U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND March 2019 MANAGEMENT
Buffalo Field Office RMP Supplemental EIS and RMPA — Scoping Report
MISSION STATEMENT To sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1-1 1.1 Background ...... 1-1 1.2 Purpose of and Need for a Supplemental EIS ...... 1-2 1.3 Overview of the Scoping Process and Scoping Report ...... 1-2 1.3.1 Project Website ...... 1-2 1.3.2 Public Scoping Meetings ...... 1-3 1.3.3 Cooperating Agencies and Tribal Consultation ...... 1-3 1.4 Method of Comment Collection and Analysis ...... 1-4 CHAPTER 2. COMMENT SUMMARY ...... 2-1 2.1 Comments by Issue and Resource Category ...... 2-1 CHAPTER 3. ISSUE STATEMENTS AND COMMENT SUMMARIES ...... 3-1 3.1 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) ...... 3-2 3.1.1 Best Available Information ...... 3-2 3.1.2 Cumulative Impacts ...... 3-2 3.1.3 Direct/Indirect Impacts ...... 3-3 3.1.4 Range of Alternatives ...... 3-3 3.2 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) ...... 3-4 3.3 Other Laws ...... 3-4 3.4 Minerals - Coal ...... 3-5 3.5 Minerals - Oil and Gas ...... 3-6 3.6 Air Resources ...... 3-7 3.7 Climate Change ...... 3-8 3.8 Social Cost of Carbon ...... 3-9 3.9 Economic Issues ...... 3-10 3.10 Fish and Wildlife ...... 3-11 3.10.1 Threatened or Endangered and Special Status Species ...... 3-11 3.11 Public Health and Safety ...... 3-12 3.12 Water Resources ...... 3-12 3.13 Lands and Realty ...... 3-13 CHAPTER 4. FUTURE STEPS ...... 4-1 4.1 Future Steps and Public Participation Opportunities ...... 4-1 4.2 Contact Information ...... 4-2
TABLES Page
1-1 Scoping Open House in 2018 ...... 1-3 1-2 Unique Comment Submission Methods1 ...... 1-5 1-3 Unique and Form Commenters by Affiliation1 ...... 1-5 1-4 Unique and Form Commenter Locations ...... 1-6 2-1 General Comments—Number of Individual Comments by Issue Category ...... 2-1 2-2 Resource-Specific Comments ...... 2-2
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA i Scoping Report Table of Contents
APPENDIX
A Notice of Intent B Press Release Media Outlets C Scoping Presentation D Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number E Substantive Public Scoping Comments
ii Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Full Phrase
BLM United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
CFR Code of Federal Regulations CO2 carbon dioxide
EIS environmental impact statement EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
FLPMA Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
NEPA National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
RMP resource management plan ROD Record of Decision
SEIS supplemental environmental impact statement
US United States
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA iii Scoping Report
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Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 BACKGROUND The United States (US) Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is preparing a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and potential amendment of the 2015 Buffalo Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP). The SEIS is in response to a US District Court, Montana District, opinion and order (Western Organization of Resource Councils, et al. v. BLM).
On March 26, 2018, the US District Court concluded:
(1) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) requires the BLM to consider an alternative that would decrease the amount of coal available for potential leasing, which requires conducting new coal screening that considers climate change impacts to assess the amount of recoverable coal available in the Approved RMP.
(2) The BLM must supplement the Buffalo Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with an analysis of the environmental consequences of downstream combustion of coal, oil, and gas open to development under the Approved RMP.
(3) The BLM must provide additional justification and analysis of global warming potential over an appropriate planning period consistent with evolving science.
The BLM intends to correct the deficiencies in the Approved RMP analysis by analyzing a range of alternatives in the SEIS. The BLM has opened a public comment period as part of the process to prepare a SEIS and potential amendment of the 2015 Approved RMP.
The BLM published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on November 28, 2018, announcing the beginning of a scoping period to solicit public comments
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 1-1 Scoping Report 1. Introduction (Overview of the Scoping Process and Scoping Report)
and identify issues for the SEIS. The Notice of Intent is included in Appendix A. In addition, the BLM announced the scoping period through a press release issued on the same day to the media outlets listed in Appendix B. The comment period ended on December 28, 2018. This report describes the scoping process and summarizes the comments received during the comment period.
1.2 PURPOSE OF AND NEED FOR A SUPPLEMENTAL EIS This SEIS is needed in order to: 1. Consider an alternative that would reduce the amount of recoverable coal and consider climate change impacts to make a reasoned decision on the amount of recoverable coal made available in the RMP;
2. Supplement the analysis of the environmental consequences of downstream combustion of coal, oil, and gas open to development; and
3. Justify the use of global warming potential based on a 100-year time horizon instead of the 20-year time horizon and also failed to acknowledge evolving science in this area.
The purpose of this SEIS is to provide additional analysis for land use planning specifically regarding analysis for coal, oil, and gas in the Buffalo Field Office and determine the lands to be made available for coal leasing. To support analysis in the SEIS and subsequent decision-making, the BLM has conducted a new coal screening in accordance with 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3420.1-4.
1.3 OVERVIEW OF THE SCOPING PROCESS AND SCOPING REPORT Public involvement is a vital and a legally required component of the planning process. Public involvement vests the public in the decision-making process and allows for full environmental disclosure. Guidance for implementing public involvement under NEPA is codified in 40 CFR 1506.6, thereby ensuring federal agencies make a diligent effort to involve the public in the NEPA process.
Scoping is an early and open process that helps the BLM determine the scope of issues to be addressed and identify significant issues related to a proposed action. Information collected during scoping may also be used to develop the alternatives to be addressed in a NEPA document.
In accordance with 43 CFR 1610.2(d), the BLM must document the public scoping results. This scoping report summarizes the scoping process and the comments received during the formal scoping period.
1.3.1 Project Website The BLM maintains a project website with information related to the development of the SEIS: https://go.usa.gov/xP6S3. The website includes
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background documents, maps, public meeting information, and contact information.
1.3.2 Public Scoping Meetings One public scoping meeting was held to encourage participants to discuss concerns and questions with the BLM. The meeting began with a PowerPoint presentation describing the purpose of the SEIS, project approach, and opportunities for public involvement. The scoping presentation is included in Appendix C Following the presentation, the meeting transitioned into an open house format, where the public could view project materials and maps, and discuss the project with BLM staff. Copies of scoping information and blank scoping comment forms were available at the meeting. Table 1-1 provides the date and location of the open house.
Table 1-1 Scoping Open House in 2018 Location Date Venue Gillette, Wyoming December 19, 2018 Campbell County Public Library 2101 S4-J Road
1.3.3 Cooperating Agencies and Tribal Consultation The BLM is engaging in ongoing collaboration with federal, Tribal, state, and local governments as part of this SEIS. The BLM sent letters to eligible agencies and tribes inviting them to be cooperating agencies and to assist with the SEIS. The tribal letters also asked if the tribes wanted to initiate formal government to government consultation. A cooperating agency meeting was held prior to the public scoping meeting on December 19, 2018 at the Campbell County Library.
Cooperating agency letters were sent on November 8, 2018 to the following local, state, and federal agencies:
Counties • Campbell County Commission • Johnson County Commission • Sheridan County Commission
Conservation Districts • Campbell County Conservation District • Sheridan County Conservation District
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 1-3 Scoping Report 1. Introduction (Overview of the Scoping Process and Scoping Report)
Wyoming State Agencies • Office of the Governor • Department of Agriculture • Department of Environmental Quality • Game and Fish Department
Federal Agencies • United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8 • U.S. DOI – Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement • U.S. DOI – Fish and Wildlife Service
Tribal letters were sent on November 9, 2018 to the following tribes: • Cheyenne River Sioux • Crow • Crow Creek Sioux • Eastern Shoshone • Ft. Peck/Assiniboine/Sioux • Lower Brule Sioux • Northern Arapahoe • Northern Cheyenne • Oglala Sioux • Rosebud Sioux • Santee Sioux • Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate • Spirit Lake Tribe • Standing Rock Sioux • Yankton Sioux
1.4 METHOD OF COMMENT COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The BLM evaluated all written submissions received or post-marked on or before December 28, 2018. This scoping summary report documents these submissions.
During the public scoping period, the BLM received 37 unique written submissions, comprising 278 substantive comments. Comments were submitted to the BLM by email, via the project website, and through standard mail. Table 1-2 provides information on how commenters submitted comments, and Appendix D provides information on commenters, affiliations, and substantive issues discussed in submissions. Individual form letters are not included in Appendix D.
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Table 1-2 Unique Comment Submission Methods1 Number of Percentage of Method2 Submissions Total Submissions Email 25 68 ePlanning 9 24 Carrier: USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc. 3 8 Total 37 100 1Calculations do not include individual form letters or petition signatories as these were delivered mostly through a single ePlanning submission. All numbers are approximate. 2Most submissions other than those from individuals were delivered by multiple methods and are included in this table.
In addition to unique submissions, campaigns from nonprofit organizations and individuals resulted in two form letters. Letters that represented variations of the form letter with significant additional information were treated as unique letters. In total, the BLM received 2,132 form letter submissions, based on the two different form letter campaigns. Form letters originated from the Sierra Club and Western Organization of Resource Councils. A list of individuals who submitted form letters will be made available on the project website (see Section 1.3.1). It is important to note that analyzing identical comments as a group does not reduce the importance of the comment. The NEPA regulations on scoping are clear that the scoping process is not a vote, but an opportunity to “determine the scope and the significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the environmental impact statement” (40 CFR 1501.7[a][2]) and to “identify and eliminate from detailed study the issues which are not significant or which have been covered by prior environmental review” (40 CFR 1501.7[a][3]).
Table 1-3 provides information on the affiliation of commenters. Most submissions were received from individuals, accounting for 99 percent of received submissions. In some cases, multiple organizations signed on to one unique submission.
Table 1-3 Unique and Form Commenters by Affiliation1 Number of Percentage of Affiliation Submissions Commenters Individual 2,132 99 Organization (nonprofit, citizen’s group) 5 <1 State Government Agency 3 <1 Business/Commercial Sector 5 <1 Local Government Agency 2 <1 Educational Institution 1 <1 Federal Government Agency 0 0 Total 2,147 100 1Calculations include form letters and petition signatories. All numbers are approximate.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 1-5 Scoping Report 1. Introduction (Method of Comment Collection and Analysis)
Table 1-4 provides information on the locations of commenters. BLM received form letters primarily from outside Wyoming, but unique letters came primarily from locations close to or within the planning area. Names, locations of origin, associated organizations, and issues discussed in each unique letter are available in Appendix D.
Table 1-4 Unique and Form Commenter Locations
Origin Form Letters Unique Letters Within planning area1 14 13 Within Wyoming 31 21 Outside Wyoming 2,081 13 Location not provided 20 3 Total 2,132 37 1Letters from within the planning area are a subset of those from within Wyoming and not counted twice in the total. All numbers are approximate.
To ensure public comments were properly registered and that none were overlooked, the BLM used a multiphase management and tracking system. Written submissions were given a unique identifier and were logged into the system. The BLM then reviewed each submission and extracted individual comments. Chapter 2, Comment Summary, describes the results of the comment analysis.
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Chapter 2. Comment Summary
2.1 COMMENTS BY ISSUE AND RESOURCE CATEGORY Table 2-1 shows the number and proportion of comments received by issue category. The 278 general comments were categorized into 8 issue categories. Chapter 3, Issue Statements and Comment Summaries, provides a detailed analysis of the comments received for each issue category. Appendix E includes all parsed substantive comments.
Table 2-1 General Comments—Number of Individual Comments by Issue Category Number of Percentage Issue Category Individual of Total Comments Best Available Information/Baseline Data 53 19 Cumulative Impacts 11 4 Direct/Indirect Impacts 4 1 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1 0.5 1976 (FLPMA) Other Laws 1 0.5 Purpose and Need 14 5 Range of Alternatives 32 12 Resource Specific 162 58 Total 278 100
Comments pertaining to resources and resource uses (162) were further categorized based on the specific resource or resource use. Table 2-2 shows the number of comments by specific resource or resource use.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 2-1 Scoping Report 2. Comment Summary
Table 2-2 Resource-Specific Comments Number of Percentage Issue Category Individual of Total Comments Minerals - Coal 13 8 Minerals - Oil and Gas 23 14 Air Resources 14 9 Climate Change 54 33 Social Cost of Carbon 20 12 Economic Issues 17 10 Fish and Wildlife 9 6 Public Health and Safety 7 4 Water Resources 3 2 Lands and Realty 1 1 Renewable Energy 1 1 Total 162 100
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Chapter 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries
For the purpose of BLM NEPA analysis, an “issue” is a point of disagreement, debate, or dispute with a proposed action based on some anticipated environmental effect. An issue is more than just a position statement, such as disagreement with grazing on BLM-administered lands. The BLM will use the issues and other information collected in the early planning and scoping phases to help formulate a reasonable range of alternative management strategies that will be analyzed during the SEIS process.
The issue statements presented below are preliminary and are based on public comments received during the scoping period. The BLM has developed a summary of the comments received that apply to each issue. However, not all issues below will be analyzed in detail in the SEIS. Some issues may not be relevant to the purpose and need and scope of this SEIS, or are already adequately addressed in the recent 2015 Buffalo Approved RMP.
The BLM identified a number of comments that were either out of the scope of this effort or would be addressed during tiered NEPA efforts at the site-specific level. Examples of out-of-scope comments received during the scoping period include concerns with the Wyoming Greater Sage-Grouse RMP Amendment and requests to reinitiate a federal coal-leasing moratorium. The Buffalo Field Office SEIS will not make decisions on these issues, as they will be analyzed in their own processes. The BLM does not provide an issue statement or discussion of consideration during the SEIS process for out-of-scope or site- specific comments.
The process of developing the SEIS will afford opportunities for collaboration with local, state, federal, and tribal governments; land management agencies; public interest groups; and public land users. As a result, these issues and concerns may need to be refined to reflect public comments and concerns.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-1 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (NEPA)
3.1 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969 (NEPA)
3.1.1 Best Available Information
Issue: What new information will be referenced in the SEIS?
Comment Summary The BLM received 53 comments regarding the best available information and baseline data available for preparing the SEIS. These comments included peer- reviewed articles, references, and requests for new studies. The BLM will continue to review these comments and will consider the information presented within them while preparing the SEIS.
3.1.2 Cumulative Impacts
Issue: What are the cumulative impacts of proposed actions for minerals development in the SEIS, and will the BLM prepare additional assessments to analyze these impacts?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM analyze the cumulative climate and air pollution impacts of fossil fuel development outlined in the RMP, along with existing regional air pollution sources, and disclose these impacts to the public in the SEIS.
Commenters stated the BLM must evaluate the impacts of its fossil fuel management across the Powder River Basin as a whole, as well as the emissions that will result from the BLM's present and future management of fossil fuel extraction across the region and nation as a whole. Commenters recommended that a global-level analysis may be more appropriate.
Commenters expressed concern that adjusting the boundaries for available coal resources has the potential to affect the development of important oil and gas resources and may have drastic impacts on Wyoming's energy production for the foreseeable future.
Commenters stated the BLM cannot ignore the near-term impacts of oil and gas development that could occur during the 20-year planning period, and requested the BLM include an assessment of these near-term impacts in the SEIS.
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3.1.3 Direct/Indirect Impacts
Issue: What are the direct and indirect impacts of proposed actions for minerals development in the SEIS?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM fully analyze and disclose the environmental impacts and social costs resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels in the planning area.
Commenters requested the BLM quantify downstream combustion emissions for coal, oil, and gas and analyze the impacts of these emissions using available methodologies.
Commenters stated the BLM must conduct an analysis that includes the full range of lifecycle emissions of oil and gas that are not captured in its direct emissions quantification, including emissions associated with the processing and transport of oil and gas; emissions associated with the combustion of oil and gas; emissions associated with natural gas electric power and heating, including transmission of electricity away from power plants; and emissions associated with flaring, venting, and leaks.
3.1.4 Range of Alternatives
Issue: Will the Buffalo Field Office SEIS consider a no-leasing alternative? What alternatives will be included in the SEIS?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM consider a no-leasing alternative in the SEIS. Commenters asserted that a no-leasing alternative would contribute significantly to the efforts of the federal government to address climate change by reducing the quantity of fossil fuel produced from federal subsurface minerals. A commenter suggested at least one alternative phase out fossil fuel leasing over time.
Commenters asserted the BLM has legal authority under the FLPMA, the Mineral Leasing Act, and the NEPA to adopt a no-leasing alternative, and that the Secretary of the Interior is not obligated to issue any lease on public lands. Another commenter suggested that even if the BLM concludes it lacks authority to bar new leasing in the planning area, the agency still must analyze a no-leasing alternative under 40 CFR 1502.14(c).
A commenter requested the BLM consider a reduction in leasing on the eastern side of the Coal Development Potential area in at least one alternative because most current development is progressing westward with little new development moving east. Another commenter requested the BLM evaluate one or more
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-3 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (NEPA)
alternatives that reduce public health impacts while also supporting a transition to greater economic diversity for communities in the region.
Issue: What methods will be used to address downstream impacts of fossil fuel leasing and use? Will any alternatives contain requirements or lease stipulations requiring emission control technologies?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM identify and analyze methods to address downstream impacts of fossil fuel leasing and eventual combustion, and consider development of a compensatory mitigation framework. Commenters also requested the BLM include requirements that operators implement emission control technologies in at least one alternative.
Issue: Will the BLM quantify downstream combustion emissions for fossil fuels, analyze the impacts of these emissions with available methodologies in each alternative, and study the extent to which the alternatives (including a no-leasing alternative) alter the total amount of downstream greenhouse gas emissions?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM expand its analysis of the quantity and downstream effects of fossil fuel emissions in each alternative.
3.2 FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976 (FLPMA)
Issue: How will the BLM comply with the FLPMA’s multiple-use mandate?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM consider the value of permanent protection and preservation of public lands in the planning area along with the leasing and development potential for fossil fuel resources on public lands, pursuant to the FLPMA’s multiple-use mandate.
3.3 OTHER LAWS
Issue: Will the BLM recognize the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) delegation of air quality regulation to the State of Wyoming in the RMP?
Comment Summary Commenters stated the EPA delegated its authority to regulate air quality and emissions in Wyoming to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality under the Clean Air Act. Consequently, commenters requested the BLM expressly recognize in the Buffalo RMP that the State of Wyoming, and not the BLM, has the authority to regulate air quality within the Buffalo Field Office.
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3.4 MINERALS - COAL
Issue: Will the BLM resume its programmatic review of the federal coal leasing program?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM should resume the programmatic review of the federal coal leasing program.
Issue: Will the BLM change estimates of recoverable reserves near existing mines?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM should not reduce recoverable reserves near existing mines, as doing so would harm the long-term viability of those mines and threaten the investments made by the operator.
Issue: Will the BLM update Coal Resource Task Reports?
Comment Summary Commenters requested that the BLM should update Coal Resource Task Reports if the coal resource boundary is modified.
Issue: Will the BLM conduct a new coal screening for the planning area?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM conduct a new coal screening for the Buffalo Field Office as part of the impacts analysis of coal leasing in the SEIS.
Issue: How will the BLM consider changed circumstances since the original RMP/EIS?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM update the affected environment discussions in the SEIS to account for changed circumstances in the planning area since the completion of the existing RMP/EIS.
Issue: What are the impacts and external costs of mining, transporting, and burning coal?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the SEIS include a full analysis of the environmental consequences of upstream and downstream combustion of coal.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-5 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (Minerals – Oil and Gas)
3.5 MINERALS - OIL AND GAS
Issue: Will the BLM make updates to the reasonably foreseeable development scenario to clarify when limitations on mineral development could occur?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM should update the reasonably foreseeable development scenario to clarify when limitations on mineral resource production could be made.
Issue: How has policy guidance regarding oil and gas leasing changed market conditions?
Comment Summary Commenters requested that the BLM should consider new policy guidance regarding oil and gas that has been issued since the BLM published the RMP/EIS. Comments specifically mentioned the rollback for regulatory requirements for oil and gas extraction, and changes in conservation restrictions for wildlife.
Issue: What are the lifecycle emissions for oil and gas development?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM consider lifecycle emissions associated with oil and gas, including emissions from transportation, processing, combustion, flaring, venting, and leaks.
Issue: How will the BLM recognize the place of oil and gas development in the multiple-use mandate and the rights of existing oil and gas leases?
Comment Summary Commenters stated changes in the SEIS should not affect existing leases. Commenters also stated that not offering oil and gas leases would be a violation of the multiple-use mandate.
Issue: What types of conditions will the BLM use to reduce impacts from oil and gas development on resources in the planning area?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM should not issue new oil and gas leases, and conditions should be added to existing leases to ensure resource protection.
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Issue: How will the BLM analyze potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the SEIS?
Comment Summary Commenters stated the existing RMP/EIS did not sufficiently analyze the air, water, and soil impacts as well as physical, safety, and health hazards potentially caused by hydraulic fracturing; they requested the BLM fully analyze these impacts in the SEIS.
3.6 AIR RESOURCES
Issue: What sources of air emissions will be included in the SEIS?
Comment Summary Commenters recommended the SEIS include analyses of all potential sources of air emissions and their impacts, including fossil fuel production, transportation of oil and gas, fuel combustion from vehicles and equipment, natural gas electric power, venting and fugitives, and road dust. One commenter suggested discussing variations in emissions between the Buffalo Field Office SEIS and the Miles City Field Office SEIS and to consider the cumulative effect of carbon
dioxide (CO2)-equivalent emissions from non-coal energy development.
One commenter said the BLM cannot assert without substantiation that emissions differences between leasing and no-leasing alternatives would be uncertain; another commenter said it is difficult to identify where the coal will be consumed and, therefore, challenging to accurately analyze emissions from coal combustion.
Issue: How will air pollution affect regional air quality, and how will the BLM analyze criteria air pollutants? How do regional emissions compare with federal emissions?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM should include an analysis of criteria pollutants and any other pollutants emitted from fossil fuel production or combustion processes and their effect on regional air quality. Once the agency has estimated these emissions, they should be multiplied by the appropriate EPA global
warming potential factor to generate a range of potential CO2 emissions.
Commenters suggested the BLM provide a range of emission projections in each alternative based on the management actions identified and compare projected emissions for this planning process with projected federal fossil fuel emissions.
One commenter noted that CO2 emitted from trains transporting coal from the Powder River Basin to power plants will be the largest and most costly effect on air resources.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-7 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (Air Resources)
Issue: How will toxic air emissions be mitigated?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM should require the use of mitigation measures, including emissions-reducing technologies, leak detection and repair programs, switching to low- or no-emissions energy sources for on-site power generation, silica exposure reduction strategies and use of non-silica proppants wherever possible, educating workers about air emissions risks and providing personal protective equipment, and tank gauging procedures that reduce exposure to volatilized chemicals. One commenter suggested using the EPA’s Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Final Rule.
Issue: How will the BLM differentiate air quality management between federal and state agencies?
Comment Summary: Commenters stated the BLM needs to recognize in the SEIS that it does not have authority to regulate air quality within the Buffalo Field Office, according to the Clean Air Act. In Wyoming, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has the authority as delegated by the EPA.
3.7 CLIMATE CHANGE
Issue: How will greenhouse gas emissions be quantified and analyzed in the potential actions to avoid regional and national greenhouse gas emissions?
Comment Summary Commenters recommended the SEIS should quantify greenhouse gas emissions, utilizing all available tools and data, and use projected greenhouse gas emissions to determine the impact of each alternative on climate change. Commenters also suggested the SEIS investigate the effects of downstream emissions from fossil fuel leasing.
Commenters stressed the NEPA requirement for the BLM to take a "hard look" at the impacts of fossil fuel in the Powder River Basin on climate change and include any new significant information in the SEIS; this would include changed market conditions for oil and gas, changed regulatory requirements for coal extraction, and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife. Commenters also suggested the BLM choose the alternative with the best measures to mitigate climate change.
Some commenters believed that CO2 emissions from transportation would have the largest effect on climate change in the Powder River Basin and should be discussed in the SEIS.
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Issue: Will there be a federal emissions baseline?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the SEIS should include analyses of how the SEIS will contribute to the federal energy program and set a baseline for future federal emissions to address the issue of when and how much fossil fuel resource should be left open to future leasing and how much development should be permitted on federal land.
Issue: Will the BLM update global warming potential data for methane?
Comment Summary Commenters believed methane gas is underestimated in the current RMP, as it uses outdated global warming potential values and does not consider methane's
higher warming potential, compared with CO2.
