a
Record of Decision.
Dated: December 19, 2002.
David M. Pieper,
Dakota Prairie Grasslands Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-32509 Filed 12-24-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M