NATIONAL NEWS
Contact: Heather Feeney, 202-452-5031
BLM Sets Public Meetings on Draft Oil Shale and Tar Sands Planning Document
The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a series of open house public meetings to provide additional information on the Draft Resource Management Plan Amendments and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS) for oil shale and tar sands resources in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The Draft PEIS was published on December 21, 2007, and is open for public comment through March 20, 2008.
Each open house meeting will feature stations staffed by resource specialists around the meeting room. Those attending the meeting will be able to visit stations of interest and get information on how particular analyses were developed, what impacts or potential impacts and mitigation were identified, and ask any questions of the resource specialists and agency representatives present.
Open houses will be held in the following locations:
February 11, 2008 | Cheyenne, Wyoming | 2-4 pm and 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 12, 2008 | Denver, Colorado Sheraton Denver-West Hotel and Conference Center 360 Union Boulevard, Lakewood | 2-4 pm and 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 13, 2008 | Rifle, Colorado Garfield County Fairgrounds 1001 Railroad Avenue, Rifle | 2-4 pm and 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 14, 2008 | Meeker, Colorado Mountain Valley Bank 400 Main Street, Meeker | 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 25, 2008 | Salt Lake City, Utah BLM Salt Lake Field Office 2370 South 2300 West, Salt Lake City | 2-4 pm and 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 26, 2008 | Price, Utah Holiday Inn 838 Westwood Boulevard, Price | 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 27, 2008 | Vernal, Utah Western Park Convention Center 302 East 200 South, Vernal | 6:30-8:30 pm |
| February 28, 2008 | Rock Springs, Wyoming BLM Rock Springs Field Office 280 Highway 191-North, Rock Springs | 6:30-8:30 pm |
The Preferred Alternative in the Draft PEIS would amend BLM land-use plans to allocate approximately 1.9 million acres of public lands in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming for potential commercial oil shale development and approximately 430,000 acres in Utah for tar sands. Between 305,000 and 1.5 million acres of BLM-managed lands would be excluded from oil shale leasing under the alternatives presented in the Draft PEIS.
The complete Draft PEIS is available in electronic form (PDF) on the project Website, http://ostseis.anl.gov. Paper and CD-ROM copies of the Draft are also available at the BLM State Offices in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; and BLM Field Offices in Vernal, Price, Richfield, and Monticello, Utah; Meeker, Glenwood Springs, and Grand Junction, Colorado; and Kemmerer, Rawlins, and Rock Springs, Wyoming. The Website is enabled to take comments electronically, and written comments may be mailed to: BLM Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources Draft Programmatic EIS Comments, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne IL 60439.
The BLM previously issued six 160-acre leases for oil shale projects on public lands in Colorado and Utah under its research development and demonstration (RD&D) program. Information available from these projects is included in the PEIS and was considered during development of the alternatives presented in the Draft. For additional information on the BLM’s efforts to develop Federal oil shale and tar sands resources, visit http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/oilshale_2.html .
- BLM -
BLM Sets Public Meetings on Draft
Oil Shale and Tar Sands Planning Document
 |