Issue: Will the SEIS incorporate the newest National Climate Assessment, and other national and state climate literature?
Comment Summary Commenters suggested the BLM review various literature and data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Energy Technology Laboratory, the State Wildlife Action Plan, and other peer-reviewed literature that discuss current and historical climate trends, anthropogenic and natural stressors, carbon sequestration in grassland systems, climate change impacts, and possible mitigation measures.
3.8 SOCIAL COST OF CARBON
Issue: What are the social effects of greenhouse gas emissions that result from fossil fuel extraction and use?
Comment Summary Commenters highlighted impacts such as economic inequality, damage to infrastructure and ecosystems, and enhanced danger from vulnerability to disease and food and water shortages that result from climate change, which are attributed to emissions of greenhouse gases by human extraction and consumption of fossil fuels. They asserted the “hard look” at environmental impacts that NEPA requires of the BLM for this project entails a delineation of the significance of greenhouse gas emissions; they asserted the BLM can accomplish this by using the social cost of carbon protocol, which was designed to quantify a project’s contributions to the impacts of global climate change in terms of dollar amounts.
Commenters stated the social cost of carbon represents the best estimate of the monetary value of both the damages caused by increased carbon emissions
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-9 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (Social Cost of Carbon)
and the benefits of reducing emissions in terms of the monetary value. They also noted that the BLM should adopt a similar methodology for considering the social cost of methane.
3.9 ECONOMIC ISSUES
Issue: Will the BLM analyze effects on the energy market of coal leasing decisions in the planning area? How will the BLM ensure a fair return from federal coal leasing to taxpayers?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM analyze how coal leasing would affect fuel prices and regional employment. Commenters also expressed concern that coal leasing would reduce the availability of land for alternative energy leasing, such as solar and wind.
Commenters stated the frequent lack of competition for coal leases poses a considerable challenge to accurately setting the fair market value of land, and therefore the initial bid cost. A commenter requested the BLM justify the amounts charged for access to exploit federally leased coal in the SEIS. Another commenter suggested that by increasing the price of bids, the BLM may be able to increase the amount of revenue from the average Wyoming Powder River Basin lease sale.
A commenter stated if the BLM restricts access to low-cost coal underlying the Powder River Basin, the price of coal will increase, causing some utilities to switch from coal to a cheaper alternative. The commenter elaborated that utilities switching from coal to any other energy resource would result in decreases in greenhouse gas emissions.
A commenter expressed concern that coal operators exploit loopholes, subsidies, deductions, and rate reductions under existing royalty policies, lowering the effective royalty rate. The commenter elaborated that these artificially low royalty rates result in artificially low market prices for coal.
Issue: What tools will the BLM use to examine the economic contribution to the region from fossil fuel employment? Will the BLM analyze the economic resilience of communities in the planning area?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM consider the relative economic resilience of communities in the planning area. Commenters also requested the BLM analyze the economic contribution to the region from fossil fuel development, including direct employment of local residents.
Commenters stated the need for the BLM to evaluate the availability of alternative means of employment, financial and technical resources to support
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skills development and further economic diversification, and revenue replacement opportunities for local governments.
A commenter suggested the use of one of the available climate energy models to evaluate market changes.
Issue: What is the projected monetized value of impacts from coal development in the planning area, and how do these relate to the value of the projected coal extraction?
Comment Summary Commenters expressed concern that the monetary cost of detriments to the environment and public health from the burning of coal in the planning area would exceed the monetary value of the coal.
Issue: Will the SEIS analyze the risk of “carbon lock-in” in the SEIS?
Comment Summary Commenters expressed concern that approval of long-term fossil fuel extraction leasing in the near future could inhibit an eventual transition to renewable energy sources and perpetuate the fossil fuel-based energy system currently contributing to climate change.
3.10 FISH AND WILDLIFE
Issue: How will the BLM analyze the impacts of noise on wildlife?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the SEIS thoroughly analyze the potential impacts of noise from oil and gas development on wildlife.
Issue: How will coal development affect wildlife and aquatic species, and how will the BLM mitigate these impacts?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM consider impacts on wildlife from coal development and develop mitigation measures for impacts.
3.10.1 Threatened or Endangered and Special Status Species
Issue: How will management actions in the SEIS affect Greater Sage- Grouse?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the BLM ensure consistency between this SEIS and other environmental documents, such as the Greater Sage-Grouse Land Use
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-11 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (Fish and Wildlife)
Plan Amendments and the State of Wyoming’s Revised Greater Sage-Grouse Compensatory Mitigation Framework.
3.11 PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
Issue: What is the impact of fossil fuel extraction and use on public health and safety?
Comment Summary Commenters stated the greenhouse gas emissions that result from fossil fuel extraction and usage are major contributors to climate change, and climate change is leading to negative impacts on public health and safety. These impacts include polluting air and waterways, worsening drought conditions, causing more intense and frequent wildfires, and increasing exposure to disease. The commenters asserted that the damages caused by burning fossil fuels, such as coal, eclipse the value that the fossil fuels provide.
Commenters noted that the intense drought, wildfire, and heavy rainfall events that result from climate change present a serious threat to agricultural productivity, especially in the Northern Great Plains, and that this poses a potential problem for food security in the United States.
Commenters stated the greatest impact of pollution produced by burning fossil fuels is likely the risk to fetal health and development. Commenters mentioned damage caused by ozone exposure, and noted that coal combustion is a major source of the precursors that form ozone in the atmosphere.
Commenters expressed concern over health risks associated with unconventional natural gas development. They noted the occupational hazards associated with hydraulic fracturing and argue natural gas development is a source of pollution in the form of volatile organic compounds, noise, dust, and light.
3.12 WATER RESOURCES
Issue: How does fossil fuel development affect surface and groundwater resources?
Comment Summary Commenters requested the SEIS consider impacts on surface water and groundwater availability caused by fossil fuel development. They expressed concern that climate change is causing reduced surface water quality and affecting weather patterns so that snowpack is diminished, and drought is intensified.
3-12 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report 3. Issue Statements and Comment Summaries (Lands and Realty)
3.13 LANDS AND REALTY
Issue: How will the BLM establish future commercial interest in operating on federal lands?
Comment Summary One commenter suggested that by creating certainty in the planning and leasing process, the BLM will attract company interest in operation on federal lands and increase revenues to the federal government.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 3-13 Scoping Report
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Chapter 4. Future Steps
4.1 FUTURE STEPS AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITIES The next phase of the BLM’s environmental analysis process is to develop draft management alternatives for the SEIS which consider the issues raised by the public in Chapter 3 of this scoping report. In compliance with NEPA, Council on Environmental Quality regulations, and BLM regulations and guidance, alternatives should be reasonable and able to be implemented. The BLM will also continue coordination with cooperating agencies and consulting tribes. The BLM will complete a detailed analysis of the alternatives, taking into account impact concerns expressed during scoping, and then the BLM will identify the preferred alternative.
The analysis of the alternatives will be documented in a Draft SEIS. Although the BLM welcomes public input at any time during the environmental analysis process, the next official public comment period will begin when the Draft SEIS is published, which the BLM anticipates in early summer 2019. The availability of the draft document will be announced via a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register, and a 90-day public comment period will follow. The BLM will hold a public meeting during the comment period.
At the conclusion of the public comment period, the BLM will revise the Draft SEIS, followed by publication of the Final SEIS. The availability of the Final SEIS is anticipated in early fall 2019 and will be announced in the Federal Register. The date the notice appears in the Federal Register initiates the required 30-day protest period. Although the protest period is not a formal public comment period, the BLM may receive non-protest comments. If there are comments on the Final SEIS, the BLM will determine if they have merit (for example, if the comments identify significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bear upon the proposed action, or if the comments note a correction to be addressed). Any comments received may be addressed in the Record of Decision (ROD).
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA 4-1 Scoping Report 4. Future Steps
The BLM will prepare the ROD to document the selected alternative and any accompanying mitigation measures; the authorizing official will sign the ROD. No action concerning the proposal may be taken until the ROD has been issued, except under conditions specified in Council on Environmental Quality regulations 40 CFR 1506.1.
4.2 CONTACT INFORMATION The public is invited and encouraged to participate throughout the environmental analysis process for the Buffalo Field Office SEIS.
Anyone wishing to be added to or deleted from the distribution list, wishing to change their contact information, or requesting further information may send a request to:
Thomas Bills BLM Buffalo Field Office 1425 Fort Street Buffalo, WY 82834 Email: [email protected] Phone Number: (307) 684-1133
Please provide name, mailing address, email address, and the preferred method to receive information. Before submitting written comments regarding a NEPA action, be advised your entire comment, including personally identifiable information (such as your address, phone number, and email address), may be made publicly available at any time. While you can request that your personally identifiable information be withheld from public review, the BLM cannot guarantee it will be able to do so.
4-2 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix A Notice of Intent
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Appendix A. Notice of Intent
Federal Register /Vol. 83, No. 229 /Wednesday, November 28, 2018 /Notices DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [L11100000 DS0000 LXSS036E0000 LLWY1610000] Notice of Intent for the Potential Amendment to the Approved Resource Management Plan for the Buffalo Field Office, Wyoming, and To Prepare an Associated Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of intent. SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming Buffalo Field Office intends to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and potential amendment for the 2015 Buffalo Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP). The Supplemental EIS is in response to a United States District Court, District of Montana, opinion and order (Western Organization of Resource Councils, et al vs BLM). This notice announces the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and identify issues presented in the opinion and order.
DATES: To ensure that we can adequately consider all comments, the BLM must receive written comments by December 28, 2018. The BLM will announce a public scoping meeting during this period through local news media, newsletters, our ePlanning website, and the BLM website (http:// www.blm.gov/wyoming) at least 15 days prior to the meeting. The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public participation upon publication of the Draft Supplemental EIS.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues, planning criteria, and resource information by any of the following methods: • Website: http://go.usa.gov/x9PT8. • Mail: Buffalo RMP SEIS, Attn: Thomas Bills, Project Manager, BLM Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, WY 82834.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas (Tom) Bills, RMP Supplemental EIS Project Manager; Telephone 307– 684–1133; or at the above mailing address or website. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–877– 8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM is preparing this Supplemental EIS in response to a United States District Court of Montana opinion and order (Western Organization of Resource Councils, et al. v. BLM; CV 16–21–GF– BMM; 3/26/2018 and 7/31/2018). In September 2015, the BLM approved the Record of Decision for Approved RMPs and Amendments in the Rocky Mountain Region, which included Wyoming’s Buffalo Field Office. The 2015 Buffalo Approved RMP provides a single, comprehensive land use plan that guides management of BLM-administered lands and minerals in the Buffalo Field Office. The plan provides goals, objectives, land use allocations, and management direction for the BLM-administered surface and mineral estate based on the BLM’s multiple use and sustained yield mission, unless otherwise specified by law (FLPMA Sec. 102(c), 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). The Buffalo Field Office manages approximately 800,000 acres of surface land and 4.7 million acres of mineral estate
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA A-1 Scoping Report Appendix A. Notice of Intent
in Campbell, Johnson, and Sheridan counties in north-central Wyoming. On March 26, 2018, the U.S. District Court concluded: (1) NEPA requires the BLM to consider an alternative that would decrease the amount of coal potentially available for leasing, which requires updated coal screening that considers climate change impacts to assess the amount of recoverable coal available in the Approved RMP; (2) the BLM must supplement the Buffalo Final EIS with an analysis of the environmental consequences of downstream combustion of federal coal, oil, and gas open to development under the RMP; and (3) The BLM must provide additional justification and analysis of global warming potential over an appropriate planning period consistent with evolving science. The purpose of this public scoping process is to solicit public input that will influence the scope of the Buffalo Supplemental EIS with respect to the U.S. District Court’s determinations. There are currently 13 operating coal mines in the planning area. All are in Campbell County (part of the Antelope Mine is in Converse County). There are presently two proposed mining operations on existing Federal coal leases or on privately owned coal in the planning area. One of these proposed mining operations is located in Sheridan County. All of the existing or proposed mining operations are surface coal mines, using truck/shovel or dragline mining methods. The 2015 Buffalo RMP relied on coal screening completed during a 2001 RMP update. The 2001 screening reviewed 567,200 acres in two areas identified as acceptable for potential coal leasing in the Buffalo Field Office (494,000 acres in Campbell County and 73,200 acres in Sheridan County), containing an estimated 50.25 billion tons of coal. Based on the update, the BLM determined that 63,600 acres containing more than 6.2 billion tons of coal are unsuitable for surface coal mining operations, while the remainder of the coal lands in these areas remains available for further consideration for coal leasing. The BLM completed and documented surface owner consultation. The BLM estimates about 26 billion tons of coal would be developed under the Approved RMP in the areas made available for coal leasing under the 2001 coal screening. Since 1985, about 10.8 billion tons of coal within the planning area either were leased or are under consideration for leasing. The BLM has projected that the areas it screened and deemed acceptable for leasing will meet the anticipated demand for coal reserves. The BLM determined a new coal screening is not necessary in the Buffalo Field Office because no new lands have been nominated for analysis since the previous screenings, but BLM Wyoming will analyze the downstream impacts of developing federal minerals.
Call for Coal and Other Resource Information: The BLM requests that industry, state and local governments, and the public provide relevant coal resource data that can help inform this planning effort. Specifically, the BLM requests information on the development potential (e.g., location, quality, and quantity) of BLM-administered coal mineral estate, and on surface resource values related to multiple use conflicts. The purpose of this request is to ensure BLM Wyoming has sufficient information and data to consider a reasonable range of resource uses, management options, and alternatives for managing BLM-administered coal mineral estate. The BLM will use this information to complete the Supplemental EIS and formulate alternatives that identify areas acceptable for further leasing consideration. Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted in response to this call for coal and other resource information. Please submit all proprietary information to the Buffalo Field Manager at the address listed above. The BLM will treat submissions marked as ‘‘Confidential’’ in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information. Before including your address, phone number, email 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, the BLM cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.
Authority: 43 CFR 1610.2(c) and 3420.1–2. Dated: November 16, 2018.
A-2 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix A. Notice of Intent
Mary Jo Rugwell, State Director. [FR Doc. 2018–25845 Filed 11–27–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–22–P
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA A-3 Scoping Report
This page intentionally left blank Appendix B Press Release Media List
This page intentionally left blank. Appendix B. Press Release Media List
Media Outlet Type Contact Email Associated Press Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Bighorn Mountain Radio Radio Station [email protected]
Billings Gazette Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Buffalo Bulletin Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Buffalo Bulletin Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Casper Journal Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Casper Star Calendar Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Casper Star Tribune Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Cowboy State Network Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Douglas Budget Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Gillette News Record Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Glenrock Independent Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Guernsey Gazette Newspaper/Website [email protected]
High Plains Sentinel Newspaper/Website [email protected]
K2 Radio Radio Station [email protected]
K2TV Community Calendar Television [email protected]
KASL Radio Station kasl@kaslradio.com
KBFS/KYDT Radio Station karl@kbfs.com
KCWY13 Television [email protected]
KGOS-AM / KERM-FM Radio Station [email protected]
KIML/KAML/KGWY/KDDV Radio Station [email protected]
KKTY Radio Station [email protected]
KKTY/KKTS Radio Station [email protected]
KOTA TV Television [email protected]
KROE/KWYO/KYTI/KZWY/KLQQ Radio Station [email protected]
KTWO Television [email protected]
KTWONews Television [email protected]
KTWO-TV Television [email protected]
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA B-1 Scoping Report Appendix B. Press Release Media List
Media Outlet Type Contact Email KYCN/KZEW Radio Station [email protected]
Lusk Herald Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Moorcroft Leader Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Newcastle Newsletter Journal Newspaper/Website [email protected]
News 13 Television [email protected]
News Center 1 Television [email protected]
Northern Broadcasting System Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Our Town Casper Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Platte County Record Times Newspaper/Website [email protected]
S&P Global Market Intelligence Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Sheridan Media Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Sundance Times Newspaper/Website [email protected]
The Salmon River Mountain Press Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Torrington Telegram Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Townsquare Media Radio Station [email protected]
Wall Street Journal Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Weston County Gazette Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Wyoming Associated Press Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Wyoming File Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Wyoming Livestock Roundup Newspaper/Website [email protected]
Wyoming Outdoors Radio Radio Station [email protected]
Wyoming Public Radio Radio Station [email protected]
Wyoming Tribune Eagle Newspaper/Website [email protected]
B-2 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report
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This page intentionally left blank. Scoping Meeting for Supplemental EIS and Potential Plan Amendment to the Buffalo Resource Management Outline
• Background o litigation o current management
• SEIS o purpose o alternatives o stake holders o schedule o public involvement o coal screening
• Commenting Litigation Summary • Western Organization of Resource Councils, et al. (WORC) vs BLM
• U.S. Montana District Court ordered BLM to: 1. Conduct new coal screening to make a reasoned decision on the amount of recoverable federal coal available. 2. Analyze cumulative effects of downstream emissions from coal, oil and gas leasing and 3. Provide adequate justification for analysis of global warming potential (100 years vs 20 years).
• BLM to complete new coal screening and NEPA analysis by November 29, 2019.
• Montana and Wyoming are coordinating efforts, but preparing separate NEPA documents. Buffalo Field Office
Manages 800,000 acres of BLM-administered surface land and 4.7-million acres of BLM-administered mineral estate across 3 counties in north-central Wyoming
Thirteen operating coal mines in Campbell County
26 billion tons of coal reserves available in the 2015 Approved RMP.
Purpose and Need
Complete additional NEPA analysis for the Buffalo RMP to correct the deficiencies identified by the U.S. District Court. Specifically, the BLM shall:
1. Conduct new coal screening and consider climate change impacts to make a reasoned decision on the amount of recoverable coal made available in the RMPs. 2. Analyze the environmental consequences of downstream combustion of coal, oil and gas open to development under the RMP. 3. Provide additional justification and analysis of global warming potential (GWP) over an appropriate planning period consistent with evolving science. Range of Alternatives
• No Action: 2015 RMP
• Action One or two alternatives that consider climate change impacts to make a reasoned decision on the amount of recoverable coal made available in the RMPs.
The alternatives will be informed by the results of coal screening, public scoping comments, and anticipated environmental effects. Potential Stakeholders • Federal Agencies • State Agencies • Local Governments • Tribes • Conservation Groups • Industry Schedule
Court Ordered Deadline
• Notice of Intent: November 29, 2018
• NOA Draft SEIS: April 12, 2019
• NOA Final SEIS, Proposed RMP: August 30, 2019
• Record of Decision: November 29, 2019 Public Involvement
• Nov 28 to Dec 28, 2018 – Scoping Period
• Dec 19, 2018 - Scoping Meeting
• April 12 to July 11, 2019 - Draft SEIS Public Comment
• TBD - Draft SEIS Public Meeting
• Sept 3 to Nov 1, 2019 - Final SEIS Protest Period Coal Screening
• Development Potential
• Unsuitability Criteria
• Multiple Use Consideration
• Surface Owner Consent Comments
• Keep your comments focused on purpose and need. • Provide resource information, identify potential issues and their impact extent.
Submit your comments by December 28, 2018. Questions?
Contact Information Thomas Bills Project Manager Telephone: (307) 684-1133 Email: [email protected]
Comments (due Dec. 28) Website: https://go.usa.gov/xP6S3 Email: [email protected] Mail: Thomas Bills, SEIS Project Manager BLM Buffalo Field Office 1425 Fort Street Buffalo, WY 82834
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This page intentionally left blank Appendix D. Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number
Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number1
Letter First Organization Name Last Name Location Substantive Issues Discussed in Letter # Name or Individual Lands & Realty Climate Change Denver, Economic Issues 1 Parks Tripp Western Energy Alliance CO Minerals & Geol. Resources Oil & Gas Coal Missoula, - 3 Rott Noah Sierra Club MT Purpose and Need Western Organization of Resource Councils Range of Alternatives Best available information Powder River Basin Resource Council Cumulative Impacts Northern Plains Resource Council FLPMA Montana Environmental Information Center Fish/Aquatic/Wildlife Habitat Air Resources Sheridan, Natural Resources Defense Council 4 Anderson Shannon Climate Change WY WildEarth Guardians Economic Issues The Wilderness Society Social Cost of Carbon Sierra Club Public Health & Safety Water Resources Western Environmental Law Center Minerals & Geol. Resources Oil & Gas Coal Sheridan, - 5 Anderson Shannon Powder River Basin Resource Council WY Sheridan, - 6 Anderson Shannon Powder River Basin Resource Council WY Sheridan, - 7 Anderson Shannon Powder River Basin Resource Council WY Sheridan, - 8 Anderson Shannon Powder River Basin Resource Council WY
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA D-1 Scoping Report Appendix D. Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number
Letter First Organization Name Last Name Location Substantive Issues Discussed in Letter # Name or Individual Range of Alternatives Renewable Energy Climate Change New York, 9 Hein Jayni Institute for Policy Integrity, NYU School of Law Economic Issues NY Social Cost of Carbon Minerals & Geol. Resources Coal Powder River Basin Resource Council Climate Change 350 Colorado Economic Issues Social Cost of Carbon Center for Biological Diversity Clean Energy Action Sheridan, 10 Anderson Shannon Friends of the Earth WY Northern Plains Resource Council Sierra Club Western Colorado Alliance WildEarth Guardians Purpose and Need Other Laws Denver, 11 Aldridge Susan Anadarko Petroleum Air Resources CO Minerals & Geol. Resources Oil & Gas Best available information Big Horn, 12 Canterbury Jackie Bighorn Audubon Fish/Aquatic/Wildlife Habitat MT Climate Change Gillette, Range of Alternatives 13 Christensen Mark Campbell County WY Air Resources Cheyenne, Climate Change 14 Capozella Susan Individual WY Not - 15 Connell Kathleen Individual provided
D-2 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix D. Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number
Letter First Organization Name Last Name Location Substantive Issues Discussed in Letter # Name or Individual Spokane, - 16 Hunt David Individual WA Best available information Gillette, Climate Change 17 Gerrits Christy Individual WY Oil & Gas Coal Douglas, Climate Change 18 Katherman Maria Individual MT Rochester, - 19 Kapecki Jon Individual NY Casper, Best available information 20 Wagner Esther Petroleum Assoc. of Wyoming WY Climate Change Buffalo, - 21 Novotny William Johnson County WY Climate Change Sheridan, 22 Anderson Shannon Powder River Basin Resource Council Economic Issues WY Social Cost of Carbon Not - 23 Public Jean Individual provided Bozeman, - 24 Simmons Pat Individual MT Gatlinburg, Range of Alternatives 25 Steitz Jim Individual TN Wright, Coal 26 Williams Keith Thunder Basin Coal Company MT Cheyenne, Air Resources 27 Parfitt Todd WY Dept. of Environmental Quality WY Coal Not - 28 Trinkle Heidi Individual provided Sheridan, - 29 Westkott Marcia Individual WY Olympia, Best available information 30 Zeigler Bob Individual WA Climate Change
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA D-3 Scoping Report Appendix D. Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number
Letter First Organization Name Last Name Location Substantive Issues Discussed in Letter # Name or Individual Marguery Eugene, - 31 Zucker Individual Lee OR Best available information Cheyenne, 32 Bruce Angi Wyoming Game & Fish Dept. Fish/Aquatic/Wildlife Habitat WY Climate Change Cheyenne, - 33 Deti Travis Wyoming Mining Association WY Best available information Cheyenne, Threatened & Endangered/Special 34 Mead Matthew State of Wyoming WY Status Species Coal Range of Alternatives Cumulative Impacts Denver, Air Resources 35 King Warren Wilderness Society CO Climate Change Economic Issues Social Cost of Carbon Range of Alternatives Best available information Direct/Indirect Impacts Cumulative Impacts Fish/Aquatic/Wildlife Habitat Air Resources 36 Weiss Linda Billings, MT Western Organization of Resource Councils Climate Change Economic Issues Social Cost of Carbon Public Health & Safety Oil & Gas Coal Anacortes, Coal 37 Alexandra Kathryn Individual WA
D-4 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix D. Commenters and Issues Listed by Letter Number
Letter First Organization Name Last Name Location Substantive Issues Discussed in Letter # Name or Individual Cumulative Impacts Threatened & Endangered/Special Status Cheyenne , 38 Mead Matthew State of Wyoming Species WY Climate Change Oil & Gas 1 Some submissions included form letters from multiple individuals.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA D-5 Scoping Report
This page intentionally left blank Appendix E Substantive Public Scoping Comments
This page intentionally left blank. Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Susan Aldridge Anadarko Air Resources In the Buffalo RMP, BLM must expressly recognize that the State of Wyoming, and not the Petroleum BLM, has authority for regulating air quality within the Buffalo Field Office. The complex regulatory scheme established by the Clean Air Act ("CAA") delegates to the State of Wyoming the authority to regulate Wyoming's air resources. Neither BLM nor the USPS may infringe upon the State's authority by attempting to regulate air quality or air emissions in the Buffalo RMP. The BLM does not have direct authority over air quality or air emissions under the CAA. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq. Under the express terms of the CAA, the EPA has the authority to regulate air emissions. In Wyoming, the EPA has delegated its authority to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality ("WDEQ"). See 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 - 767lq; 40 C.F.R. pts. 50 - 99; 40 C.F.R. §§ 52.2620-52.2637 (Wyoming's State Implementation Plan); WYO. STAT. ANN.§§ 35-11-201 to 214; Wyo. Air Quality Stds. & Regs. ("WAQSR") Chs. 1 - 14; 79 Fed. Reg. 62,859 (Oct. 21, 2014); 78 Fed. Reg. 49685 (Aug. 15, 2013). The Secretary of the Interior, through the IBLA, has unequivocally dete1mined that in Wyoming, the State of Wyoming, and not the BLM, has authority over air emissions: Susan Aldridge Anadarko Air Resources The BLM does not have the authority to impose regulations or mandate control measures Petroleum on emission sources, including oil and gas operations, within Wyoming. Wyoming Outdoor Council, et al., 176 IBLA at 26. The USFS's authority over air quality regulation is similarly limited. See Amigos Bravos v. US. Bureau of Land Mgmt., No. 6:09-cv-00037-RB-LFG, 2011 WL 7701433, at *38 (D.N.M. Aug. 3, 2011) (holding that although the Forest Service is required to ensure that its actions do not violate the Clean Air Act, " [ t ]his does not mean that the Forest Service is required to enforce the Clean Air Act"). Shannon Anderson Powder River Air Resources Courts have held that BLM must analyze in its NEPA documentation the reasonably Basin Resource foreseeable indirect and cumulative impacts of a proposed action such as air emissions Council resulting from fossil fuel development. In the District Court’s, the Court held that BLM must analyze and disclose the environmental consequences of downstream combustion of coal, oil, and gas open to development under each RMP.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-1 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Air Resources BLM must assess the downstream impacts of fossil fuel combustion. Here, in addition to Basin Resource causing significant amounts of GHG emissions, combustion of the coal from both the Miles Council City and Buffalo planning areas will result in emission of vast amounts of toxic and harmful non-GHG pollution emissions. It is foreseeable that combustion of billions of tons of coal from the planning areas will result in widespread, deleterious impacts to public health and the environment, costing society enormous sums of money each year. NEPA requires BLM to analyze and disclose these impacts.
A. BLM Must Analyze Cumulative Impacts to Air Quality
Air pollution from the oil and natural gas sector is a serious problem that currently threatens the health of communities across the country. Flaring, venting, leaking, combustion, and release of contaminants throughout the production, processing, transmission, and distribution of oil and natural gas are significant sources of air pollution from the oil and gas sector. Pollutants released during oil and gas production include methane; non-methane volatile organic compounds VOCs, including numerous toxic air contaminants (TACs); benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX); nitrogen oxides (NOx); fine particulate matter (PM2.5); hydrogen sulfide; and silica dust.128,129,130,131 These toxic air contaminants and smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs and NOx) threaten regional air quality and local communities.132,133,134 A broad range of health effects are associated with exposure to these air pollutants, including mild to severe respiratory and neurological problems, cardiovascular damage, endocrine disruption, birth defects, cancer, and premature mortality.135,136 In the SEISs, BLM must analyze the public the air pollution impacts of fossil fuel development made available by the plans along with existing regional air pollution sources and disclose these impacts to the public in the SEISs. 128 McKenzie, L. M., Witter, R. Z., Newman, L. S., & Adgate, J. L. (2012). Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources. Science of the Total Environment, 424, 79-87. 129 Eastern Research Group (ERG) and Sage Environmental Consulting LP. (2012). City of Fort Worth Natural Gas Air Quality Study. 130 Esswein, E. J., Breitenstein, M., Snawder, J., Kiefer, M., & Sieber, W. K. (2013). Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene, 10(7), 347-356.
E-2 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Air Resources (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource 131 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality. (2013). Council Air, Noise, and Light Monitoring Results For Assessing Environmental Impacts of Horizontal Gas Well Drilling Operations (ETD‐10 Project). 132 State of Wyoming Department of Health. (2013). Associations of ShortTerm Exposure to Ozone and Respiratory Outpatient Clinic Visits — Sublette County, Wyoming, 2008–2011. 133 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Oil and Gas. (2013) Noise, Light, Dust, and Volatile Organic Compounds Generated by the Drilling of Horizontal Wells Related to the Well Location Restriction Regarding Occupied Dwelling Structures. 134 Gilman, J. B., Lerner, B. M., Kuster, W. C., & De Gouw, J. A. (2013). Source signature of volatile organic compounds from oil and natural gas operations in northeastern Colorado. Environmental science & technology, 47(3), 1297-1305. 135 Ibid. McKenzie et al. 2012 136 Finkel, M. L., Hays, J., & Law, A. (2013). Modern natural gas development and harm to health: The need for proactive public health policies. ISRN Public Health, 2013.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-3 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Air Resources BLM must conduct a full analysis of all potential sources of air emissions and impacts from Basin Resource those emissions, including but not limited to: Council • The air emissions from and impacts of fossil fuel production on all air basins in the planning areas. • The emissions and air quality impacts of continued and/or increased fossil fuel production activity. • The variation in emissions that might arise from project to project. • The specific VOCs, TACs, or hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that are emitted from fossil fuel production processes. • An evaluation of the magnitude of criteria pollutants that includes but is not limited to emissions from combustion from vehicles and equipment, venting and fugitives, and road dust. • An analysis of the air pollution associated with all phases of the fossil fuel production processes BLM must also require the use of all available mitigation measures, including but not limited to: • Emissions reducing technologies such as reduced emissions completions (RECs), no or low bleed pneumatic controllers, cleaner engines (e.g. electric motors instead of internal combustion engines, EPA Tier 4 engines for nonroad diesel equipment, and trucks that meet 2010 standards), and processes and technologies to reduce emissions from dehydrators and tanks; • Leak detection and repair programs; • Switching to low or no emissions energy sources for on-site power generation; • Reducing the toxicity of hydraulic fracturing fluids; • Silica exposure reduction strategies and use of non-silica proppants wherever possible; • Educating workers about air emissions risks and providing personal protective equipment; • Tank gauging procedures that reduce exposure to volatilized chemicals; • Proper well design, construction, and maintenance to reduce the occurrence of mechanical integrity problems that could lead to leaks; • Surface setbacks to limit exposures to sensitive receptors.
E-4 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Mark Christensen Campbell Air Resources Furthermore, it is difficult to accurately identify where the coal will be consumed. For County example, there are differences in emissions from older plants that have undergone no upgrades over the past 50 years versus newer and more efficient plants. There is no way to predict where the end usage will occur, which makes it extremely challenging to analyze accurately. Warren King Wilderness Air Resources We would also suggest that the agency compare projected emissions for this planning Society process to projected total lifecycle federal fossil fuel emissions to better assess the how additional fossil fuel development may impact efforts to manage or reduce emissions from the federal energy program. Warren King Wilderness Air Resources Within each alternative, the agency should also provide a range of emission projections Society based on the differing management actions identified. Warren King Wilderness Air Resources Once the agency has estimated CO2, CH4, NOx and high-GWP gases like Society chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) emissions, we recommend multiplying each by the appropriate EPA GWP factor and generating a range of potential CO2e emissions using both 100-year and 20-year GWPs. Todd Parfitt WY Dept. of Air Resources The proposed BLM SEIS alternative should consider consequences of a reduction in the Environmental CRB such as: 1) an unknown level of CO2 and CO2 equivalent emissions from non-coal Quality energy development that may occur as a consequence Linda Weiss Western Air Resources When it comes to transporting coal by train from the Powder River Basin all the way to the Organization of power plants where it is burned, carbon dioxide from the train will be the largest effect; yet Resource that costly pollution is apparently omitted from BLM's estimates. Councils
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-5 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Air Resources BLM must conduct a full analysis of all potential sources of air emissions and impacts from Organization of those emissions, including but not limited to: Resource • The air emissions from and impacts of fossil fuel production on all air basins in Councils the planning areas. • The emissions and air quality impacts of continued and/or increased fossil fuel production activity. • The variation in emissions that might arise from project to project. • The specific VOCs, TACs, or hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that are emitted from fossil fuel production processes. • An evaluation of the magnitude of criteria pollutants that includes but is not limited to emissions from combustion from vehicles and equipment, venting and fugitives, and road dust. • An analysis of the air pollution associated with all phases of the fossil fuel production processes Linda Weiss Western Air Resources In the SEISs, BLM must analyze the public the air pollution impacts of fossil fuel Organization of development Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Air Resources Here, BLM cannot merely assert without substantiation that emissions differences between Organization of Leasing and No Leasing alternatives would be uncertain. Resource Councils
E-6 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Best available BLM must use the most current methane GWPs from the IPCC’s 2013 Fifth Assessment Basin Resource information- Report and GHG emissions should be calculated using both the 20-year GWP of 87 and the Council baseline data 100-year GWP of 36.21 This is because relative to carbon dioxide, methane has much greater climate impacts in the near term than the long term, and, therefore a short-term measure of climate impacts would be most effective in considering policies to avoid significant global warming within the near-term..22
21 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013), http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ 22 Id. at 731, Appendix 8 A. Angi Bruce Wyoming Best available Climate change is identified as a leading wildlife conservation challenge in the Department's Game & Fish information- State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), which was most recently revised in 2017. We Dept. baseline data recommend the BLM reference this chapter of the SWAP (available on the Department's website) when conducting an analysis of climate change in the SEIS Jackie Canterbury Bighorn Best available Since 2011, the BLM has leased more than 2.1 billion tons of coal in the Powder River Audobon information- Basin, unlocking nearly 3.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution that will be baseline data released when the coal is burned which is mostly in China, where the demand for coal-fired power plants has not stopped (Sierra Club, 2018). Christy Gerrits Best available The National Climate Assessment (NCA) in which 13 federal agencies issued a scientific information- report in late November, 2018, reporting the devastating effects of climate change on our baseline data economy, health and environment. The cumulative effects could cut our gross domestic product 10% by 2100. Christy Gerrits Best available The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underscored the imminent threat information- of climate change to life on Earth. The Special Report on the impacts of global warming of baseline data 1.5'C above pre industrial levels issued by the IPPC, (October 201 B) left little to no doubt that we need to take immediate action if we are to keep the Earth's average temperature from rising more than 1.s·c. Coral Davenport wrote in her article which appeared in The New York Times on October 7, 2018, "Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040." The report states that in order to avoid an increase of temperature of 2.TC we must transform our economy within just a few years, with an economic loss of $54 trillion. While technically it is possible to achieve, the political will power is probably not there
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-7 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Matthew Mead State of Best available During the review process, the BLM should also consider impacts to the Coal Resource Wyoming information- Task Reports if the coal resource boundary is modified. These task reports form the basis baseline data for several key environmental components and future projections within the defined coal resource boundary. The reports should be looked at closely during the development of the SEIS. Esther Wagner Petroleum Best available BLM has prepared environmental assessments (EAs) in support of oil and gas lease sales Assoc. of information- that account for the court's direction that BLM analyze the environmental consequences of Wyoming baseline data the downstream combustion of oil and gas from leased lands and that it justify its analysis of global warming potential over an appropriate planning period consistent with evolving science. See Environmental Assessment for Third Quarter 2018 (Part 2) Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, No. DOI-BLM-WY-0000-2018-0003-EA, at 3-13 - 3-18, 4-10 - 4-11; Environmental Assessment for Fourth Quarter 2019 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, No. DOI-BLM-WY-000-2018-0004-EA, at 3-15 - 3-18, 4-4 - 4-10; Environmental Assessment for First Quarter 2019 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, No. DOI-BLM- WY-0000-2019-0001-EA, 3-13 - 3-18, 4-11 - 4-12. Linda Weiss Western Best available 2 Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-11-28/pdf/2018-25845.pdf. Organization of information- 3 Resource baseline data See BLM, Notice of Intent for the Potential Amendment to the Approved Resource Councils Management Plan for the Miles City Field Office, Montana, and to Prepare an Associated Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, 83 Fed. Reg. 61167, 61167 (2018), available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-11- 28/pdf/2018-25847.pdf.
E-8 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 49 E.g., Howard & Sylvan; Pindyck. The underestimation results from a variety of factors, Organization of information- including omitted and outdated climate impacts (including ignoring impacts to economic Resource baseline data growth and tipping points), simplified utility functions (including ignoring relative prices), and Councils applying constant instead of a declining discount rate. See Howard; Revesz et al.; J.C. Van Den Bergh & W.J. Botzen, A Lower Bound to the Social Cost of CO2 Emissions, 4 Nature Climate Change 253 (2014) (proposing $125 per metric ton of carbon dioxide in 1995 dollars, or about $200 in today’s dollars, as the lower bound estimate). See also F.C. Moore & D.B. Diaz, Temperature Impacts on Economic Growth Warrant Stringent Mitigation Policy, 5 Nature Climate Change 127 (2015) (concluding the SCC may be six times higher after accounting for potential growth impacts of climate change). Accounting for both potential impacts of climate change on economic growth and other omitted impacts, S. Dietz and N. Stern find a two- to seven-fold increase in the SCC. Endogenous growth, convexity of damage and climate risk: how Nordhaus' framework supports deep cuts in carbon emissions. 125 The Economic Journal 574 (2015). 50 Note that the various estimates cited in the paragraph have not all been converted to standard 2017 dollars, and may not all reflect the same year emissions. Nevertheless, the magnitude of this range suggests that $40 per ton of year 2015 emissions is a conservative estimate. 51 See Howard & Schwartz, at Appendix B. All these estimates are in 2016 dollars. 52 See, e.g., Howarth, R. B., Gerst, M. D., & Borsuk, M. E., 2014. Risk mitigation and the social cost of carbon. Global Environmental Change 24, 123-131. 53 Weitzmann, M.L., GHG Targets as Insurance Against Catastrophic Climate Damages, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 16136, 12-16 (2010). 54 Interagency Working Group, Technical Support Document: Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866 (August 2016). The August 2016 update added some clarifying information around uncertainties in the modeling that supports the social cost of carbon, but did not adjust the damages values (the costs) published in the 2015 update.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-9 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 124 Council on Environmental Quality, Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Organization of information- Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change Resource baseline data in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews at 10, 15 (2016) (emphasis added) (hereafter Councils “CEQ Climate Guidance”) (attached). 125 See Department of Interior, Federal Coal Program Programmatic EIS Scoping Report, (January 2017) (attached) (Acknowledging that the climate impacts of various alternatives for the federal coal leasing program are “largely contingent on the degree to which the substitute fuel sources are less carbon intensive (e.g., natural gas-fired generation or renewable generation) as opposed to similarly carbon intensive (e.g., non-Federal coal).”) BLM also stated it would “develop and use economic models to assess these substitution dynamics” and the impacts that would result from future changes to the federal coal leasing program. Id. 126 EIA, National Energy Modelling System: An Overview, at 1 (2009). (attached) Linda Weiss Western Best available 146 In addition to the limitations of each study discussed in the studies themselves, see also Organization of information- P. Jaramillo & N.Z. Muller, Air Pollution Emissions and Damages from Energy Production in the Resource baseline data U.S., 90 Energy Policy 202 (2016). Councils 147 New models include AP2, as used by Jaramillo and Muller (2016), supra; EASIUR, as used by J. Heo et al., Reduced-Form Modeling of Public Health Impacts of Inorganic PM2.5 and Precursor Emissions, 137 Atmospheric Envt. 80 (2016); and SCAR, as used D. Shindel, The Social Cost of Atmospheric Release, 130 Climatic Change 313 (2015). 148 Wyoming State Office, BLM, Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Wright Area Coal Lease Applications 4-136 (2010), available at https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front- office/projects/nepa/67033/82290/97260/01WrightCoalVol1.pdf. 149 EIA, Average Operating Heat Rate for Selected Energy sources (listing data for year 2016), https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_08_01.html. Linda Weiss Western Best available It is unclear to me how Buffalo City finds $1.01 billion in annual output from Buffalo oil and Organization of information- gas. Using the numbers that they provide (see above), I find total revenue for Buffalo oil and Resource baseline data gas of $447 million in 2018, increasing to $995 million in 2028. Councils
E-10 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 153 My previous work used Marten et al. (2015)’s social cost of methane estimates, since Organization of information- the IWG 2016 estimates were not yet available. The IWG based its estimates on Marten et Resource baseline data al.’s work, though, so the two sets of estimates are consistent. Compare IWG, 2016 Councils Addendum with A.L. Marten et al., Incremental CH4 and N2O Mitigation Benefits Consistent with the U.S. Government’s SC-CO2 Estimates, 15 Climate Policy 272 (2015). Linda Weiss Western Best available 29 Richard L. Revesz et al., Best Cost Estimate of Greenhouse Gases, 357 SCIENCE 6352 Organization of information- (2017) (explaining that, even after Trump’s Executive Order, the social cost of greenhouse Resource baseline data gas estimate of around $50 per ton of carbon dioxide is still the best estimate), available at Councils http://policyintegrity.org/files/publications/Science_SCC_Letter.pdf . 31 William D. Nordhaus, Estimates of the social cost of carbon: concepts and results from the DICE-2013R model and alternative approaches, 1 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMISTS 1 (2014). 32 David Anthoff & Richard S.J. Tol, THE CLIMATE FRAMEWORK FOR UNCERTAINTY, NEGOTIATION AND DISTRIBUTION (FUND), TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION, VERSION 3.6 (2012), available at http://www.fund-model.org/versions. 33 Chris Hope, The Marginal Impact of CO2 from PAGE2002: An Integrated Assessment Model Incorporating the IPCC's Five Reasons for Concern, 6 INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT J. 19 (2006). 34 Nat’l Acad. Sci., Eng. & Medicine, Valuing Climate Damages: Updating Estimates of the Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide 3 (2017) [hereinafter “NAS, Second Report”] (recommending an “integrated modular approach”). 35 Id. (recommending an “integrated modular approach”). 36 Specifically, NAS concluded that a near-term update was not necessary or appropriate and the current estimates should continue to be used while future improvements are developed over time. Nat’l Acad. Sci., Eng. & Medicine, Assessment of Approaches to Updating the Social Cost of Carbon: Phase 1 Report on a Near-Term Update 1 (2016) [hereinafter “NAS, First Report”].
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-11 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 102 Robiou du Pont, Yann et al., Equitable mitigation to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, Organization of information- Nature Climate Change 38 (2017), 7 and Supplemental Tables 1 and 2. Quantities measured Resource baseline data in GtCO2eq include the mass emissions from CO2 as well as the other well-mixed Councils greenhouse gases (CO2,methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and SF6) converted into CO2-equivalent values, while quantities measured in GtCO2 refer to mass emissions of just CO2 itself. 103 Robiou du Pont et al. (2017) averaged across IPCC sharing principles to estimate the U.S. carbon budget from 2010 to 2100 for a 50 percent chance of returning global average temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2100, consistent with the Paris Agreement’s “well below 2°C” target, and based on a cost-optimal model. The study estimated the U.S. carbon budget consistent with a 1.5°C target at 25 GtCO2eq by averaging across four equity principles: capability (83 GtCO2eq), equal per capita (118 GtCO2eq), greenhouse development rights (-69 GtCO2eq), and equal cumulative per capita (-32 GtCO2eq). The study estimated the U.S. budget at 57 GtCO2eq when averaging across five sharing principles, adding the constant emissions ratio (186 GtCO2eq) to the four above-mentioned principles. However, the constant emissions ratio, which maintains current emissions ratios, is not considered to be an equitable sharing principle because it is a grandfathering approach that “privileges today’s high-emitting countries when allocating future emission entitlements.” For a discussion of sharing principles, see Kartha, S. et al., Cascading biases against poorer countries, 8 Nature Climate Change 348 (2018).
E-12 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available (Continued from previous line above) Organization of information- 104 Robiou du Pont et al. (2017) estimated the U.S. carbon budget for a 66 percent Resource baseline data probability of keeping warming below 2°C at 60 GtCO2eq based on four equity principles Councils (capability, equal per capita, greenhouse development rights, equal cumulative per capita), and at 104 GtCO2eq based on five principles (adding in constant emissions ratio, but see footnote above). For a 66 percent probability of keeping warming below 2°C, Peters et al. (2015) estimated the U.S. carbon budget at 34 GtCO2 based on an “equity” approach for allocating the global carbon budget, and 123 GtCO2 under an “inertia” approach. The “equity” approach bases sharing on population size and provides for equal per-capita emissions across countries, while the “inertia” approach bases sharing on countries’ current emissions. Similarly using a 66 percent probability of keeping warming below 2°C, Gignac et al. (2015) estimated the U.S. carbon budget at 78 to 97 GtCO2, based on a contraction and convergence framework, in which all countries adjust their emissions over time to achieve equal per-capita emissions. Although the contraction and convergence framework corrects current emissions inequities among countries over a specified time frame, it does not account for inequities stemming from historical emissions differences. When accounting for historical responsibility, Gignac et al. (2015) estimated that the United States has an additional cumulative carbon debt of 100 GtCO2 as of 2013. See Peters, Glen P. et al., Measuring a fair and ambitious climate agreement using cumulative emissions, 10 Environmental Research Letters 105004 (2015) (attached as Exhibit 19); Gignac, Renaud and H. Damon Matthews, Allocating a 2C cumulative carbon budget to countries, 10 Environmental Research Letters 075004 (2015) (attached as Exhibit 20). 105 Rogelj, Joeri et al., Energy system transformations for limiting end-of-century warming to below 1.5°C, 5 Nature Climate Change 519 (2015) (attached as Exhibit 21); IPCC 1.5°C Report. 106 See Climate Action Tracker, USA (last updated 30 April 2018), http://climateactiontracker.org/countries/usa at Country Summary figure showing U.S. emissions versus year. At the current annual emission rate of 6.5 GtCO2, the United States will exhaust the budget consistent with 1.5°C target between 2025 and 2030 and will exhaust the budget consistent with 2°C target between 2040 and 2045, leaving no room for additional fossil fuel CO2 emissions.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-13 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 154 See pages A13 and A47 in Hein & Howard (2015) for the four-step simple adjustment Organization of information- methodology based on the Lee et al. (1995) methodology for converting total mortality Resource baseline data costs of US freight trains to the total mortality costs of coal freight trains. R. Lee, A. Councils Krupnick & D. Burtraw Estimating Externalities of Electric Fuel Cycles: Analytical Methods and Issues, and Estimating Externalities of Coal Fuel Cycles (Nat’l Acad. Press, 1995). 155 See pages A13 to A17 in Hein & Howard (2015) for a complete discussion of the derivation. 156 The rule was entitled “Control of Emissions of Air Pollution from Locomotive engines and Marine Compression Ignition Engines Less than 30 Liters Per Cylinder.” 157 Following the literature, Hein & Howard (2015) also assume that the train transportation industry internalizes some portion of the public fatality cost, and passes it on to consumers. However, only some of the studies that they considered when deriving their range of estimates of the externality costs of public fatalities due to train transport accounted for this internalization. For those estimates that fail to account for this internalization, they assumed a 40% internalization of fatality costs by the industry. 158 For sources for the damage estimates, see Hein & Howards (2015).
E-14 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 107 UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2018 at xiii; IPCC 1.5°C Report at TS-6 (attached above Organization of information- as Exhibit 4); see also supra notes 52-56 and accompanying text (explaining remaining U.S. Resource baseline data carbon budget). Councils 108 Davis, Steven J. and Robert H. Socolow, Commitment accounting of CO2 emissions, Environmental Research Letters 9: 084018 (2014); Erickson, Peter et al., Assessing carbon lock-in, 10 Environmental Research Letters 084023 (2015); Erickson, Peter et al., Carbon lock-in from fossil fuel supply infrastructure, Stockholm Environment Institute, Discussion Brief (2015); Seto, Karen C. et al., Carbon Lock-In: Types, Causes, and Policy Implications, 41 Annual Review of Environmental Resources 425 (2016); Green, Fergus and Richard Denniss, Cutting with both arms of the scissors: the economic and political case for restrictive supply-side climate policies, Climatic Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2162-x (2018). 109 Erickson et al. (2015): “The essence of carbon lock-in is that, once certain carbon- intensive investments are made, and development pathways are chosen, fossil fuel dependence and associated carbon emissions can become “locked in”, making it more difficult to move to lower-carbon pathways and thus reduce climate risks.” Green and Denniss (2018): “When production processes require a large, upfront investment in fixed costs, such as the construction of a port, pipeline or coalmine, future production will take place even when the market price of the resultant product is lower than the long-run opportunity cost of production. This is because rational producers will ignore ‘sunk costs’ and continue to produce as long as the market price is sufficient to cover the marginal cost (but not the average cost) of production. This is known as ‘lock-in.’” 110 Peter Erickson and Michael Lazarus, How Would Phasing Out U.S. Federal Leases for Fossil Fuel Extraction Affect CO2 Emissions and 2°C Goals?, Stockholm Environmental Institute (2016) at 12. 111 Id. at 16. 112 Id. at 26.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-15 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 84 United Nations Environment Programme, Emissions Gap Report 2018 at xiv, available at: Organization of information- http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/26895/EGR2018_FullReport_EN.pdf?sequence Resource baseline data =1&isAllow ed=y . Councils 85 Id. 86 Id.; see also Spratt, Climate Reality Check at 2. 87 UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2018 at xiv. 88 Id. at 15. 89 Id. 90 IPCC 1.5°C Report at 96; see also Dustin Mulvaney, et al., Over-Leased: How Production Horizons of Already Leased Federal Fossil Fuels Outlast Global Carbon Budgets, EcoShift Consulting (July 2016) at 2 (citing Joeri Rogelj, et al., Difference between carbon budget estimates unraveled, Nature Climate Change (2016). 91 IPCC, Global Warming of 1.5°C: Summary for Policymakers at 14. Linda Weiss Western Best available 114 While an agency may restrict its analysis to alternatives that suit the “basic policy Organization of information- objectives” of a planning action, Seattle Audubon Soc’y v. Moseley, 80 F.3d 1401, 1404 (9th Resource baseline data Cir. 1996), it may do so only as long as “the statements of purpose and need drafted to Councils guide the environmental review process ... are not unreasonably narrow,” Dombeck, 185 F.3d at 1175.
E-16 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 23 U.S. Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (IWG), Organization of information- “Technical support document: Technical update of the social cost of carbon for regulatory Resource baseline data impact analysis under executive order 12866 & Addendum: Application of the methodology Councils to estimate the social cost of methane and the social cost of nitrous oxide” (August 26, 2016), available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/scc_tsd_final_clean_8_ 26_16.pdf 24 Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Carbon, United States Government, Technical Support Document: Technical Update on the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis—Under Executive Order 12866, at 2 (May 2013) (hereinafter 2013 TSD) (attached as Exhibit 29); Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Carbon, United States Government, Technical Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis—Under Executive Order 12866 (February 2010) (hereinafter 2010 TSD) 25 Ruth Greenspan and Dianne Callan, WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE, More than Meets the Eye: The Social Cost of Carbon in U.S Climate Policy, in Plain English (July 2011) at 1. Linda Weiss Western Best available 4 IPCC AR5, Mitigation of Climate Change, Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Organization of information- Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014) (attached as Resource baseline data Exhibit 1). Councils 5 Environmental Protection Agency, Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act 74 Fed. Reg. 66,496 (Dec. 15, 2009). Linda Weiss Western Best available Altogether, coal mining and transportation under these two RMPs will generate additional Organization of information- damages of at least $56 billion over the 2018-2028 period. Resource baseline data Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available Table 10. Summary of Best, Low, and High Estimates of Total Quantified Damages (billions Organization of information- of dollars) Time Period Damages Low Estimate (at 5% discount rate) Best Estimate (at 3% Resource baseline data discount rate) High Estimate (at 2.5% discount rate) 2018 to 2028 Councils
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-17 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available Table 9. Cumulative Damages from Mining and Transporting Coal from the Buffalo and Organization of information- Miles City RMPs (2018-2028, at a 3% discount rate) Methane emissions from mines Resource baseline data Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available 166 Moore, C. W., Zielinska, B., Petron, G., & Jackson, R. B. (2014). Air impacts of Organization of information- increased natural gas acquisition, processing, and use: a critical review. Environmental Science Resource baseline data & Technology, 48(15), 8349-8359. Councils 167 Wolf Eagle Environmental. (2009) Town of DISH, Texas, Ambient Air Monitoring Analysis, Final Report. 168 Ziemkiewicz, P. F., Quaranta, J. D., Darnell, A., & Wise, R. (2014). Exposure pathways related to shale gas development and procedures for reducing environmental and public risk. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 16, 77-84.
E-18 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Linda Weiss Western Best available 37 Gov’t Accountability Office, Regulatory Impact Analysis: Development of Social Cost of Organization of information- Carbon Estimates Resource baseline data (2014). Councils 38 Peter Howard & Jason Schwartz, Think Global: International Reciprocity as Justification for a Global Social Cost of Carbon, 42 Columbia J. Envtl. L. 203 (2017), at Appendix A. 39 E.g., Richard G. Newell et al., Carbon Market Lessons and Global Policy Outlook, 343 SCIENCE 1316 (2014); Bonnie L. Keeler et al., The Social Costs of Nitrogen, 2 SCIENCE ADVANCES e1600219 (2016); Richard L. Revesz et al., Global Warming: Improve Economic Models of Climate Change, 508 NATURE 173 (2014) (co-authored with Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow, among others). 40 Zero Zone v. Dept. of Energy, 832 F.3d 654, 679 (7th Cir. 2016) (finding that the agency “acted reasonably” in using global estimates of the social cost of carbon, and that the estimates chosen were not arbitrary or capricious). 41 Montana Envtl. Info. Cent., 2017 WL 3480262, at *12-15, 19. 42 R. Tol, Targets for Global Climate Policy: An Overview, 37 J. Econ. Dynamics & Control 911 (2013). 43 R. Tol, Economic Impacts of Climate Change (Univ. Sussex Working Paper No. 75-2015, 2015). 44 S. Nocera et al., The Economic Impact of Greenhouse Gas Abatement through a Meta- Analysis: Valuation, Consequences and Implications in terms of Transport Policy. 37 Transport Policy 31 (2015). 45 Circular A-4, at 41, supports use of expert elicitation as a valuable tool to fill gaps in knowledge. 46 Scott Holladay & Jason Schwartz, Economists and Climate Change 43 (Inst. Policy Integrity Brief, 2009 (directly surveying experts about the SCC). 47 Peter Howard & Derek Sylvan, The Economic Climate: Establishing Expert Consensus on the Economics of Climate Change (Inst. Policy Integrity Working Paper 2015/1) (using survey results to calibrate the DICE-2013R damage function). 48 R. Pindyck, The Social Cost of Carbon Revisited (Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Res. No. w22807, 2016)($80-$100 is the trimmed range of estimates at a 4% discount rate; without trimming of outlier responses, the estimate is $200).
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-19 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available (Continued from previous line above) Organization of information- 49 E.g., Howard & Sylvan; Pindyck. The underestimation results from a variety of factors, Resource baseline data including omitted and outdated climate impacts (including ignoring impacts to economic Councils growth and tipping points), simplified utility functions (including ignoring relative prices), and applying constant instead of a declining discount rate. See Howard; Revesz et al.; J.C. Van Den Bergh & W.J. Botzen, A Lower Bound to the Social Cost of CO2 Emissions, 4 Nature Climate Change 253 (2014) (proposing $125 per metric ton of carbon dioxide in 1995 dollars, or about $200 in today’s dollars, as the lower bound estimate). See also F.C. Moore & D.B. Diaz, Temperature Impacts on Economic Growth Warrant Stringent Mitigation Policy, 5 Nature Climate Change 127 (2015) (concluding the SCC may be six times higher after accounting for potential growth impacts of climate change). Accounting for both potential impacts of climate change on economic growth and other omitted impacts, S. Dietz and N. Stern find a two- to seven-fold increase in the SCC. Endogenous growth, convexity of damage and climate risk: how Nordhaus' framework supports deep cuts in carbon emissions. 125 The Economic Journal 574 (2015).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 92 Id. at 14. Organization of information- 93 Resource baseline data Michael Raupach, et al., Sharing a quota on cumulative carbon emissions, Nature Climate Councils Change (Sept. 2014) (emphasis added). 94 IPCC AR5, Mitigation of Climate Change, Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2014) at Table 7.2. 95 Dustin Mulvaney, et al., The Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Federal Fossil Fuels, EcoShift Consulting (Aug. 2015) at 16. 96 Id. 97 Id. 98 CO2 equivalents allow direct comparison of warming caused by different GHGs and are calculated by multiplying the amount of GHG gas by its global warming potential (GWP). The USGS study uses an outdated value for the 100-year GWP of methane of 25, from the IPCC AR4 report. Using the current 100-year GWP for fossil methane of 36, from IPCC AR5, total 2014 emissions from fossil fuels 99 extracted from public lands equals 1353 MMT CO2Eq. U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Lands Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sequestration in the United States: Estimates for 2005-2014 (2018), available at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20185131. 100 Id.; see also Energy Information Administration, Sales of Fossil Fuels Produced from Federal and Indian Lands, FY 2003 through FY 2014 (July 2015); Stratus Consulting, Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Energy Extracted from Federal Lands and Waters: An Update (Dec. 2014). 101 Christophe McGlade & Paul Ekins, The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2°C, Nature (Jan 2015) at 188. Linda Weiss Western Best available See, e.g., The Wilderness Society, In the Dark: The Hidden Climate Impacts of Energy Organization of information- Development on Public Lands, (Feb. 2018), available at Resource baseline data https://www.wilderness.org/sites/default/files/media/file/In%20the%20Dark%20Report_FINA Councils L_Feb_2018.pdf Linda Weiss Western Best available Table 8. Costs of Mining and Transporting Powder River Basin Coal (2017$/metric ton of Organization of information- coal)158 Damage Category Low Estimate Best Estimate High Estimate Production Methane Resource baseline data emissions from mines $0.46 $1.01 $2.83 Councils
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available The Medicare Population. New England Journal of Medicine, 2017; 376 (26): 2513 DOI: Organization of information- 10.1056/NEJMoa1702747. Resource baseline data Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available To summarize, the emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and Organization of information- other hazardous pollutants from the combustion of the coal produced under these two Resource baseline data RMPs will result in premature mortality, cardiovascular diseases, lost work productivity, and Councils other damages worth at least $306 billion over the 2018-2028 period. Linda Weiss Western Best available 164 MCO-FEIS at 4-372, tbl. 4-78 (I count only minerals employment for Alternative E, and Organization of information- not BLM expenditures or payments to states, which at best represent transfers and not net Resource baseline data gains); MCO-FEIS at 4-375, tbl. 4-81; BFO-FEIS at 1643, tbl 4.65 & 1644, tbl. 4.67. Buffalo Councils figures are for federal oil and gas wells, see id. at 1651 (“The impacts of oil and gas drilling and production described in the Economic Conditions section of this chapter relate to activities on BLM surface and federal mineral estate within the planning area.”) Recall that my analysis focuses on damages from federal oil and gas leases. Note that the Buffalo FEIS’s tables are in 2011$, while the Miles City FEIS’s tables do not specify a dollar-year. Linda Weiss Western Best available See, e.g., EPA, Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Clean Power Plan Final Rule at tbl. ES-6 Organization of information- (2015), https://www3.epa.gov/ttnecas1/docs/ria/utilities_ria_final-clean-power-plan-existing- Resource baseline data units_2015-08.pdf. 160 See Jaramillo & Muller at 209-210. Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available 145 See, e.g., K.E. Brown et al., How Accounting for Climate and Health Impacts of Emissions Organization of information- Could Change the U.S. Energy System, 102 Energy Policy 396, 397 (2017); Declaration of Resource baseline data Thomas Michael Power in Mont. Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 9:15-cv-106- Councils DWM (D. Mont., filed Sept. 25, 2017 as doc. 82-3); D. Burtraw et al., The True Cost of Electric Power: An Inventory of Methodologies to Support Future Decision-Making in Comparing the Cost and Competitiveness of Electricity Generation Technologies (Res. for the Future 2012); S. Grausz, The Social Cost of Coal: Implications for the World Bank (World Bank, 2012) (highlighting the NRC and Epstein estimates).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 174 Stringfellow, W. T., Cooley, H., Varadharajan, C., Heberger, M., Reagan, M. T., Domen, Organization of information- J. K., ... & Nicklisch, S. Resource baseline data C. (2015). Impacts of Well Stimulation on Water Resources. An Independent Scientific Councils Assessment of Well Stimulation in California, 49. Shonkoff, S. B., Maddalena, R. L., Hays, J., Stringfellow, W., Wettstein, Z. S., Harrison, R., ... & Energy, P. H. (2015). Potential impacts of well stimulation on human health in California. California Council of Science and Technology and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, An Independent Scientific Assessment of Well stimulation in California, 2. 175 See GAO, Coal Leasing: BLM Could Enhance Appraisal Process, More Explicitly Consider Coal Exports, an Provide More Public Information (GAO 14-140) (Dec. 2013); OIG, Coal Management Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, Report No.: CR–EV–BLM–0001– 2012 (June 2013); see also Taxpayers for Common Sense, Federal Coal Leasing: Fair Market Value and a Fair Return for the American Taxpayer (Sept. 2013); Center for American Progress, Modernizing the Federal Coal Program (Dec. 2014); Headwaters Economics, An Assessment of U.S. Federal Coal Royalties (2015); Center for American Progress, Cutting Subsidies and Closing Loopholes in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Coal Program (Jan. 6, 2015); Institute for Policy Integrity, Harmonizing Preservation and Production (June 2015); Institute for Policy Integrity, Illuminating the Hidden Costs of Coal (Dec. 2015). Linda Weiss Western Best available The graphic below depicts (a) dramatically increasing damages from global warming over Organization of information- time (expressed as the percent decline in global GDP), as well as (b) the distribution of the Resource baseline data social cost of carbon across a range of future economic conditions and discount rates Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available 122 Richard Posner, ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE LAW 5-6 (9th Ed. 2014) (excerpts Organization of information- attached). Resource baseline data Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available 21 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Organization of information- Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Resource baseline data Panel on Climate Change (2013), http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/ Councils 22 Id. at 731, Appendix 8 A.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 6 NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory, Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, available Organization of information- at: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/. Resource baseline data 7 Councils See David Johnston, Have We Passed the Point of No Return on Climate Change?, Scientific American (April 2015), available at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/have-we- passed-the-point-of-no-return-on-climate- change/. 8 The U.S. Global Change Research Program is a Federal program mandated by Congress to coordinate Federal research and investments in understanding the forces shaping the global environment. 9 U.S. Global Change Research Program, Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States (October 2018), available at https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/ and attached as Exhibit 2.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available Addendum: Application of the methodology to estimate the social cost of methane and the Organization of information- social cost of nitrous oxide” (August 26, 2016). Resource baseline data 63 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties Councils (Nov 30-Dec. 11, 2015), Adoption of the Paris Agreement, Art. 2, U.N. Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/L.9 (Dec. 12, 2015), available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf (hereinafter, “Paris Agreement”). 64 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty (October 6, 2018) (hereinafter, “IPCC 1.5°C Report”) available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/ ; see also James Hansen, et al., Assessing “Dangerous Climate Change”: Required Reduction of Carbon Emissions to Protect Young People, Future Generations and Nature, 8 PLoS ONE 8 e81648 (2013), available at: https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha08510t.html; Greg Muttitt, et al., The Sky’s Limit: Why the Paris Climate Goals Require a Managed Decline of Fossil Fuel Production, Oil Change International (Sept. 2016) at 6 (attached as Exhibit 6); David Spratt, Climate Reality Check: After Paris, Counting the Cost (March 2016) at 8; Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows, Beyond ‘Dangerous’ Climate Change: Emission Scenarios for a New World, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. (2011). 65 IPCC 1.5°C Report. 66 Id. 67 Id.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 54 Interagency Working Group, Technical Support Document: Technical Update of the Organization of information- Social Cost of Carbon for Resource baseline data Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866 (August 2016). The August 2016 Councils update added some clarifying information around uncertainties in the modeling that supports the social cost of carbon, but did not adjust the damages values (the costs) published in the 2015 update. 55 Interagency Working Group, Addendum to Technical Support Document on Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis under Executive Order 12866: Application of the Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide (August 2016). 56 Id. at 3. 57 Id. at 7. 58 Id. at 7. For comparison purposes, the current social cost of carbon values for CO2 emissions in 2020 range from $120 to $123 per ton. 59 Exec. Order. No. 13,783 § 5(b), 82 Fed. Reg. 16,093 (Mar. 28, 2017). 60 Id. § 5(c). 61 Richard L. Revesz et al., Best Cost Estimate of Greenhouse Gases, 357 SCIENCE 6352 (2017) (explaining that, even after Trump’s Executive Order, the social cost of greenhouse gas estimate of around $50 per ton of carbon dioxide is still the best estimate), available at http://policyintegrity.org/files/publications/Science_SCC_Letter.pdf. 62 U.S. Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (IWG), “Technical support document: Technical update of the social cost of carbon for regulatory impact analysis under executive order 12866 & Addendum: Application of the methodology to estimate the social cost of methane and the social cost of nitrous oxide” (August 26, 2016). Linda Weiss Western Best available Table 6. Non-Climate Damage Estimates for Combusting Coal per Kilowatt-Hour (as of Organization of information- year 2016 emissions, in 2017$) Adjustment Low Estimate Central Estimate High Estimate Resource baseline data Unadjusted, derived from the literature $0.04 $0.11 $0.55 Adjusted to Powder River Basin Councils coal's sulfur content and modern coal plant's heat rates $0.01 $0.04 $0.22
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available Table 7: Annual and Cumulative Non-Climate Damages from Buffalo and Miles City Coal Organization of information- Combustion Low Estimate Central Estimate High Estimate Annual Damages: Resource baseline data $9,958,668,806 $32,109,599,658 $195,028,137,071 Cumulative Damages (2018-2028), Councils discounted at 3% to Present Value $95 billion $306 billion $1,859 billion Linda Weiss Western Best available 17 Richard K. Lattanzio, Congressional Research Service, R44090, Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Organization of information- Assessment of Natural Gas in the Power Sector (2015), available at Resource baseline data http://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp- content/uploads/assets/crs/R44090.pdf . Councils 18 See, e.g., DOE/NETL, Life Cycle Analysis of Natural Gas Extraction and Power Generation, DOE/NETL- 2015/1714 (Aug. 30, 2016), available at https://www.netl.doe.gov/projects/energy-analysis-details.aspx?id=1830 . 19 Id. at Appendix A. 20 Gunnar Nyhre & Drew Shindell et al., Anthropogenic and Natural Radiative Forcing in IPCC, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013), http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/report/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf Linda Weiss Western Best available In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Organization of information- changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Resource baseline data water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or Councils coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production. Thus, BLM must consider all new significant information or changed circumstances since adoption of the RMPs in its SEIS.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 128 McKenzie, L. M., Witter, R. Z., Newman, L. S., & Adgate, J. L. (2012). Human health risk Organization of information- assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources. Resource baseline data 129 Councils Science of the Total Environment, 424, 79-87. Eastern Research Group (ERG) and Sage Environmental Consulting LP. (2012). City of Fort Worth Natural Gas Air Quality Study. 130 Esswein, E. J., Breitenstein, M., Snawder, J., Kiefer, M., & Sieber, W. K. (2013). Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene, 10(7), 347-356. 131 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality. (2013). Air, Noise, and Light Monitoring Results For Assessing Environmental Impacts of Horizontal Gas Well Drilling Operations (ETD‐10 Project). 132 State of Wyoming Department of Health. (2013). Associations of ShortTerm Exposure to Ozone and Respiratory Outpatient Clinic Visits — Sublette County, Wyoming, 2008–2011. 133 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Oil and Gas. (2013) Noise, Light, Dust, and Volatile Organic Compounds Generated by the Drilling of Horizontal Wells Related to the Well Location Restriction Regarding Occupied Dwelling Structures. 134 Gilman, J. B., Lerner, B. M., Kuster, W. C., & De Gouw, J. A. (2013). Source signature of volatile organic compounds from oil and natural gas operations in northeastern Colorado. Environmental science & technology, 47(3), 1297-1305. 135 Ibid. McKenzie et al. 2012 136 Finkel, M. L., Hays, J., & Law, A. (2013). Modern natural gas development and harm to health: The need for proactive public health policies. ISRN Public Health, 2013.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 137 Note that sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide are particulate matter precursors. Organization of information- 138 Resource baseline data Nat’l Res. Council, Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production Councils and Use (2010); P.R. Epstein et al., Full Cost Accounting for the Life Cycle of Coal, 1219 Annals of the N.Y. Acad. of Sci. 73 (2011). Examples of non-health impacts include acid rain and harmful algal blooms, dead zones, and decreased water quality from excess nitrogen. 139 I omit the estimate of benefits of reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide from the Clean Air Interstate Rule because it focused exclusively on the Eastern United States. NRC at 98. 140 B. Machol & S. Rizk, Economic Value of U.S. Fossil Fuel Electricity Health Impacts, 52 Enviro. Iternational 75, 76, 79 (2013). 141 This value is for weighting plants by electricity generated (compared to 4.4 cents/kWh when equally weighting plants). Linda Weiss Western Best available 161 Peter Howard, Omitted Damages: What’s Missing from the Social Cost of Carbon (Cost of Organization of information- Carbon Project Report, 2014), http://costofcarbon.org/reports/entry/omitted-damages- Resource baseline data whats-missing-from-the-social-cost-of-carbon. Councils 162 IWG, 2010 TSD, supra. 163 IWG, 2016 TSD & 2016 Addendum, supra. For example, for year 2020 emissions, the central estimate of the social cost of carbon (in 2007$) is $42, while the 95th percentile estimate is $123. Similarly, for year 2020 emissions, the central estimate of the social cost of methane (in 2007$) is $1200, while the 95th percentile estimate is $3200. For nitrous oxide, the social cost for year 2020 emissions increases from $15,000 at the central estimate to $39,000 at the 95th percentile value.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 169 Produced water is water that is naturally occurring in subsurface geologic formations Organization of information- and that is co-produced with oil and gas. Produced water can have a wide range Resource baseline data compositions, from nearly fresh to many times saltier than seawater, and may also contain a Councils range of naturally occurring contaminants such as hydrocarbons, heavy metals, salts, and naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) as well as any chemicals intentionally added to the well or subsurface such as chemicals used in drilling, completion, well stimulation, maintenance, enhanced recovery, and other activities. Flowback is used hydraulic fracturing fluid that returns to the surface once fracturing is complete. In addition to hydraulic fracturing chemicals that were added to the fluid, flowback can also contain reaction products resulting from chemical reactions between the fracturing fluid and subsurface formations and fluids as well as varying amounts of produced water. 170 See, e.g. United States Government Accountability Office. (2012). Report to the Ranking Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives; ENERGY-WATER NEXUS; Information on the Quantity, Quality, and Management of Water Produced during Oil and Gas Production; John Veil, Veil Environmental, LLC. (2015). U.S. Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012, Prepared for the Ground Water Protection Council. Ground Water Protection Council. 171 See, e.g. Kharaka, Y. K., & Dorsey, N. S. (2005, June). Environmental issues of petroleum exploration and production: Introduction. Environmental Geosciences, 12(2), 61- 63.; Otton, J. K. (2006). Environmental aspects of produced-water salt releases in onshore and estuarine petroleum-producing areas of the United States – a bibliography. Retrieved from U.S. Geological Survey Open-file report 2006-1154: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1154/pdf/of06-1154_508.pdf; U.S. EPA. Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas: Impacts from the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on Drinking Water Resources in the United States (Final Report). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-16/236F, 2016. 172 Kharaka, Y. K., Otton, J. K., & eds. (2003). Environmental impacts of petroleum production - Initial results from the Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Sites, Osage County, Oklahoma. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4260.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Best available 173 Kondash, A. J., Lauer, N. E., & Vengosh, A. (2018). The intensification of the water Organization of information- footprint of hydraulic fracturing. Science advances, 4(8), eaar5982. Resource baseline data Councils Linda Weiss Western Best available 26 Richard Revesz, et al., Global Warming: Improve Economic Models of Climate Change, Organization of information- 508 NATURE 173-175 (April 10, 2014). Resource baseline data 27 Councils Exec. Order. No. 13,783 § 5(b), 82 Fed. Reg. 16,093 (Mar. 28, 2017). Linda Weiss Western Best available 116 See DOI-BLM, About the BLM Oil & Gas Program, https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy- Organization of information- and-minerals/oil- and-gas/about (last visited Nov. 5, 2018). Resource baseline data 117 Councils Stratus Consulting 2012, supra, at 12. 118 Id. at 15. 119 Stratus Consulting 2014, supra, at 3. 120 Id. at 9, 11. 121 Peter Erickson and Michael Lazarus, Stockholm Environmental Institute, How Would Phasing Out U.S. Federal Leases for Fossil Fuel Extraction Affect CO2 Emissions and 2°C Goals? 16 (2016), https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2016-02-US- fossilfuel-leases.pdf . Linda Weiss Western Best available To my knowledge, the methodology I developed in Hein & Howard (2015) is the sole Organization of information- publication to focus exclusively on the external cost of mining coal in the Powder River Resource baseline data Basin. Councils Bob Zeigler Best available recent November 23rd US Federal Climate Report that outlines the crisis and economic information- impact and International Climate Report released by IPCC on October 8th pointing out the baseline data seriousness of greenhouse gas emissions and need to cut those emissions almost in half in 11 years (2030) and entirely within 30 years (2050) to avoid catastrophic consequences
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Another measuring standard available to BLM for analyzing the magnitude and severity of Basin Resource (i.e., significance) of the total GHG emissions is to apply those emissions to the remaining Council global carbon budget through carbon budgeting which offers a cap on the remaining amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted while still keeping global average temperature rise below scientifically researched warming thresholds, beyond which climate change impacts may result in severe and irreparable harm.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of Parties “Adoption of the Paris Agreement” on December 12, 2015 (hereinafter, “Paris Agreement”) commits all signatories—including the United States—to a target holding long- term global average temperature “to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”63
A 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of scientists convened by the United Nations, finds that the risks and impacts of 2°C of warming are much greater than those of 1.5°C, including risks and impacts associated with extreme heat; heavy precipitation; drought; sea level rise; impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems, including species loss and extinction; and health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth (hereinafter, “IPCC 1.5°C Report”).64 This report was written by 91 authors and 133 contributing authors, cites over 6,000 references, and involved 42,001 expert and government reviewers.65 It was prepared in response to a request made during the 2015 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change decision adopting the Paris Agreement.66
As an initial matter, the report establishes that the world has already warmed by 1°C due to human activity.67 This warming is already affecting people and ecosystems worldwide, with disproportionate effects on poor and vulnerable populations, small islands, megacities, coastal regions, and high mountain ranges.68
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) The IPCC 1.5°C Report projects that, if greenhouse Basin Resource gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm by 1.5° Celsius above Council preindustrial levels between 2030 and 2052.69 Further, 1.5°C of warming would result in about 14% of the world population being exposed to severe heat waves at least once every five years;70 more than 350 million people worldwide being exposed to severe drought;71 mass mortalities of coral reefs worldwide;72 31 to 69 million people worldwide being exposed to flooding from sea level rise;73 and the loss of biodiversity and biomass.74
The report projects that even greater warming of 2°C would result in about 37% of the world population being exposed to severe heat waves at least once every five years;75 more than 411 million people world being exposed to severe drought;76 the virtual disappearance of coral reefs;77 32 to 79 million people worldwide being exposed to flooding from sea level rise;78 and a dramatically increased species extinction risk, including a doubling of the number of vertebrate and plant species losing more than half their range.79
In short, the world is already experiencing impacts from climate change, and those impacts are expected to intensify. A world that warms by 1.5° Celsius above preindustrial levels will be more livable than a world that warms by 2° Celsius, but even at 1.5° Celsius, the world will face staggering challenges and losses.
The IPCC 1.5°C Report identifies two main conceptual pathways to limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.80 The first involves global temperature stabilizing at or below before 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The second, “overshoot,” pathway sees warming exceed 1.5°C around mid-century, remain above 1.5°C for a maximum duration of a few decades, and return to below 1.5°C before 2100.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) The report finds that, to stabilize global temperature, Basin Resource the world would need to achieve “net zero” emissions, meaning that the amount of carbon Council dioxide entering the atmosphere must equal the amount that is removed.81 All 1.5°C- consistent pathways analyzed in the report use to some extent technologies that would remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but the authors also note that ideas for CO2 removal have not been proven to work at scale.”82 The IPCC 1.5°C report also finds that warming will not be limited to 1.5°C or 2°C unless “emissions decline rapidly across all of society’s main sectors,” including energy.83 Current national commitments on emission reduction are not sufficient to bridge the emissions gap in 2030.84 As noted by the United Nations Environment Programme:
Technically, it is still possible to ensure global warming stays well below 2°C and 1.5°C, but if countries do not scale up their ambitions before 2030, exceeding the 1.5°C can no longer be avoided. Now more than ever, unprecedented and urgent action is required by all nations. The assessment of actions by the G20 countries indicates that this kind of action is yet to happen; in fact, global CO2 emissions increased in 2017 after three years of stagnation.85
In other words, far greater emissions reductions are necessary to stay below 2.0°C, let alone aspire to limit warming to 1.5°C. If no further progress were made beyond the goals stated in the Paris Agreement, expected warming by 2100 would be about 3°C.86 UNEP found that “if the emissions gap is not closed by 2030, it is very plausible that the goal of a well-below 2°C temperature increase is also out of reach.”87
With specific regard to United States’ commitments, the U.S. set a 2020 target to reduce GHG emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels and committed to reducing emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 in its Nationally Determined Contribution (“NDC”).88 However, under its currently implemented policies, the U.S. is unlikely to meet its NDC target for 2025 and it is uncertain whether it will meet its 2020 target.89
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) The IPCC 1.5°C Report calculates a remaining Basin Resource carbon budget of 420 GtCO2 from the start of 2018 for about a two-thirds chance of Council limiting warming to 1.5°C, but the uncertainties in this estimate are large – greater than the entire estimated remaining carbon budget.90 In addition, the IPCC found that “[p]otential additional carbon release from future permafrost thawing and methane release from wetlands would reduce the budget by up to 100 GtCO2 over the course of this century and 91 more thereafter.” Actions to reduce non-CO2 GHGs could also alter the remaining budget by ±250 GtCO2. At current emission rates, the remaining budget of 420 GtCO2 is being depleted by 42 ± 3 GtCO2 per year,92 meaning that at current emissions rates, we could reach 1.5°C by 2028.
63 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties (Nov 30-Dec. 11, 2015), Adoption of the Paris Agreement, Art. 2, U.N. Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/L.9 (Dec. 12, 2015), available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf (hereinafter, “Paris Agreement”). 64 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty (October 6, 2018) (hereinafter, “IPCC 1.5°C Report”) available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/ ; see also James Hansen, et al., Assessing “Dangerous Climate Change”: Required Reduction of Carbon Emissions to Protect Young People, Future Generations and Nature, 8 PLoS ONE 8 e81648 (2013), available at: https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha08510t.html; Greg Muttitt, et al., The Sky’s Limit: Why the Paris Climate Goals Require a Managed Decline of Fossil Fuel Production, Oil Change International (Sept. 2016) at 6 (attached as Exhibit 6); David Spratt, Climate Reality Check: After Paris, Counting the Cost (March 2016) at 8; Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows, Beyond ‘Dangerous’ Climate Change: Emission Scenarios for a New World, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. (2011). 65 IPCC 1.5°C Report. 66 Id. 67 Id.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource 68 Id. at 51. Council 69 Id. 70 Id. at 191. 71 Id. at 215. 72 IPCC 1.5°C Report at 222. 73 Id. at 231. 74 See, e.g., id. at 254 (9% of insects are projects to lose over half their range at 1.5°C, which suggests a significant loss of functionality in associated ecosystems owing to the critical role of insects in nutrient cycling, pollination, and other important processes). 75 Id. at 191. 76 Id. at 215. 77 Id. at 229. 78 Id. at 231. 79 Id. at 179. 80 Id. at 159. 81 Id. at 161. 82 Id. at 114. 83 Id. at 161. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change 84 United Nations Environment Programme, Emissions Gap Report 2018 at xiv, available at: Basin Resource http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/26895/EGR2018_FullReport_EN.pdf?sequence Council =1&isAllow ed=y .
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource 85 Id. Council 86 Id.; see also Spratt, Climate Reality Check at 2. 87 UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2018 at xiv. 88 Id. at 15. 89 Id. 90 IPCC 1.5°C Report at 96; see also Dustin Mulvaney, et al., Over-Leased: How Production Horizons of Already Leased Federal Fossil Fuels Outlast Global Carbon Budgets, EcoShift Consulting (July 2016) at 2 (citing Joeri Rogelj, et al., Difference between carbon budget estimates unraveled, Nature Climate Change (2016). 91 IPCC, Global Warming of 1.5°C: Summary for Policymakers at 14. 92 Id. at 14. 93 Michael Raupach, et al., Sharing a quota on cumulative carbon emissions, Nature Climate Change (Sept. 2014) (emphasis added). Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change BLM must not only reanalyze each of these issues, factoring in new information, it must Basin Resource make a new decision after informing itself and the public of the climate consequences of Council BLM's actions with respect to fossil fuels in the Powder River Basin. Congress designed NEPA to ensure that "important effects will not be overlooked or underestimated only to be discovered after resources have been committed or the die otherwise cast," Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332, 349 (1989), and here the only way to ensure that the remand ordered does not become merely a paper exercise is for BLM to make new decisions for both the Buffalo and Miles City RMPs. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change For example, emissions data may be adapted from reports produced by the National Energy Basin Resource Technology Laboratory (NETL).18 Data sheets provided in the NETL natural gas reports Council provide formulas and adjustable parameters that can be tailored to specific resources.19 A comprehensive list of additional resources is provided in Michael Burger & Jessica Wentz, Downstream and Upstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Proper Scope of NEPA Review, 41 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 109, 183 (2017) (Appendix). Importantly, and as addressed later, the most up-to-date 20- year global warming potential for methane should be used in calculations.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-37 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change In the SEISs, BLM must not understate the climate impact of methane emissions by using an Basin Resource outdated estimate of methane's GWP - the relative amount of warming caused by each ton Council of methane Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change The District Court held that the Miles City and Buffalo RMPs “contained enough specifics” Basin Resource to permit a “productive analysis” of the downstream impacts of burning of the coal, oil and Council gas open to potential development under the RMPs. Order at 34. To comply with the Court’s order, BLM must, among other things, quantify downstream combustion emissions for coal, oil, and gas; analyze the impacts of these emissions using available methodologies; and study the extent to which the considered alternatives – which now must include an alternative closing lands in the Powder River Basin to new federal coal, oil, and gas leasing and production – alter the total amount of downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change 40 C.F.R. § 1508.25(c); Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Nat'l Highway Traffic Safety Admin., 538 Basin Resource F.3d 1172, 1216 (9th Cir. 2008) (“While the EA quantifies the expected amount of CO2 Council emitted from light trucks MYs 2005-2011, it does not evaluate the ‘incremental impact’ that these emissions will have on climate change or on the environment more generally . . . . The EA does not discuss the actual environmental effects resulting from those emissions . . . .”); Oregon Natural Resource Council v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 470 F.3d 818, 822-23 (9th Cir. 2006) (rejecting assessment of logging project’s impacts by looking exclusively at the number of acres to be harvested); Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Ctr. v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 387 F.3d 989, 995 (9th Cir. 2004) (While tallies of “the number of acres to be harvested” and “the total road construction anticipated” were “a necessary component” and “a good start” to the analysis, respectively, they do not amount to the required “description of actual environmental effects”). Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting Basin Resource changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, Council pervasive, and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which, together with adaptation, can limit climate change risks; and Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change The requisite hard look includes analysis of the climate impacts of resulting from Basin Resource greenhouse gas emissions, such as changes in agricultural productivity, human health, Council ecosystem services, and property. To take the required "hard look," agencies must also tell the reader what quantitative estimates mean in terms of "actual environmental effects.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Based on the foregoing, the IWG’s estimates are very likely to underrepresent the true Basin Resource impacts that greenhouse gas emissions have on society. However, the SCC represents the Council best and most rigorous effort that the U.S. government has engaged in thus far to analyze the social cost of greenhouse gases. As such, BLM should incorporate the SCC into its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). If BLM monetizes the economic benefits of fossil fuel extraction, as it did in its initial EIS, it must then also monetize the costs of carbon pollution. Mont. Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 274 F. Supp. 3d 1074, 1094–99 (D. Mont. 2017). Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur Basin Resource hexafluoride are recognized as the key greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. In Council 2009, the EPA found that these “six greenhouse gases taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations.”5 The D.C. Circuit has upheld this decision as supported by the vast body of scientific evidence on the subject. See Coal. for Responsible Regulation, Inc. v. EPA., 684 F.3d 102, 120-22 (D.C. Cir. 2012).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Ending the approval of new fossil fuel production and infrastructure is also critical for Basin Resource preventing “carbon lock-in,” where approvals and investments made now can lock in Council decades worth of fossil fuel extraction that are inconsistent with climate targets. New approvals for wells, mines, and fossil fuel infrastructure -- such as pipelines, marine and rail import and export terminals -- require upfront investments that provide financial incentives for companies to continue production for decades into the future.108 Given the long-lived nature of fossil fuel projects, ending the approval of new fossil fuel projects avoids the lock- in of decades of fossil fuel production and associated emissions.109 One analysis shows that, of expected federal fossil fuel production in 2040, about two- thirds is either not yet under lease or is under lease but is not yet producing.110 The authors conclude that if new leasing ceases and existing non-producing leases are not renewed, 40% of forecast coal production could be avoided in 2025 and 74% of coal production could be avoided in 2040. As for oil and gas, 12% of oil production could be avoided in 2025 and 65% could be avoided by 2040 while 6% of natural gas production could be avoided in 2025 and 59% could be avoided by 2040.111 This avoided production has the potential to significantly reduce future U.S. emissions. The study concludes that cessation of new and renewed leases for federal fossil fuel extraction could reduce CO2 emissions by about 100 Mt per year by 2030. Annual emission reductions could become greater than that over time as production declines on existing leases and maintaining or increasing production becomes dependent on yet-to-be issued leases.112
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change In a 2017 report, the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) recommended improving the Basin Resource SCC methodology by breaking it down into four separate “modules”: a socio-economic and Council emissions scenario module, a climate change module, an economic damage module, and a discount rate module.35 According to NAS, this modular framework would allow for more transparent updates to each aspect of the analysis to better reflect the best available science and capture the full range of uncertainty in the literature. In the meantime, the NAS has supported the use of the existing social cost of greenhouse gas estimates based on the DICE, FUND, and PAGE models, as used by federal agencies to date.36 As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in 2014, the estimates derived from these models and used by federal agencies are consensus-based, rely on peer- reviewed academic literature, disclose relevant limitations, and are designed to incorporate new information via public comments and updated research.37 In fact, the social cost of greenhouse gas estimates used in federal regulatory proposals and NEPA analyses have been subject to over 80 distinct public comment periods.38 The economics literature confirms that estimates based on these three IAMs remain the best available estimates.39 In 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held the estimates used to date by agencies are reasonable.40 Just recently, the District Court of Montana rejected an agency’s environmental assessment for its failure to incorporate the federal social cost of carbon estimates into its cost-benefit analysis of a proposed mine expansion.41
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource The relevant literature suggests that a central estimate of $40 per ton is a very conservative Council underestimate of the true social cost of carbon. A 2013 meta-analysis of the broader literature found a mean estimate of $59 per ton of carbon dioxide,42 and a soon-to-be- published update by the same author finds a mean estimate of $108 (at a 1% discount rate).43 A 2015 meta-analysis— which sought out estimates besides just those based on DICE, FUND, and PAGE—found a mean estimate of $83 per ton of carbon dioxide.44 Various studies relying on expert elicitation45 from a large body of climate economists and scientists have found mean estimates of $50 per ton of carbon dioxide,46 $96-$144 per ton of carbon dioxide,47 and $80-$100 per ton of carbon dioxide.48 There is a growing consensus in the literature that even the best existing estimates of the social cost of greenhouse gases may severely underestimate the true marginal cost of climate damages.49 Overall, a central estimate of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide at a 3% discount rate, with a high-percentile estimate of about $120 for year 2015 emissions, is consistent with the best available literature; if anything, the best available literature supports considerably higher estimates.50 Similarly, a comparison of international estimates of the social cost of greenhouse gases suggests that a central estimate of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide is a very conservative value. Sweden places the long-term valuation of carbon dioxide at $168 per ton; Germany calculates a “climate cost” of $167 per ton of carbon dioxide in the year 2030; the United Kingdom’s “shadow price of carbon” has a central value of $115 by 2030; Norway’s social cost of carbon is valued at $104 per ton for year 2030 emissions; and various corporations have adopted internal shadow prices as high as $80 per ton of carbon dioxide.51 There are a number of ways in which the IWG’s approach could be improved to more accurately reflect the true social cost of greenhouse gases. For instance, the IWG’s values should reflect risk aversion and account for the additional price that society is willing to pay to avoid uncertainty around increasingly more severe impacts from climate change.52 In addition, as noted Harvard economist Martin Weitzmann has observed, the three IAMs assume a relatively smooth upward slope in economic damages even as global climates increase well past critical tipping points. An improved social cost of greenhouse gases could reflect modified damage functions that better address tipping points.53 Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Disclose to the public and decision-makers how BLM's decisions to lease federally-owned Basin Resource coal affect the nation's energy mix and our continued reliance on fossil fuels, and how Council changes in federal coal supply affect carbon dioxide and methane emissions;
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change This is important because methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon Basin Resource dioxide.20 A GWP is a measure of the amount of warming caused by the emission of one Council ton of a particular greenhouse gas relative to one ton of carbon dioxide. The methane GWP estimates how many tons of carbon dioxide would need to be emitted to produce the same amount of global warming as a single ton of methane. Global warming potentials change based on the amount of time that has passed since the GHG was emitted; common time periods considered are both 20 years and 100 years. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change In August 2016, the Interagency Working Group (“IWG”) provided an update to the social Basin Resource cost of carbon technical support document,54 and, for the first time, adopted a similar Council methodology for evaluating the climate impact of each additional ton of methane and nitrogen oxide emissions.55 BLM should use the social cost of methane in its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). Similar to the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane provides a standard methodology that allows state and federal agencies to quantify the social benefits of reducing methane emissions through actions that have comparatively small impacts on cumulative global emission levels. The social cost of methane is intended to “offer a method for improving the analyses of regulatory actions that are projected to influence [methane or nitrogen oxide] emissions in a manner consistent with how [carbon dioxide] emission changes are valued.”56 Like the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane is presented as a range of figures across four discount rates; it is based on results from three integrated assessment models; displayed in dollars per metric ton of emissions; and increases over time because emissions become more damaging as their atmospheric concentrations increase.57 The IWG estimated that each additional ton of methane emitted in 2020 will cause between $540 and $3,200 dollars (measured in $2007).58
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource The IWG’s social cost metrics remain the best estimates yet produced by the federal Council government for monetizing the impacts of GHG emissions and are “generally accepted in the scientific community,” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.22(b)(4). This is true notwithstanding Executive Order 13,783, which disbanded the Interagency Working Group and formally withdrew its technical support documents.59 Indeed, that Executive Order did not find fault with any component of the IWG’s analyses. To the contrary, it encourages agencies to “monetiz[e] the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions” and instructs agencies to ensure such estimates are “consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4.”60 The IWG tools, however, illustrate how agencies can appropriately comply with the guidance provided in Circular A-4: OMB participated in the IWG and did not object to the group’s conclusions. As agencies follow the Circular’s standards for using the best available data and methodologies, they will necessarily choose similar data, methodologies, and estimates as the IWG, since the IWG’s work continues to represent the best estimates presently available.61 Thus, the IWG’s 2016 update to the estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases remains the best available and generally accepted tool for assessing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, notwithstanding the fact that this document has formally been withdrawn.62
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Monetizing the Damages from the Mining and Transportation of Coal Basin Resource Both the Buffalo FEIS and the Miles City FEIS quantify emissions from the extraction of the Council coal, oil, and gas. However, their methodologies are incomplete and their estimates are improbably low. For example, the Buffalo FEIS describes its methodology for estimating greenhouse emissions from coal “mining and post- mine (processing) activities in the Powder River Basin,” as based on EPA’s 2011 State Inventory Tool Module. See BFO-FEIS at 2250. The 2017 version of that module,150 indicates that it estimated the methane emitted during post-mining activities, including transportation, but does not indicate that carbon dioxide emissions from transportation were included. When it comes to transporting coal by train from the Powder River Basin all the way to the power plants where it is burned, carbon dioxide from the train will be the largest effect; yet that costly pollution is apparently omitted from BLM’s estimates. Meanwhile, the Miles City FEIS’s estimate of methane emissions from coal mining—just a single ton per year, MCO-FEIS at 4-26—seems improbably low. It is easy to derive an average methane emission rate of approximately 0.00085 per metric ton of coal for surface mining (using data from 2005 to 2013).151 That would imply at least 17,340 metric tons of methane leaks and other emissions annually from coal mining under the Miles City RMP— not a single ton. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change NEPA requires BLM to conduct new coal screening and consider climate change impacts to Basin Resource make a reasoned decision on the amount of recoverable coal made available in the RMPs. Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change With respect to oil and gas, BLM must conduct an analysis that includes the full range of Basin Resource lifecycle emissions that are not captured in its direct emissions quantification, including Council emissions associated with the processing and transport of oil and gas; emissions associated with the combustion of oil and gas; emissions associated with natural gas electric power and heating, including transmission of electricity away from power plants; and emissions associated with flaring, venting, and leaks. Analysis of each of these elements is feasible.17 The agency decision- makers, with input from the public, must be informed of the full suite of impacts, including to the climate, if they are to prudently decide whether or how the minerals should be made available for production. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change BLM Must Fully Analyze and Disclose to the Public the Air, Water, Noise, Wildlife, and Basin Resource Health Impacts, including Non-GHG Pollution, and Social Costs resulting from Combustion Council of Fossil Fuels from the Planning Areas.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change BLM Must Acknowledge Recent Climate Studies Finding that Climate Change Is Already Basin Resource Having Widespread Impacts and Its Impacts Are Projected to Intensify. Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change According to the study, a comparison with other measures shows that a policy of “no new Basin Resource leasing” could be a very significant part of U.S. efforts to address climate change. The Council estimated 100 Mt CO2 emissions savings that could result from no leasing in 2030 compares favorably with EPA standards for light- and medium-vehicles that are expected to yield 200 Mt in CO2 savings in 2030, and with standards for heavy-duty vehicles that are expected to yield 70 Mt in CO2 savings in the same year. Cessation of new and renewed leases could make an important contribution to U.S. climate change mitigation efforts.113 Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change In order to take the requisite “hard look” at the climate impacts of BLM’s considered Basin Resource alternatives in the EISs, the agency must answer the key climate question: to what extent do Council BLM’s proposed actions alter GHG emissions from burning coal, oil, and gas produced under the Buffalo and Miles City plans? Without such an answer, neither BLM nor the public can adequately distinguish between the climate impacts of the Leasing and No Leasing alternatives. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Basin Resource changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Council water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change NEPA requires BLM to ensure “the scientific integrity . . . of the discussions and analyses in Basin Resource [EISs].” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.24, accord 40 C.F.R. § 1500.1(b) (requiring “accurate scientific Council analysis”). An agency violates NEPA where its analysis is based on factual inaccuracy. Oregon Natural Desert Ass’n v. Jewell, 840 F. 3d 562, 570 (9th Cir. 2016). If BLM continues to use outdated GWPs in its analyses, this will result in drastic underestimates of the impacts of anticipated methane emissions. BLM cannot ignore the near-term impacts—e.g., warming that will occur during the 20-year planning period. The inclusion of an assessment of near- term impacts in the SEISs will allow members of the public and interested parties to evaluate this information and spur further analysis as needed. WORC, 2018 WL 1475470, at *16. Without providing all the relevant information, the SEIS cannot “foster informed decision-making.” Id. (citing California v. Block, 690 F.2d 753, 761 (9th Cir. 1982)).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change NEPA requires that the BLM take a “hard look” at foreseeable climate impacts. See 42 Basin Resource U.S.C. § 4332(C); 40 C.F.R. § 1508.25(c). Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change The potential carbon emissions from existing fossil fuel reserves—the known belowground Basin Resource stock of extractable fossil fuels—considerably exceed both the 1.5°C and 2°C targets. Council According to one study, global coal, oil and gas resources considered currently 93 economically recoverable contain potential greenhouse gas emissions of 4,196 GtCO2, with other estimates as high as 7,120 GtCO2.94 According to one report, in the United States, the potential GHG emissions from federal 95 and non-federal fossil fuels in the United States are 697-1,070 GtCO2. As for federal fossil fuel resources, the United States contains enough recoverable coal, oil and gas that, if extracted and burned, would result in as much as 492 GtCO2, consuming all of the global carbon budget for a 1.5°C target.96 Unleased federal fossil fuels comprise 91% of these potential emissions, with already leased federal fossil fuels accounting for as much as 43 97 GtCO2. New leasing of federal fossil fuel resources is inconsistent with a carbon budget that would seek to avoid catastrophic climate change. Nationwide emissions from fossil fuels extracted 98 from Federal lands in 2014 were 1,332.1 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 equivalent 99 (CO2Eq). Between 2005 and 2014, fossil fuel emissions from Federal lands accounted for, on average, 23.7 percent of national CO2 emissions, 7.3 percent of national methane (CH4) emissions, and 1.5 percent of national nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions.100 Continued leasing and development of fossil fuels commits the world to extremely dangerous warming well beyond the 2°C threshold. As one study put it, “the disparity between what resources and reserves exist and what can be emitted while avoiding a temperature rise greater than the agreed 2°C limit is therefore stark.”101 Based on the foregoing, the U.S. must halt new fossil fuel production and rapidly phase out existing production on federal lands to avoid the worst dangers of climate change. One study estimated the U.S. carbon budget consistent with a 1.5°C target at 25 GtCO2eq to 57 GtCO2eq on average,102 depending on the sharing principles used to apportion the global budget across countries.103 The estimated U.S. carbon budget consistent with limiting temperature rise to 2°C – a level of warming well above what scientists say is devastatingly harmful – ranges from 34 GtCO2 to 123 GtCO2,104 depending on the sharing principles applied. Under any scenario, the remaining U.S. carbon budget compatible with the Paris climate targets is extremely small.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Furthermore, research that models emissions pathways for limiting warming to 1.5°C or Council 2°C shows that a rapid end to fossil fuel extraction in the United States is critical. Specifically, research indicates that global fossil fuel CO2 emissions must end entirely by mid- century and likely as early as 2045 for a reasonable likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. 105 Due to the small remaining U.S. carbon budget, the United States must end fossil fuel CO2 emissions even earlier: between 2025 and 2030 on average for a reasonable chance of staying below 1.5°C, and between 2040 and 2045 on average for a reasonable chance of staying below 2°C.106 Ending U.S. fossil fuel CO2 emissions between 2025 and 2030, consistent with the Paris 1.5°C target, will require “urgent” and “unprecedented” action.107 An immediate halt to new production and a transition to closing most existing oil and gas fields and coal mines before their reserves are fully extracted would be consistent with this goal. Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change The SCC is an appropriate tool for use in analyzing and disclosing the significance of impacts Basin Resource under NEPA notwithstanding Executive Order 13,783, which disbanded the Interagency Council Working Group and formally withdrew its technical support documents.27 Notably, that Executive Order did not find fault with any component of the IWG’s analysis. To the contrary, it encourages agencies to “monetiz[e] the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions” and instructs agencies to ensure such estimates are “consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4.”28 As agencies follow the Circular’s standards for using the best available data and methodologies, they will necessarily choose similar data, methodologies, and estimates as the IWG, since the IWG’s work continues to represent the best estimates presently available.29 Thus, the IWG’s 2016 update to the estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases remains the best available and generally accepted tool for assessing the significance of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.30 Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change See Or. Natural Desert Ass'n v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 625 F.3d 1092, 1099-1100 (9th Cir. Basin Resource 2008) (requiring agencies to "take a 'hard look' at how the choices before them affect the Council environment, and then to place their data and conclusions before the public"). Shannon Anderson Powder River Climate Change Transformations in the energy sector are urgently needed to avoid severe consequences Basin Resource Council
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Angi Bruce Wyoming Climate Change Climate change is identified as a leading wildlife conservation challenge in the Department's Game & Fish State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), which was most recently revised in 2017. We Dept. recommend the BLM reference this chapter of the SWAP (available on the Department's website) when conducting an analysis of climate change in the SEIS Jackie Canterbury Bighorn Climate Change Since 2011, the BLM has leased more than 2.1 billion tons of coal in the Powder River Audobon Basin, unlocking nearly 3.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution that will be released when the coal is burned which is mostly in China, where the demand for coal-fired power plants has not stopped (Sierra Club, 2018). Susan Capozella Climate Change Please consider climate science when deciding how much coal to lease.
Christy Gerrits Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underscored the imminent threat of climate change to life on Earth. The Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5'C above pre industrial levels issued by the IPPC, (October 201 B) left little to no doubt that we need to take immediate action if we are to keep the Earth's average temperature from rising more than 1.s·c. Coral Davenport wrote in her article which appeared in The New York Times on October 7, 2018, "Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040." The report states that in order to avoid an increase of temperature of 2.TC we must transform our economy within just a few years, with an economic loss of $54 trillion. While technically it is possible to achieve, the political will power is probably not there Christy Gerrits Climate Change opening up more coal leases, which will produce more carbon dioxide that will remain in the atmosphere for centuries, adding to the greenhouse effect and causing climate change. Christy Gerrits Climate Change The National Climate Assessment (NCA) in which 13 federal agencies issued a scientific report in late November, 2018, reporting the devastating effects of climate change on our economy, health and environment. The cumulative effects could cut our gross domestic product 10% by 2100. Jayni Hein Institute for Climate Change Analyze and disclose energy substitution effects, including how leasing fossil fuel resources Policy Integrity, would affect fuel prices, the amount of wind and solar generation available in the NYU School of marketplace, and resulting upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Law Maria Katherman Climate Change ADDRESS THE CLIMATE EFFECTS OF MINING AND BURNING MORE COAL. Warren King Wilderness Climate Change BLM must quantify or estimate lifecycle GHG emissions associated with projected leasing Society and development identified in the reasonably foreseeable development scenario and incorporate that information into analysis of direct, indirect and cumulative impacts.
E-50 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Warren King Wilderness Climate Change I. These Supplemental 61Ss a n d RMP Amendments must take Into consideration how they Society will contribute to a federal energy program with goals and objectives for managing contributions to climate change. Warren King Wilderness Climate Change Using the measurement framework established by the USGS in its recent report, BLM Society should create a CO2 emission target for all federal fossil fuels that takes into consideration domestic and international climate commitments and that should be used as a benchmark for addressing the questions of when and how much fossil fuel resource should be left open to future leasing, and how much development should be permitted on federal land. (For more detailed consideration of a carbon budget framework for federal lands see Appendix A). Warren King Wilderness Climate Change Given the cumulative environmental and climate impacts associated with emissions resulting Society from the production and combustion of coal, oil and gas, as well as the court's requirement that the agency examine the environmental consequence s of all fossil fuel development, it is reasonable to assume that the agency must analyze alternatives that minimize the climate impact of oil, gas and coal development in the planning area. Warren King Wilderness Climate Change Only by estimating emissions at the planning stage can the agency evaluate the potential Society climate impact of the federal energy program and make proactive management decisions that dictate what future emissions should be. The agency would have no ability to manage federal emissions if this analysis was left to be conducted at the permitting stage. Warren King Wilderness Climate Change II, BLM must quantify potential emissions and analyze the climate change impacts of making Society coal and oil and gas available in the RMPs. Mathew Mead State of Climate Change I am concerned that this analysis fails to take into account efforts by the State to address Wyoming many of the same climate change concerns raised in the litigation. Tripp Parks Western Climate Change In BLM Instruction Memorandum 2008 - 171, the BLM Director provided guidance on how Energy Alliance to incorporate climate change into planning and NEPA documents and to what level. Notably, this guidance acknowledged the speculative exercise of analyzing climate change due to the lack of a reliable methodology to assess the impacts of GHG emissions. Consequently, BLM gave each field office the discretion to forego quantitative analysis of climate change if the field office determined the climate "uncertain, speculative, or otherwise not credible." Moreover, in finding that the final EIS for the Buffalo RMP failed to adequately consider the full environmental impacts, the Court stated that it was appropriate for BLM to analyze GHG emissions as a proxy to analyze climate change impacts.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-51 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Tripp Parks Western Climate Change In 2010, the BLM Wyoming State Office issued an Information Memorandum containing Energy Alliance Recommended Interim Procedures for Addressing GHGs in Coal [Lease By Applications] and Oil and Gas Leases (Information Memorandum). The Information Memorandum provided specific procedures for addressing GHG emissions in oil and gas lease sale NEPA documents, and instructed field offices to, among other things, discuss effects of GHGs, include discussion of the global context, and include a qualitative rather than quantitative discussion of the causal relationship between GHG emissions and climate change. Tripp Parks Western Climate Change Under the guidance of the 2010 Information Memorandum and in response to the Court's Energy Alliance ruling, the Buffalo Field Office has prepared lease sale environmental assessments evaluating the impacts of leasing that rely on qualitative, rather than quantitative, analysis. Because the climate change impacts of theoretical leasing under an EIS remain speculative at best and cannot be accurately modeled, we urge BLM to forgo quantitative analysis and expeditiously finalize the SEIS. Esther Wagner Petroleum Climate Change BLM has prepared environmental assessments (EAs) in support of oil and gas lease sales Assoc. of that account for the court's direction that BLM analyze the environmental consequences of Wyoming the downstream combustion of oil and gas from leased lands and that it justify its analysis of global warming potential over an appropriate planning period consistent with evolving science. See Environmental Assessment for Third Quarter 2018 (Part 2) Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, No. DOI-BLM-WY-0000-2018-0003-EA, at 3-13 - 3-18, 4-10 - 4-11; Environmental Assessment for Fourth Quarter 2019 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, No. DOI-BLM-WY-000-2018-0004-EA, at 3-15 - 3-18, 4-4 - 4-10; Environmental Assessment for First Quarter 2019 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale, No. DOI-BLM- WY-0000-2019-0001-EA, 3-13 - 3-18, 4-11 - 4-12. Linda Weiss Western Climate Change In the SEISs, BLM must not understate the climate impact of methane emissions by using an Organization of outdated estimate of methane’s GWP – the relative amount of warming caused by each ton Resource of methane. This is important because methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than Councils carbon dioxide.20 A GWP is a measure of the amount of warming caused by the emission of one ton of a particular greenhouse gas relative to one ton of carbon dioxide. Linda Weiss Western Climate Change BLM Must Acknowledge Recent Climate Studies Finding that Climate Change Is Already Organization of Having Widespread Impacts and Its Impacts Are Projected to Intensify. Resource Councils
E-52 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Climate Change These federal court decisions illustrate that BLM must answer this question: whether its Organization of decision to allow fossil fuel extraction across public lands in the Powder River Basin change Resource greenhouse gas emissions, and, if so, by what amount. Councils Linda Weiss Western Climate Change In the context of climate change, BLM must, among other obligations, analyze and disclose Organization of the difference in greenhouse gas emission levels between alternatives. Resource Councils Bob Zeigler Climate Change recent November 23rd US Federal Climate Report that outlines the crisis and economic impact and International Climate Report released by IPCC on October 8th pointing out the seriousness of greenhouse gas emissions and need to cut those emissions almost in half in 11 years (2030) and entirely within 30 years (2050) to avoid catastrophic consequences Kathryn Alexandra Coal Furthermore, BLM should take this opportunity to continue its programmatic review of the entire federal coal leasing program. A recent report from the US Geological Survey concludes that public lands and minerals are the source of nearly one quarter of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, largely because of the mining of federal coal. Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal BLM's refusal to engage in the coal screening process for the Buffalo Field Office violates Basin Resource the Court's clear mandate. BLM voluntarily dismissed its appeal with the Ninth Circuit Council Court of Appeals. Thus, BLM must comply with the final judgment of the district court and conduct new coal screens for both Buffalo and Miles City Field Offices within the timeframe specified. Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Basin Resource changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Council water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-53 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal The potential carbon emissions from existing fossil fuel reserves—the known belowground Basin Resource stock of extractable fossil fuels—considerably exceed both the 1.5°C and 2°C targets. Council According to one study, global coal, oil and gas resources considered currently economically recoverable contain potential greenhouse gas emissions of 4,196 GtCO2,93 with other estimates as high as 7,120 GtCO2.94 According to one report, in the United States, the potential GHG emissions from federal 95 and non-federal fossil fuels in the United States are 697-1,070 GtCO2. As for federal fossil fuel resources, the United States contains enough recoverable coal, oil and gas that, if extracted and burned, would result in as much as 492 GtCO2, consuming all of the global carbon budget for a 1.5°C target.96 Unleased federal fossil fuels comprise 91% of these potential emissions, with already leased federal fossil fuels accounting for as much as 43 GtCO2.97 New leasing of federal fossil fuel resources is inconsistent with a carbon budget that would seek to avoid catastrophic climate change. Nationwide emissions from fossil fuels extracted 98 from Federal lands in 2014 were 1,332.1 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 equivalent (CO2Eq).99 Between 2005 and 2014, fossil fuel emissions from Federal lands accounted for, on average, 23.7 percent of national CO2 emissions, 7.3 percent of national methane (CH4) emissions, and 1.5 percent of national nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions.100 Continued leasing and development of fossil fuels commits the world to extremely dangerous warming well beyond the 2°C threshold. As one study put it, “the disparity between what resources and reserves exist and what can be emitted while avoiding a temperature rise greater than the agreed 2°C limit is therefore stark.”101 Based on the foregoing, the U.S. must halt new fossil fuel production and rapidly phase out existing production on federal lands to avoid the worst dangers of climate change. One study estimated the U.S. carbon budget consistent with a 1.5°C target at 25 GtCO2eq to 57 GtCO2eq on average,102 depending on the sharing principles used to apportion the global budget across countries.103 The estimated U.S. carbon budget consistent with limiting temperature rise to 2°C – a level of warming well above what scientists say is devastatingly 104 harmful – ranges from 34 GtCO2 to 123 GtCO2, depending on the sharing principles applied. Under any scenario, the remaining U.S. carbon budget compatible with the Paris climate targets is extremely small.
E-54 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Furthermore, research that models emissions pathways for limiting warming to 1.5°C or Council 2°C shows that a rapid end to fossil fuel extraction in the United States is critical. Specifically, research indicates that global fossil fuel CO2 emissions must end entirely by mid- century and likely as early as 2045 for a reasonable likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. 105 Due to the small remaining U.S. carbon budget, the United States must end fossil fuel CO2 emissions even earlier: between 2025 and 2030 on average for a reasonable chance of staying below 1.5°C, and between 2040 and 2045 on average for a reasonable chance of staying below 2°C.106 Ending U.S. fossil fuel CO2 emissions between 2025 and 2030, consistent with the Paris 1.5°C target, will require “urgent” and “unprecedented” action.107 An immediate halt to new production and a transition to closing most existing oil and gas fields and coal mines before their reserves are fully extracted would be consistent with this goal. Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal NEPA requires BLM to conduct new coal screening and consider climate change impacts to Basin Resource make a reasoned decision on the amount of recoverable coal made available in the RMPs. Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal BLM Must Conduct a New Coal Screening Process. Basin Resource Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Coal The remand schedule, which BLM proposed and the Court adopted in its Remedy Order, is Basin Resource copied below and includes numerous references to the coal screening process that BLM Council must now undertake, including: "Collect coal screen data/surface owner consent," "Complete preliminary assessment of coal screens," and "Complete application of coal screens." Doc. 114-1 at 9. Christy Gerrits Coal Coal fired power plants produce 214 lbs of carbon dioxide/million Btu of energy. Natural gas produces 117 lbs of carbon dioxide/million Btu of energy, or 45% less carbon dioxide. Jayni Hein Institute for Coal Mining federal coal in the Powder River Basin accounts for roughly 40 percent of U.S. coal Policy Integrity, production, and 13 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. NYU School of Law
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-55 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Matthew Mead State of Coal During the review process, the BLM should also consider impacts to the Coal Resource Wyoming Task Reports if the coal resource boundary is modified. These task reports form the basis for several key environmental components and future projections within the defined coal resource boundary. The reports should be looked at closely during the development of the SEIS. Todd Parfitt WY Dept. of Coal a reduction in Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funds available for reclamation projects in Environmental Wyoming and nationally. Quality Tripp Parks Western Coal Finally, the Alliance recognizes that a more robust examination of the impacts of coal Energy Alliance leasing may be necessary, given the Court’s ruling that BLM must evaluate an alternative that allows for decreased coal leasing. If BLM intends to conduct an extensive SEIS process for coal development that is unnecessary for the oil and natural gas resources, we request that BLM develop these SEISs separately so that the latter may be finalized as soon as possible. Linda Weiss Western Coal BLM's refusal to engage in the coal screening process for the Buffalo Field Office violates Organization of the Court's clear mandate. BLM voluntarily dismissed its appeal with the Ninth Circuit Resource Court of Appeals. Thus, BLM must comply with the final judgment of the district court and Councils conduct new coal screens for both Buffalo and Miles City Field Offices within the timeframe specified. Linda Weiss Western Coal Specifically, BLM should include disclosure and analysis, including consideration of a Organization of reasonable range of alternatives and mitigation measures, addressing significant new Resource circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the Councils proposed action or its effects. Linda Weiss Western Coal BLM Must Conduct a New Coal Screening Process. Organization of Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Coal BLM Must Consider Significant Impacts & Changed Circumstances Since the Original EISs. Organization of Resource Councils
E-56 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Keith Williams Thunder Basin Coal The BLM has presented a revised scenario showing reduced recoverable reserves. TBCC Coal Company has concerns with this scenario as the coal reserves near both Black Thunder and Coal Creek mines have been reduced. This scenario could impact the long-term viability of these operations. In order to mine the reserves which have already been leased, TBCC has made significant investments in acquiring the coal reserves and establishing the needed infrastructure required to mine the coal. The coal near the active mines must remain as recoverable otherwise the investment made by TBCC will be impacted. At a minimum, TBCC believes that the alternative coal recovery scenario must be adjusted in the immediate area in proximity to the two mines Shannon Anderson Powder River Cumulative A. BLM Must Analyze Cumulative Impacts to Air Quality Basin Resource Impacts Council Air pollution from the oil and natural gas sector is a serious problem that currently threatens the health of communities across the country. Flaring, venting, leaking, combustion, and release of contaminants throughout the production, processing, transmission, and distribution of oil and natural gas are significant sources of air pollution from the oil and gas sector. Pollutants released during oil and gas production include methane; non-methane volatile organic compounds VOCs, including numerous toxic air contaminants (TACs); benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX); nitrogen oxides (NOx); fine particulate matter (PM2.5); hydrogen sulfide; and silica dust.128,129,130,131 These toxic air contaminants and smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs and NOx) threaten regional air quality and local communities.132,133,134 A broad range of health effects are associated with exposure to these air pollutants, including mild to severe respiratory and neurological problems, cardiovascular damage, endocrine disruption, birth defects, cancer, and premature mortality.135,136
In the SEISs, BLM must analyze the public the air pollution impacts of fossil fuel development made available by the plans along with existing regional air pollution sources and disclose these impacts to the public in the SEISs. Shannon Anderson Powder River Cumulative Courts have held that BLM must analyze in its NEPA documentation the reasonably Basin Resource Impacts foreseeable indirect and cumulative impacts of a proposed action such as air emissions Council resulting from fossil fuel development. In the District Court's, the Court held that BLM must analyze and disclose the environmental consequences of downstream combustion of coal, oil, and gas open to development under each RMP.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-57 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Cumulative NEPA commands BLM to consider the “cumulative” impacts of its land management Basin Resource Impacts decisions, which include “the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, Council present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions.” 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.7, 1508.25(c). This analysis addresses the cumulative impacts of BLM’s fossil fuel leasing and management outside an individual planning area. At a minimum, insofar as BLM is revising the Buffalo and Miles City plans simultaneously, both plan revisions are reasonably foreseeable; BLM must evaluate the impacts of its fossil fuel management across the Powder River Basin as a whole. Moreover, BLM has the tools to reasonably foresee the emissions that will result from BLM’s present and future management of fossil fuel extraction across the region and nation as a whole.
This broad analysis is warranted and not unduly difficult. A broad geographic scope is warranted because the effects of greenhouse gas emissions are felt globally. Warren King Wilderness Cumulative The agency must improve the way it completes its cumulative impacts analysis. At a Society Impacts minimum this means analyzing impacts of oil, gas and coal in this planning decision. However, a global-level analysis may be more appropriate. Mathew Mead State of Cumulative Adjusting the boundaries for available coal resources also has the potential for impacting Wyoming Impacts the development of important oil and gas resources in the PRB. Mathew Mead State of Cumulative I am concerned that the SEIS will lead to a revision of the existing available coal resource Wyoming Impacts boundary that may have drastic impacts to Wyoming's energy production for the foreseeable future. Linda Weiss Western Cumulative This cumulative impact analysis must, at a minimum, disclose the cumulative amount of Organization of Impacts foreseeable emissions, even if BLM determines that it is impossible to further discuss the Resource impact of these emissions. Councils Linda Weiss Western Cumulative Must Analyze the Cumulative Climate Impacts of the Buffalo and Miles City Plans. Organization of Impacts Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Cumulative Courts Require BLM to Analyze Indirect and Cumulative Impacts That Are Reasonably Organization of Impacts Foreseeable. Resource Councils
E-58 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Cumulative At a minimum, insofar as BLM is revising the Buffalo and Miles City plans simultaneously, Organization of Impacts both plan revisions are reasonably foreseeable; BLM must evaluate the impacts of its fossil Resource fuel management across the Powder River Basin as a whole. Councils Linda Weiss Western Cumulative It is foreseeable that combustion of billions of tons of coal from the planning areas will Organization of Impacts result in widespread, deleterious impacts to public health and the environment, costing Resource society enormous sums of money each year. NEPA requires BLM to analyze and disclose Councils these impacts. Linda Weiss Western Direct/Indirect BLM must, among other things, quantify downstream combustion emissions for coal, oil, Organization of Impacts and gas; analyze the impacts of these emissions using available methodologies; and study the Resource extent Councils Linda Weiss Western Direct/Indirect With respect to oil and gas, BLM must conduct an analysis that includes the full range of Organization of Impacts lifecycle emissions that are not captured in its direct emissions quantification, including Resource emissions associated with the processing and transport of oil and gas; emissions associated Councils with the combustion of oil and gas; emissions associated with natural gas electric power and heating, including transmission of electricity away from power plants; and emissions associated with flaring, venting, and leaks. Linda Weiss Western Direct/Indirect BLM cannot ignore the near-term impacts-e.g., warming that will occur during the 20-year Organization of Impacts planning period. The inclusion of an assessment of near-term impacts in the SEISs will allow Resource members of the public and interested parties to evaluate this information and spur further Councils analysis as needed. Linda Weiss Western Direct/Indirect BLM Must Fully Analyze and Disclose to the Public the Air, Water, Noise, Wildlife, and Organization of Impacts Health Impacts, including Non-GHG Pollution, and Social Costs resulting from Combustion Resource of Fossil Fuels from the Planning Areas. Councils
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-59 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Economic Issues Ending the approval of new fossil fuel production and infrastructure is also critical for Basin Resource preventing “carbon lock-in,” where approvals and investments made now can lock in Council decades worth of fossil fuel extraction that are inconsistent with climate targets. New approvals for wells, mines, and fossil fuel infrastructure -- such as pipelines, marine and rail import and export terminals -- require upfront investments that provide financial incentives for companies to continue production for decades into the future.108 Given the long-lived nature of fossil fuel projects, ending the approval of new fossil fuel projects avoids the lock- in of decades of fossil fuel production and associated emissions.109
One analysis shows that, of expected federal fossil fuel production in 2040, about two- thirds is either not yet under lease or is under lease but is not yet producing.110 The authors conclude that if new leasing ceases and existing non-producing leases are not renewed, 40% of forecast coal production could be avoided in 2025 and 74% of coal production could be avoided in 2040. As for oil and gas, 12% of oil production could be avoided in 2025 and 65% could be avoided by 2040 while 6% of natural gas production could be avoided in 2025 and 59% could be avoided by 2040.111
This avoided production has the potential to significantly reduce future U.S. emissions. The study concludes that cessation of new and renewed leases for federal fossil fuel extraction could reduce CO2 emissions by about 100 Mt per year by 2030. Annual emission reductions could become greater than that over time as production declines on existing leases and maintaining or increasing production becomes dependent on yet-to-be issued leases.112 Shannon Anderson Powder River Economic Issues Further, BLM must acknowledge that, when monetized, the magnitude of harm to public Basin Resource health and welfare from burning vast amounts of coal greatly exceeds the value of the coal Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Economic Issues BLM must, at a minimum: Basin Resource • Assess the external costs that mining and burning federal coal imposes on society; Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Economic Issues I. BLM Should Analyze Whether the Federal Coal Program Provides a Basin Resource Fair Return For American Taxpayers. Council Another problem that must be addressed in the SEISs is the amounts charged for access to exploit federally leased coal. As the CEQ regulations provide, where – as here – a federal agency action has important economic effects, those issues must be thoroughly addressed. 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8; 1508.14; 43 C.F.R. § 146.420(d); BLM NEPA Handbook at 54.
E-60 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Economic Issues According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15 Jayni Hein Institute for Economic Issues Analyze and disclose energy substitution effects, including how leasing fossil fuel resources Policy Integrity, would affect fuel prices, the amount of wind and solar generation available in the NYU School of marketplace, and resulting upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Law Warren King Wilderness Economic Issues More specifically, the agency should consider the relative economic resilience of the area by Society examining the current economic contribution to the region from fossil fuel employment, including the share of jobs provided through direct employment of local residents and evaluate alternative means of work in area. Additionally, the agency should identify revenue replacement opportunities for local governments and the availability of financial and technical resources to support skills development and further economic diversification. Warren King Wilderness Economic Issues * Support communities' creation of impact mitigation plans. BLM should work with Society communities to conduct analyses of the socio-economic characteristics of the counties in the planning area using among other things the Economical Profile System (EPS) to produce detailed socioeconomic profiles. BLM should involve potentially affected communities in developing mitigation plans. BLM could incorporate transition approaches for affected communities in these amendments.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-61 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Tripp Parks Western Economic Issues The uncertainty that is created by lengthy analysis under the National Environmental Policy Energy Alliance Act (NEPA) and the threat of ongoing litigation in the courts causes companies to reevaluate their capital allocations between federal, state, and private lands. BLM will benefit greatly by creating certainty in the planning and leasing process, which will in turn raise interest in operating on federal lands and increase revenues to the federal government. Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues The SEISs must explore not only readjusting the amount of compensation for each of these Organization of aspects of leasing, but also additional compensation approaches that will not only insure a Resource fair return for federally leased coal, but will also address the environmental externalities - Councils and particularly GHG emissions. Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues BLM Must Analyze the Market Impacts of Its Buffalo and Miles City RMPs. Organization of Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues BLM must correct these past errors here by adequately studying the market effects using Organization of available tools. Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues In order to fully understand the climate impacts of continuing coal, oil, and gas leasing in the Organization of Buffalo and Miles City planning areas, BLM must use one of the available climate energy Resource models to evaluate market changes. Councils
E-62 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues One principal issue the SEISs must address is the fact that, in practice, there is very little Organization of competition for coal leases, with almost 90% of lease sales involving only a single bidder – Resource often the operator of the adjacent (or expanding) mine. This lack of competition poses Councils significant challenges to accurately setting FMV and therefore the initial bid cost. However, even in the absence of a competitive market, BLM can create policies and procedures that will return a fairer amount of revenue for the public. Because of the amount of federal coal that is leased, recent government reports have shown that raising bid amounts a mere penny can bring in up to $7 million of additional revenue in the average Wyoming PRB lease sale. In short, every penny counts.
A second issue concerns the royalty rates for coal production, which do not currently either provide a fair return or cover the myriad externalities of coal production – including GHG emissions. Under existing royalty policies, coal companies also exploit loopholes, and subsidies, deductions, and royalty rate reductions lower the effective royalty rate to approximately 5% overall. In addition, companies are sometimes selling coal to their own subsidiaries, paying a royalty based on this depressed price, and then reselling the coal on the market at higher prices. Moreover, since this coal represents more than 40% of domestic coal production, artificially low royalty rates bring artificially low market prices.
Finally, the SEISs must address the transparency issues that have repeatedly arisen in the coal leasing context, where the leasing process, including the determination of Fair Market Value, is all conducted behind closed doors without public input or access. Insuring an open and fair leasing process is a critical step necessary to provide the American people with the necessary confidence that they are being fairly compensated for this public resource. Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues BLM Cannot Ignore Available Economic Models. Organization of Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Economic Issues Understanding the market and climate impacts of a decision to restrict fossil fuel extraction Organization of across public lands in the Powder River Basin is essential to making an informed decision. In Resource order to comply with NEPA, BLM must either use available tools to provide that essential Councils information or explain why it cannot do so.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-63 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Fish/Aquatic/Wil According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource dlife Habitat by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15 Shannon Anderson Powder River Fish/Aquatic/Wil In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Basin Resource dlife Habitat changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Council water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production. Angi Bruce Wyoming Fish/Aquatic/Wil The Department recently provided comments (WER 11849.00k) to the Bureau of Land Game & Fish dlife Habitat Management (BLM) regarding wildlife and habitat resources as they relate to the coal Dept. unsuitability criteria. As described in those comments, resources the BLM should consider in the forthcoming SEIS include eagles, habitat for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional priority avian species, sage-grouse habitat and leks, sharp-tailed grouse leks, Tier I and II Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), and elk crucial winter range and parturition area. These wildlife and habitat values may influence coal leasing and development, and in turn may also be impacted by future coal development. Angi Bruce Wyoming Fish/Aquatic/Wil there are several streams in the portion of the coal development potential area (CDPA) in Game & Fish dlife Habitat Campbell County that support native fish, as well as trout streams in the portion of the Dept. CDPA in Sheridan County. The impacts of stream diversion associated with coal development and associated mitigation measures should be addressed in the SEIS.
E-64 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Jackie Canterbury Bighorn Fish/Aquatic/Wil implications for birds, particularly grassland birds - a suite of birds that are in dramatic Audobon dlife Habitat decline. The Greater-Sage Grouse is also in peril. Linda Weiss Western Fish/Aquatic/Wil Further, any analysis of noise impacts in the SEIS should address impacts of oil and gas Organization of dlife Habitat development on wildlife, including listed species. The basis for stated noise levels in decibels Resource (dBA) and their attenuation at specific distances should be analyzed in addition to noise Councils frequencies associated with specific noise sources, which is an indicator of what birds and wildlife could detect. The interplay between noise levels caused by oil and gas development, the distances at which they attenuate, and potential effects on critical behaviors of birds and wildlife, including the additive noise effects of multiple wells, compression stations, vehicles, etc., operating in the same area must be analyzed Linda Weiss Western Fish/Aquatic/Wil Finally, BLM should also take a hard look at the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of Organization of dlife Habitat increased noise from oil and gas exploration and development in the planning areas on Resource recreation and wildlife. Councils
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-65 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River FLPMA FLPMA does not mandate that every use be accommodated on every piece of land; rather, Basin Resource delicate balancing is required. See Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55, 58 Council (2004). “‘Multiple use’ requires management of the public lands and their numerous natural resources so that they can be used for economic, recreational, and scientific purposes without the infliction of permanent damage.” Public Lands Council v. Babbitt, 167 F.3d 1287, 1290 (10th Cir. 1999) (citing 43 U.S.C. § 1702 (c)). As held by the Tenth Circuit, “[i]f all the competing demands reflected in FLPMA were focused on one particular piece of public land, in many instances only one set of demands could be satisfied. A parcel of land cannot both be preserved in its natural character and mined.” Rocky Mtn. Oil & Gas Ass’n v. Watt, 696 F.2d 734, 738 n.4 (10th Cir. 1982) (quoting Utah v. Andrus, 486 F.Supp. 995, 1003 (D. Utah 1979)); see also 43 § 1701(a)(8) (stating, as a goal of FLPMA, the necessity to “preserve and protect certain public lands in their natural condition”); Pub. Lands Council, 167 F.3d at 1299 (citing § 1701(a)(8)). As further provided by the Tenth Circuit:
It is past doubt that the principle of multiple use does not require BLM to prioritize development over other uses... BLM’s obligation to manage for multiple use does not mean that development must be allowed on [a particular piece of public lands]. Development is a possible use, which BLM must weigh against other possible uses— including conservation to protect environmental values, which are best assessed through the NEPA process. Thus, an alternative that closes the [proposed public lands] to development does not necessarily violate the principle of multiple use, and the multiple use provision of FLPMA is not a sufficient reason to exclude more protective alternatives from consideration.
New Mexico ex rel. Richardson, 565 F.3d at 710. Accordingly, BLM must consider, on equal footing, the value of permanent protection and preservation of public lands in the planning area, along with industry pressure to lease and develop public lands for fossil fuel resources. Tripp Parks Western Lands & Realty The uncertainty that is created by lengthy analysis under the National Environmental Policy Energy Alliance Act (NEPA) and the threat of ongoing litigation in the courts causes companies to reevaluate their capital allocations between federal, state, and private lands. BLM will benefit greatly by creating certainty in the planning and leasing process, which will in turn raise interest in operating on federal lands and increase revenues to the federal government.
E-66 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Susan Aldridge Anadarko Minerals & the purpose of the RFD Scenario continues to be a source of confusion and litigation. Petroleum Geol. Resources When developing the RFD Scenario, if necessary, the BLM must carefully explain to the public that the RFD Scenario is not a cap or limitation on future development. Shannon Anderson Powder River Minerals & The District Court held that the Miles City and Buffalo RMPs "contained enough specifics" Basin Resource Geol. Resources to permit a "productive analysis" of the downstream impacts of burning of the coal, oil and Council gas open to potential development under the RMPs. Order at 34. To comply with the Court's order, BLM must, among other things, quantify downstream combustion emissions for coal, oil, and gas; analyze the impacts of these emissions using available methodologies; and study the extent to which the considered alternatives - which now must include an alternative closing lands in the Powder River Basin to new federal coal, oil, and gas leasing and production - alter the total amount of downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Shannon Anderson Powder River Minerals & According to the study, a comparison with other measures shows that a policy of “no new Basin Resource Geol. Resources leasing” could be a very significant part of U.S. efforts to address climate change. The Council estimated 100 Mt CO2 emissions savings that could result from no leasing in 2030 compares favorably with EPA standards for light- and medium-vehicles that are expected to yield 200 Mt in CO2 savings in 2030, and with standards for heavy-duty vehicles that are expected to yield 70 Mt in CO2 savings in the same year. Cessation of new and renewed leases could make an important contribution to U.S. climate change mitigation efforts.113
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-67 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Minerals & Ending the approval of new fossil fuel production and infrastructure is also critical for Basin Resource Geol. Resources preventing “carbon lock-in,” where approvals and investments made now can lock in Council decades worth of fossil fuel extraction that are inconsistent with climate targets. New approvals for wells, mines, and fossil fuel infrastructure -- such as pipelines, marine and rail import and export terminals -- require upfront investments that provide financial incentives for companies to continue production for decades into the future.108 Given the long-lived nature of fossil fuel projects, ending the approval of new fossil fuel projects avoids the lock- in of decades of fossil fuel production and associated emissions.109
One analysis shows that, of expected federal fossil fuel production in 2040, about two- thirds is either not yet under lease or is under lease but is not yet producing.110 The authors conclude that if new leasing ceases and existing non-producing leases are not renewed, 40% of forecast coal production could be avoided in 2025 and 74% of coal production could be avoided in 2040. As for oil and gas, 12% of oil production could be avoided in 2025 and 65% could be avoided by 2040 while 6% of natural gas production could be avoided in 2025 and 59% could be avoided by 2040.111
This avoided production has the potential to significantly reduce future U.S. emissions. The study concludes that cessation of new and renewed leases for federal fossil fuel extraction could reduce CO2 emissions by about 100 Mt per year by 2030. Annual emission reductions could become greater than that over time as production declines on existing leases and maintaining or increasing production becomes dependent on yet-to-be issued leases.112 Jayni Hein Institute for Minerals & Analyze, and quantify to the fullest extent possible, the external costs that mining, Policy Integrity, Geol. Resources transporting, and burning federal coal and other fossil fuels imposes on society. This analysis NYU School of must include an assessment of the environmental consequences of upstream and Law downstream combustion of all federal coal, oil, and gas proposed to be open to development under the RMPs; Tripp Parks Western Minerals & In 2010, the BLM Wyoming State Office issued an Information Memorandum containing Energy Alliance Geol. Resources Recommended Interim Procedures for Addressing GHGs in Coal [Lease By Applications] and Oil and Gas Leases (Information Memorandum). The Information Memorandum provided specific procedures for addressing GHG emissions in oil and gas lease sale NEPA documents, and instructed field offices to, among other things, discuss effects of GHGs, include discussion of the global context, and include a qualitative rather than quantitative discussion of the causal relationship between GHG emissions and climate change.
E-68 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Tripp Parks Western NEPA (National The uncertainty that is created by lengthy analysis under the National Environmental Policy Energy Alliance Environmental Act (NEPA) and the threat of ongoing litigation in the courts causes companies to Policy Act) reevaluate their capital allocations between federal, state, and private lands. BLM will benefit greatly by creating certainty in the planning and leasing process, which will in turn raise interest in operating on federal lands and increase revenues to the federal government. Susan Aldridge Anadarko Oil & Gas When revising the RMP, the BLM must also acknowledge existing rights, including oil and Petroleum gas lease rights. Once the BLM has issued a federal oil and gas lease without no surface occupancy stipulations, and in the absence of a nondiscretionary statutory prohibition against development, the BLM cannot completely deny development on the leasehold. See, e.g., National Wildlife Federation, et al., 150 IBLA 385, 403 (1999). Susan Aldridge Anadarko Oil & Gas In Western Organization of Resource Councils v. BLM, the court declined to enjoin BLM Petroleum from continuing to offer lands managed by the Buffalo Field Office for oil and gas lease until it completes the supplemental NEPA analysis. See, W.. Org. of Res. Councils v. ELM, No. CV 16-21-GF-BMM, at *50-51 (D. Mont. Mar. 26, 2018). Since the court's order, BLM has offered lands for oil and gas lease in the area managed by the Buffalo Field Office, and APC requests that BLM continue to do so while it supplements the Buffalo RMP Final EIS as directed by the District of Montana court. Susan Aldridge Anadarko Oil & Gas APC recognizes the difficult task the BLM faces to manage public lands in the Buffalo Field Petroleum Office for multiple use, but encourages the BLM to remember that oil and gas development is a crucial part of the BLM' s multiple use mandate. The BLM must ensure that oil and gas development is not unreasonably limited in the revision to the RMP. Shannon Anderson Powder River Oil & Gas In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Basin Resource changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Council water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-69 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Oil & Gas The potential carbon emissions from existing fossil fuel reserves—the known belowground Basin Resource stock of extractable fossil fuels—considerably exceed both the 1.5°C and 2°C targets. Council According to one study, global coal, oil and gas resources considered currently economically recoverable contain potential greenhouse gas emissions of 4,196 GtCO2,93 with other estimates as high as 7,120 GtCO2.94 According to one report, in the United States, the potential GHG emissions from federal 95 and non-federal fossil fuels in the United States are 697-1,070 GtCO2. As for federal fossil fuel resources, the United States contains enough recoverable coal, oil and gas that, if extracted and burned, would result in as much as 492 GtCO2, consuming all of the global carbon budget for a 1.5°C target.96 Unleased federal fossil fuels comprise 91% of these potential emissions, with already leased federal fossil fuels accounting for as much as 43 GtCO2.97 New leasing of federal fossil fuel resources is inconsistent with a carbon budget that would seek to avoid catastrophic climate change. Nationwide emissions from fossil fuels extracted 98 from Federal lands in 2014 were 1,332.1 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 equivalent (CO2Eq).99 Between 2005 and 2014, fossil fuel emissions from Federal lands accounted for, on average, 23.7 percent of national CO2 emissions, 7.3 percent of national methane (CH4) emissions, and 1.5 percent of national nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions.100 Continued leasing and development of fossil fuels commits the world to extremely dangerous warming well beyond the 2°C threshold. As one study put it, “the disparity between what resources and reserves exist and what can be emitted while avoiding a temperature rise greater than the agreed 2°C limit is therefore stark.”101 Based on the foregoing, the U.S. must halt new fossil fuel production and rapidly phase out existing production on federal lands to avoid the worst dangers of climate change. One study estimated the U.S. carbon budget consistent with a 1.5°C target at 25 GtCO2eq to 57 GtCO2eq on average,102 depending on the sharing principles used to apportion the global budget across countries.103 The estimated U.S. carbon budget consistent with limiting temperature rise to 2°C – a level of warming well above what scientists say is devastatingly 104 harmful – ranges from 34 GtCO2 to 123 GtCO2, depending on the sharing principles applied. Under any scenario, the remaining U.S. carbon budget compatible with the Paris climate targets is extremely small.
E-70 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Oil & Gas (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Furthermore, research that models emissions pathways for limiting warming to 1.5°C or Council 2°C shows that a rapid end to fossil fuel extraction in the United States is critical. Specifically, research indicates that global fossil fuel CO2 emissions must end entirely by mid- century and likely as early as 2045 for a reasonable likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. 105 Due to the small remaining U.S. carbon budget, the United States must end fossil fuel CO2 emissions even earlier: between 2025 and 2030 on average for a reasonable chance of staying below 1.5°C, and between 2040 and 2045 on average for a reasonable chance of staying below 2°C.106 Ending U.S. fossil fuel CO2 emissions between 2025 and 2030, consistent with the Paris 1.5°C target, will require “urgent” and “unprecedented” action.107 An immediate halt to new production and a transition to closing most existing oil and gas fields and coal mines before their reserves are fully extracted would be consistent with this goal. Shannon Anderson Powder River Oil & Gas B. BLM Should Consider the Impacts from Hydraulic Fracturing. Basin Resource Oil and gas development utilizing hydraulic fracturing is linked to releases of air, water, and Council soil pollutants as well as physical, safety, and health hazards and as such poses a potentially significant threat to human health and the environment.166,167,168 Therefore, BLM must analyze and disclose the impacts of hydraulic fracturing in its SEIS. Although the Buffalo RMP contemplates extensive oil and gas extraction, the FEIS fails to take a hard look at the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”), a process which will almost certainly be used for some of this activity. 78 Fed. Reg. at 31638/3 (BLM estimates that roughly 90 percent of new wells on federal lands are hydraulically fractured). Shannon Anderson Powder River Oil & Gas With respect to oil and gas, BLM must conduct an analysis that includes the full range of Basin Resource lifecycle emissions that are not captured in its direct emissions quantification, including Council emissions associated with the processing and transport of oil and gas; emissions associated with the combustion of oil and gas; emissions associated with natural gas electric power and heating, including transmission of electricity away from power plants; and emissions associated with flaring, venting, and leaks. Analysis of each of these elements is feasible.17 The agency decision- makers, with input from the public, must be informed of the full suite of impacts, including to the climate, if they are to prudently decide whether or how the minerals should be made available for production. Christy Gerrits Oil & Gas Since natural gas fired generators burn cleaner (45% less carbon dioxide) and they are easier to start up and shut down when peak power needs occur, it seems like we should be turning to natural gas for our base loads until green alternatives are found.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-71 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Christy Gerrits Oil & Gas Coal fired power plants produce 214 lbs of carbon dioxide/million Btu of energy. Natural gas produces 117 lbs of carbon dioxide/million Btu of energy, or 45% less carbon dioxide. Mathew Mead State of Oil & Gas During the review process, the BLM should also consider impacts to the Coal Resource Wyoming Task Reports if the coal resource boundary is modified Tripp Parks Western Oil & Gas As BLM updates the RMP, it should also consider recent policy guidance regarding oil and Energy Alliance natural gas leasing and NEPA timelines that has been released since the most recent amendment. Since BLM is specifically looking at oil and natural gas with this SEIS, it is appropriate and sensible to include these recent guidance documents in the amendment. Linda Weiss Western Oil & Gas Therefore, BLM must analyze and disclose the impacts of hydraulic fracturing in its SEIS. Organization of Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Oil & Gas LM should analyze and disclose in the SEIS the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on air quality Organization of from the emission of VOCs emitted during well completion or ambient dust from increased Resource truck traffic, impacts to surface and groundwater quality from fracking chemicals or the Councils possibility of spills or accidents, impacts to water quantity from the millions of gallons needed to frack each well, and quantities of water needed for hydraulic fracturing operations. In a rule addressing hydraulic fracturing proposed in May 2012, BLM acknowledged that hydraulic fracturing has important environmental impacts, but that existing BLM regulations and practices failed to adequately address those impacts
E-72 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Susan Aldridge Anadarko Other Laws In the Buffalo RMP, BLM must expressly recognize that the State of Wyoming, and not the Petroleum BLM, has authority for regulating air quality within the Buffalo Field Office. The complex regulatory scheme established by the Clean Air Act ("CAA") delegates to the State of Wyoming the authority to regulate Wyoming's air resources. Neither BLM nor the USPS may infringe upon the State's authority by attempting to regulate air quality or air emissions in the Buffalo RMP. The BLM does not have direct authority over air quality or air emissions under the CAA. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq. Under the express terms of the CAA, the EPA has the authority to regulate air emissions. In Wyoming, the EPA has delegated its authority to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality ("WDEQ"). See 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 - 767lq; 40 C.F.R. pts. 50 - 99; 40 C.F.R. §§ 52.2620-52.2637 (Wyoming's State Implementation Plan); WYO. STAT. ANN.§§ 35-11-201 to 214; Wyo. Air Quality Stds. & Regs. ("WAQSR") Chs. 1 - 14; 79 Fed. Reg. 62,859 (Oct. 21, 2014); 78 Fed. Reg. 49685 (Aug. 15, 2013). The Secretary of the Interior, through the IBLA, has unequivocally dete1mined that in Wyoming, the State of Wyoming, and not the BLM, has authority over air emissions: Shannon Anderson Powder River Public Health & According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource Safety by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-73 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Public Health & the greatest impact of air pollution on public health is likely impaired fetal development, Basin Resource Safety chromosomal damage, and poor pregnancy outcomes that contribute to higher infant Council mortality and life long increased susceptibility to numerous other adult onset diseases and shortened life spans. For example, recent research shows that just ozone pollution alone is responsible for about 8,000 still births nationwide. Coal combustion is one of the most important sources of the precursors that form ozone in the atmosphere. Both chronic and acute ozone exposure during pregnancy increase the risk of still birth, as much as 39%, even at levels below the EPA’s standards. Even the ozone levels in the week prior to delivery increase the risk. Mendola P, Ha S, Pollack AZ, Zhu Y, Seeni I, Kim SS, Sherman S, Liu D. Chronic and Acute Ozone Exposure in the Week Prior to Delivery Is Associated with the Risk of Stillbirth.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Jul 6;14(7). pii: E731. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14070731. These profound consequences are not factored in to the above cost calculations because these studies came later. Shannon Anderson Powder River Public Health & Coal fired power plants are major sources of environmental toxins, both in the immediate Basin Resource Safety area where they are located, as well through global dispersion of their emissions and waste Council by-products. Only by ignoring its enormous health and environmental impacts can coal-fired power be considered a "low-cost" energy source. Linda Weiss Western Public Health & Further, BLM must acknowledge that, when monetized, the magnitude of harm to public Organization of Safety health and welfare from burning vast amounts of coal greatly exceeds the value of the coal, Resource as Peter Howard, Ph.D., explained in his declaration submitted to the District Court. Councils
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Public Health & 128 McKenzie, L. M., Witter, R. Z., Newman, L. S., & Adgate, J. L. (2012). Human health risk Organization of Safety assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources. Resource 129 Councils Science of the Total Environment, 424, 79-87. Eastern Research Group (ERG) and Sage Environmental Consulting LP. (2012). City of Fort Worth Natural Gas Air Quality Study. 130 Esswein, E. J., Breitenstein, M., Snawder, J., Kiefer, M., & Sieber, W. K. (2013). Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing. Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene, 10(7), 347-356. 131 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality. (2013). Air, Noise, and Light Monitoring Results For Assessing Environmental Impacts of Horizontal Gas Well Drilling Operations (ETD‐10 Project). 132 State of Wyoming Department of Health. (2013). Associations of ShortTerm Exposure to Ozone and Respiratory Outpatient Clinic Visits — Sublette County, Wyoming, 2008–2011. 133 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Oil and Gas. (2013) Noise, Light, Dust, and Volatile Organic Compounds Generated by the Drilling of Horizontal Wells Related to the Well Location Restriction Regarding Occupied Dwelling Structures. 134 Gilman, J. B., Lerner, B. M., Kuster, W. C., & De Gouw, J. A. (2013). Source signature of volatile organic compounds from oil and natural gas operations in northeastern Colorado. Environmental science & technology, 47(3), 1297-1305. 135 Ibid. McKenzie et al. 2012 136 Finkel, M. L., Hays, J., & Law, A. (2013). Modern natural gas development and harm to health: The need for proactive public health policies. ISRN Public Health, 2013. Linda Weiss Western Public Health & “Per unit of exposure,” the health consequences are even greater at low concentrations. Organization of Safety Peters, A., Air Quality and Cardiovascular Health: Smoke and Pollution Matter. Circulation. 2009: Resource 120:924-927; Di Q, et al. Air Pollution and Mortality in the Medicare Population. New England Councils Journal of Medicine, 2017; 376 (26): 2513 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1702747. Linda Weiss Western Public Health & Based on the forgoing, BLM must also analyze and disclose the non-GHG pollution impacts Organization of Safety of fossil fuel development on public health and the environment in its supplemental EIS Resource Councils
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-75 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Susan Aldridge Anadarko Purpose and the court ordered BLM to address specific, discrete issues including the amount of coal to Petroleum Need be leased, the downstream combustion of coal and oil and gas, and the appropriate timeframe for considering global warming potential. Id at *17-18. The BLM should address these, and only these issues, in the supplemental EIS and potential amendment. The BLM need not revisit all of the decisions made in the very recently approved Buffalo RMP and analyzed in its comprehensive EIS. Importantly, the BLM shoulnot attempt to revisit or reconsider any issues that were not addressed by the court. Among the issues that need not be considered again include, but are not limited to, the following: lands available for leasing, stipulations attached to oil and gas leases, reclamation requirements, special status species management, or areas of critical environmental concern. Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and Based on the foregoing, the IWG's estimates are very likely to underrepresent the true Basin Resource Need impacts that greenhouse gas emissions have on society. However, the SCC represents the Council best and most rigorous effort that the U.S. government has engaged in thus far to analyze the social cost of greenhouse gases. As such, BLM should incorporate the SCC into its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). If BLM monetizes the economic benefits of fossil fuel extraction, as it did in its initial EIS, it must then also monetize the costs of carbon pollution. Mont. Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 274 F. Supp. 3d 1074, 1094-99 (D. Mont. 2017). Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and Thus, not only must BLM include quantitative estimates of the total GHG emissions Basin Resource Need resulting from its decisions - it must also include an assessment of the ecological, economic, Council and social impacts of those emissions, including an assessment of their significance. Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and Federal Defendants shall complete, within sixteen months of today's date and no later than Basin Resource Need November 29, 2019, new coal screening and remedial NEPA analyses in compliance with Council the Court's March 26, 2018, Order (Doc. 111).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and In August 2016, the Interagency Working Group (“IWG”) provided an update to the social Basin Resource Need cost of carbon technical support document,54 and, for the first time, adopted a similar Council methodology for evaluating the climate impact of each additional ton of methane and nitrogen oxide emissions.55 BLM should use the social cost of methane in its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). Similar to the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane provides a standard methodology that allows state and federal agencies to quantify the social benefits of reducing methane emissions through actions that have comparatively small impacts on cumulative global emission levels. The social cost of methane is intended to “offer a method for improving the analyses of regulatory actions that are projected to influence [methane or nitrogen oxide] emissions in a manner consistent with how [carbon dioxide] emission changes are valued.”56 Like the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane is presented as a range of figures across four discount rates; it is based on results from three integrated assessment models; displayed in dollars per metric ton of emissions; and increases over time because emissions become more damaging as their atmospheric concentrations increase.57 The IWG estimated that each additional ton of methane emitted in 2020 will cause between $540 and $3,200 dollars (measured in $2007).58
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-77 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Need The IWG’s social cost metrics remain the best estimates yet produced by the federal Council government for monetizing the impacts of GHG emissions and are “generally accepted in the scientific community,” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.22(b)(4). This is true notwithstanding Executive Order 13,783, which disbanded the Interagency Working Group and formally withdrew its technical support documents.59 Indeed, that Executive Order did not find fault with any component of the IWG’s analyses. To the contrary, it encourages agencies to “monetiz[e] the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions” and instructs agencies to ensure such estimates are “consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4.”60 The IWG tools, however, illustrate how agencies can appropriately comply with the guidance provided in Circular A-4: OMB participated in the IWG and did not object to the group’s conclusions. As agencies follow the Circular’s standards for using the best available data and methodologies, they will necessarily choose similar data, methodologies, and estimates as the IWG, since the IWG’s work continues to represent the best estimates presently available.61 Thus, the IWG’s 2016 update to the estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases remains the best available and generally accepted tool for assessing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, notwithstanding the fact that this document has formally been withdrawn.62 Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and The SCC is an appropriate tool for use in analyzing and disclosing the significance of impacts Basin Resource Need under NEPA notwithstanding Executive Order 13,783, which disbanded the Interagency Council Working Group and formally withdrew its technical support documents.27 Notably, that Executive Order did not find fault with any component of the IWG’s analysis. To the contrary, it encourages agencies to “monetiz[e] the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions” and instructs agencies to ensure such estimates are “consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4.”28 As agencies follow the Circular’s standards for using the best available data and methodologies, they will necessarily choose similar data, methodologies, and estimates as the IWG, since the IWG’s work continues to represent the best estimates presently available.29 Thus, the IWG’s 2016 update to the estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases remains the best available and generally accepted tool for assessing the significance of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.30
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and BLM's refusal to engage in the coal screening process for the Buffalo Field Office violates Basin Resource Need the Court's clear mandate. BLM voluntarily dismissed its appeal with the Ninth Circuit Council Court of Appeals. Thus, BLM must comply with the final judgment of the district court and conduct new coal screens for both Buffalo and Miles City Field Offices within the timeframe specified. Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and In the SEISs, BLM must not understate the climate impact of methane emissions by using an Basin Resource Need outdated estimate of methane's GWP - the relative amount of warming caused by each ton Council of methane Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and NEPA requires BLM to ensure “the scientific integrity . . . of the discussions and analyses in Basin Resource Need [EISs].” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.24, accord 40 C.F.R. § 1500.1(b) (requiring “accurate scientific Council analysis”). An agency violates NEPA where its analysis is based on factual inaccuracy. Oregon Natural Desert Ass’n v. Jewell, 840 F. 3d 562, 570 (9th Cir. 2016). If BLM continues to use outdated GWPs in its analyses, this will result in drastic underestimates of the impacts of anticipated methane emissions. BLM cannot ignore the near-term impacts—e.g., warming that will occur during the 20-year planning period. The inclusion of an assessment of near- term impacts in the SEISs will allow members of the public and interested parties to evaluate this information and spur further analysis as needed. WORC, 2018 WL 1475470, at *16. Without providing all the relevant information, the SEIS cannot “foster informed decision-making.” Id. (citing California v. Block, 690 F.2d 753, 761 (9th Cir. 1982)). Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and NEPA requires that the BLM take a "hard look" at foreseeable climate impacts. See 42 Basin Resource Need U.S.C. § 4332(C); 40 C.F.R. § 1508.25(c). Council Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and The District Court held that the Miles City and Buffalo RMPs "contained enough specifics" Basin Resource Need to permit a "productive analysis" of the downstream impacts of burning of the coal, oil and Council gas open to potential development under the RMPs. Order at 34. To comply with the Court's order, BLM must, among other things, quantify downstream combustion emissions for coal, oil, and gas; analyze the impacts of these emissions using available methodologies; and study the extent to which the considered alternatives - which now must include an alternative closing lands in the Powder River Basin to new federal coal, oil, and gas leasing and production - alter the total amount of downstream greenhouse gas emissions.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-79 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and When determining whether an EIS analyzed sufficient alternatives to allow BLM to take a Basin Resource Need hard look at the available options, courts apply the “rule of reason.” New Mexico ex rel. Council Richardson, 565 F.3d at 709 (citing Westlands Water Dist. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 376 F.3d 853, 868 (9th Cir. 2004)). The reasonableness of the alternatives considered is measured against two guideposts. First, when considering agency actions taken pursuant to a statute, an alternative is reasonable only if it falls within the agency’s statutory mandate. Westlands, 376 F.3d at 866. Second, reasonableness is judged with reference to an agency’s objectives for a particular project.114 See Colorado Envtl. Coal. v. Dombeck, 185 F.3d 1162, 1174–75 (10th Cir. 1999); Simmons v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 120 F.3d 664, 668–69 (7th Cir. 1997); Idaho Conservation League v. Mumma, 956 F.2d 1508, 1520 (9th Cir. 1992). Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and With respect to oil and gas, BLM must conduct an analysis that includes the full range of Basin Resource Need lifecycle emissions that are not captured in its direct emissions quantification, including Council emissions associated with the processing and transport of oil and gas; emissions associated with the combustion of oil and gas; emissions associated with natural gas electric power and heating, including transmission of electricity away from power plants; and emissions associated with flaring, venting, and leaks. Analysis of each of these elements is feasible.17 The agency decision- makers, with input from the public, must be informed of the full suite of impacts, including to the climate, if they are to prudently decide whether or how the minerals should be made available for production. Shannon Anderson Powder River Purpose and The requisite hard look includes analysis of the climate impacts of resulting from Basin Resource Need greenhouse gas emissions, such as changes in agricultural productivity, human health, Council ecosystem services, and property. To take the required "hard look," agencies must also tell the reader what quantitative estimates mean in terms of "actual environmental effects. Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Basin Resource Alternatives changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Council water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production.
E-80 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of .C. BLM Must Consider a No Fossil Fuel Leasing Alternative in Response to Basin Resource Alternatives Threats Posed by Climate Change. Council As noted above, the Department of Interior is uniquely situated to address climate change. BLM is responsible for the management of 700 million acres of federal onshore subsurface minerals.116 According to a 2012 report, the “total GHG emissions resulting from the extraction of fossil fuels from federal lands by private leaseholders was approximately 1,563 MMTCO2e in 2008, 1,537 MMTCO2e in 2009, and 1,551 MMTCO2e in 2010.”117 These emissions amount to “approximately 23% of total U.S. GHG emissions and 27% of energy- related GHG emissions.”118 An updated version of this report, published in 2014, re- confirmed the significance of federal fossil fuel emissions.119 According to it, federal fossil fuel extraction contributed approximately 1.344 MMTCO2e in 2012, which amounts to 21% of U.S. GHG emissions and 24% of energy-related emissions.120
If new federal fossil fuel leasing ceases and existing non-producing leases are not renewed, 12% of oil production could be avoided in 2025 and 65% could be avoided by 2040 while 6% of natural gas production could be avoided in 2025 and 59% could be avoided by 2040.121 A comparison with other measures shows that “no leasing” could be a very significant part of U.S. efforts to address climate change. Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of The District Court held that the Miles City and Buffalo RMPs "contained enough specifics" Basin Resource Alternatives to permit a "productive analysis" of the downstream impacts of burning of the coal, oil and Council gas open to potential development under the RMPs. Order at 34. To comply with the Court's order, BLM must, among other things, quantify downstream combustion emissions for coal, oil, and gas; analyze the impacts of these emissions using available methodologies; and study the extent to which the considered alternatives - which now must include an alternative closing lands in the Powder River Basin to new federal coal, oil, and gas leasing and production - alter the total amount of downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of BLM Must Consider a No Leasing Alternative Basin Resource Alternatives Council
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-81 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of When determining whether an EIS analyzed sufficient alternatives to allow BLM to take a Basin Resource Alternatives hard look at the available options, courts apply the “rule of reason.” New Mexico ex rel. Council Richardson, 565 F.3d at 709 (citing Westlands Water Dist. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 376 F.3d 853, 868 (9th Cir. 2004)). The reasonableness of the alternatives considered is measured against two guideposts. First, when considering agency actions taken pursuant to a statute, an alternative is reasonable only if it falls within the agency’s statutory mandate. Westlands, 376 F.3d at 866. Second, reasonableness is judged with reference to an agency’s objectives for a particular project.114 See Colorado Envtl. Coal. v. Dombeck, 185 F.3d 1162, 1174–75 (10th Cir. 1999); Simmons v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 120 F.3d 664, 668–69 (7th Cir. 1997); Idaho Conservation League v. Mumma, 956 F.2d 1508, 1520 (9th Cir. 1992).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of BLM has explicit legal authority under FLPMA, the MLA, and NEPA to adopt a no-leasing Basin Resource Alternatives alternative as necessary to respond to the threats posed by climate change. BLM has broad Council discretion in determining when, how, and if fossil fuel resources are made available for leasing.
The governing statute for oil and gas, the MLA, states: “All lands subject to disposition under this Act which are known or believed to contain oil or gas deposits may be leased by the Secretary.” 30 US.C. § 226(a) (emphasis added); see also Udall v. Tallman, 30 U.S. 1, 4 (1965) (MLA “left the Secretary discretion to refuse to issue any lease at all on a given tract”); Burglin v. Morton, 527 F.2d 486, 488 (9th Cir. 1975) (“The permissive word ‘may’ in Section 226(a) allows the Secretary to lease such lands, but does not require him to do so.”); Pease v. Udall, 332 F.2d 62, 63 (9th Cir. 1964) (“[T]he Mineral Leasing Act has consistently been construed as leaving to the Secretary, within his discretion, a determination as to what lands are to be leased thereunder.”).
Although the MLA states that, for oil and gas, “[l]ease sales shall be held for each State where eligible lands are available at least quarterly and more frequently if the Secretary of the Interior determines such sales are necessary,” quarterly leasing is not required if no lands are “eligible” and “available” due to factors including withdrawal from the operation of the MLA under FLPMA, allocation decisions under an applicable land management plan, need for additional environmental review, or exercise of Secretarial discretion. 30 U.S.C. § 226(b)(1)(A); see also 43 C.F.R. § 3120.1-1. Lands are considered available for leasing when all statutory requirements have been met, including compliance with the NEPA, appropriate reviews have been conducted, and lands have been allocated for leasing in the RMP. BLM Handbook H-3101-1, Issuance of Leases (emphasis added). Thus, a decision to allocate an area as ineligible for leasing through the planning process is contemplated by BLM’s regulations, contradicting any perceived requirement that BLM must lease the area.
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-83 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Range of (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Alternatives The Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act (“FOOGLRA”)—while not altering Council the fundamental leasing structure of the MLA—imposed a competitive bidding requirement on all offered leases. 30 U.S.C. §§ 188, 195, 226. Critically, FOOGLRA did not repeal or alter Secretarial discretion of whether to offer any particular lands for lease. See Western Energy All. v. Salazar, 709 F.3d 1040, 1044 (10th Cir. 2013) (“Before the MLA was amended by the [FOOGLRA]…it was well established that the Secretary had extremely broad discretion and was not obligated to issue any lease on public lands…. The MLA, as amended by the Reform Act of 1987, continues to vest the Secretary with considerable discretion to determine which lands are ‘to be leased’ under § 226(b)(1)(A).”). As held by the Court of Appeals in Bob Marshall Allliance v. Hodel: the Mineral Leasing Act gives the Interior Secretary discretion to determine which lands are to be leased under the statute. 30 U.S.C. §226(a) (1982); see Mountain States, 499 F.Supp. at 391-92. We have held that the Mineral Leasing Act “allows the Secretary to lease such lands, but does not require him to do so.... [T]he Secretary has discretion to refuse to issue any lease at all on a given tract.” Burglin v. Morton, 527 F.2d 486, 488 (9th Cir. 1975) (citing Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 4 (1965), cert denied, 425 U.S. 973 (1976)). 852 F.2d 1223, 1230 (9th Cir. 1988). Mark Christensen Campbell Range of In the development of the alternatives, we would strongly encourage BLM to consider County Alternatives adjusting the lease line boundary on the east side of the Coal Development Potential (CDP) area identified in the RMP in Campbell County. Most of the current development is progressing toward the west with no new production moving east. Therefore, it may make sense for BLM to analyze for a reduction in leasing on the eastern side of the CDP in one of the alternatives. Jayni Hein Institute for Range of Evaluate at least one alternative that would account for the option value (or informational Policy Integrity, Alternatives value of delaying) all new fossil fuel lease sales, extensions, or modifications; and NYU School of Law Jayni Hein Institute for Range of Evaluate at least one alternative that would end or phase-out federal coal leasing; Policy Integrity, Alternatives NYU School of Law
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Warren King Wilderness Range of BLM must identify and analyze mitigation measures that address the downstream impacts of Society Alternatives federal fossil fuels as part of the range of alternatives. Warren King Wilderness Range of BLM should develop a compensatory mitigation framework for addressing unavoidable Society Alternatives climate impacts from the development and combustion of coal, oil and gas. Warren King Wilderness Range of The BLM should look at a transparent and fair method to incorporate these requirements Society Alternatives when significant modifications are sought for existing leases, as well as ensuring new leases include these provisions. Warren King Wilderness Range of BLM should consider compensatory mitigation actions that offset the climate impacts Society Alternatives associated with the emissions attributable to the available coal, oil and gas in question, and that offset the potential carbon emissions themselves. Warren King Wilderness Range of Consequently, we recommend the BLM expand the range of alternatives to include: (1) No Society Alternatives new coal leasing (2) No new oil and gas leasing (3) Phased leasing and/or phased development based on a carbon budget (4) In addition, all alternatives that would permit leasing would include mandatory requirements for state-of-the-art emissions controls. Warren King Wilderness Range of III. BLM must expand its range of alternatives. Society Alternatives Warren King Wilderness Range of LM must consider additional alternatives that are meaningfully different from one another in Society Alternatives the way they manage fossil fuel development. We propose the agency evaluate one or more alternatives that reduce public health, environmental and climate-related impacts while addressing the very real needs to support a transition to greater economic diversity for communities in the region. Warren King Wilderness Range of The agency must analyze alternatives that evaluate foreclosing coal and oil and gas Society Alternatives extraction in additional areas and/or minimize potential climate impacts through other management actions. Warren King Wilderness Range of a. BLM must incorporate mitigation for climate change impacts into the RMP Amendments Society Alternatives and Supplemental EISs, Warren King Wilderness Range of The premise of compensatory mitigation is to address unavoidable harm. In the case of Society Alternatives federal coal, oil and gas, the harm is significant and primarily attributable to end-use combustion. The BLM should make every effort to address this but at least establish a regime capable of addressing the direct emissions that could be avoided or minimized by regulatory action. * BLM must ensure mitigation actions are additional-that is, result in actions that add real, verifiable carbon savings or other benefit-and durable-that is, the conservation benefit lasts for at least a period of time commensurate with the duration of the impact itself. * BLM should specify when mitigation terms apply to existing leases.
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Warren King Wilderness Range of BLM should consider several key design features when evaluating mitigation options in the Society Alternatives alternatives. Notably, these options would be analyzed in the RMP Amendments and then could be applied at the project level. Warren King Wilderness Range of However, in order to address the analysis of environmental consequences that, will be Society Alternatives produced in the Supplemental EISs, BLM should also consider additional management alternatives to reduce climate impacts by decreasing the amount of oil and gas available for leasing. Warren King Wilderness Range of The alternatives must evaluate how trends in energy markets and climate policies may Society Alternatives impact regional development. Warren King Wilderness Range of BLM should attempt to address the full scope of lifecycle emissions through compensatory Society Alternatives mitigation. Warren King Wilderness Range of The alternatives must address the full environmental, public health and climate impacts of Society Alternatives fossil fuel production in the region as well as the benefits of reduced development. Jim Steitz Range of I urge you to terminate all coal leasing in the Resource Management Plans for these field Alternatives offices, as the only alternative compatible with the American Interest In a habitable climate Linda Weiss Western Range of 115 Even if BLM concludes that the agency lacks authority to bar new oil and gas leasing Organization of Alternatives throughout the planning area, it should still consider such an alternative because it is Resource otherwise reasonable. Federal courts hold that agencies have the duty to consider Councils reasonable alternatives that are outside the jurisdiction of the agency or that require a change of law to implement. See 40 C.F.R. § 1502.14(c) (an EIS “shall” “[i]nclude reasonable alternatives not within the jurisdiction of the lead agency”); CEQ, Executive Office of the President, Publication of Memorandum to Agencies Containing Answers to 40 Most Asked Questions on NEPA Regulations, 46 Fed. Reg. 18,026–01 at 18,027 (1981) (“An alternative that is outside the legal jurisdiction of the lead agency must still be analyzed in the EIS if it is reasonable. A potential conflict with local or federal law does not necessarily render an alternative unreasonable”); Muckleshoot Indian Tribe v. U.S. Forest Serv., 177 F.3d 800, 814 (9th Cir. 1999) (setting aside EIS for failure to address alternative requiring Congressional action). Linda Weiss Western Range of BLM Must Consider a No Fossil Fuel Leasing Alternative in Response to Threats Posed by Organization of Alternatives Climate Change. Resource Councils
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Range of BLM Must Consider a No Leasing Alternative When determining whether an EIS analyzed Organization of Alternatives sufficient alternatives to allow BLM to take a hard look at the available options, courts apply Resource the "rule of reason. Councils Linda Weiss Western Range of • Emissions reducing technologies such as reduced emissions completions (RECs), no Organization of Alternatives or low bleed pneumatic controllers, cleaner engines (e.g. electric motors instead of Resource internal combustion engines, EPA Tier 4 engines for nonroad diesel equipment, and Councils trucks that meet 2010 standards), and processes and technologies to reduce emissions from dehydrators and tanks; • Leak detection and repair programs; • Switching to low or no emissions energy sources for on-site power generation; • Reducing the toxicity of hydraulic fracturing fluids; • Silica exposure reduction strategies and use of non-silica proppants wherever possible; • Educating workers about air emissions risks and providing personal protective equipment; • Tank gauging procedures that reduce exposure to volatilized chemicals; • Proper well design, construction, and maintenance to reduce the occurrence of mechanical integrity problems that could lead to leaks; • Surface setbacks to limit exposures to sensitive receptors. Linda Weiss Western Range of BLM must also require the use of all available mitigation measures, including but not limited Organization of Alternatives to: Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Range of Accordingly, BLM must consider, on equal footing, the value of permanent protection and Organization of Alternatives preservation of public lands in the planning area, along with industry pressure to lease and Resource develop public lands for fossil fuel resources. Councils Linda Weiss Western Range of BLM Has the Authority to Consider a No Leasing Alternative Organization of Alternatives Resource Councils
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-87 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Jayni Hein Institute for Renewable Analyze and disclose energy substitution effects, including how leasing fossil fuel resources Policy Integrity, Energy would affect fuel prices, the amount of wind and solar generation available in the NYU School of marketplace, and resulting upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions. Law Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource Carbon by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15 Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of Based on the foregoing, the IWG’s estimates are very likely to underrepresent the true Basin Resource Carbon impacts that greenhouse gas emissions have on society. However, the SCC represents the Council best and most rigorous effort that the U.S. government has engaged in thus far to analyze the social cost of greenhouse gases. As such, BLM should incorporate the SCC into its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). If BLM monetizes the economic benefits of fossil fuel extraction, as it did in its initial EIS, it must then also monetize the costs of carbon pollution. Mont. Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 274 F. Supp. 3d 1074, 1094–99 (D. Mont. 2017).
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of In a 2017 report, the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) recommended improving the Basin Resource Carbon SCC methodology by breaking it down into four separate “modules”: a socio-economic and Council emissions scenario module, a climate change module, an economic damage module, and a discount rate module.35 According to NAS, this modular framework would allow for more transparent updates to each aspect of the analysis to better reflect the best available science and capture the full range of uncertainty in the literature. In the meantime, the NAS has supported the use of the existing social cost of greenhouse gas estimates based on the DICE, FUND, and PAGE models, as used by federal agencies to date.36 As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in 2014, the estimates derived from these models and used by federal agencies are consensus-based, rely on peer- reviewed academic literature, disclose relevant limitations, and are designed to incorporate new information via public comments and updated research.37 In fact, the social cost of greenhouse gas estimates used in federal regulatory proposals and NEPA analyses have been subject to over 80 distinct public comment periods.38 The economics literature confirms that estimates based on these three IAMs remain the best available estimates.39 In 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held the estimates used to date by agencies are reasonable.40 Just recently, the District Court of Montana rejected an agency’s environmental assessment for its failure to incorporate the federal social cost of carbon estimates into its cost-benefit analysis of a proposed mine expansion.41
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Carbon The relevant literature suggests that a central estimate of $40 per ton is a very conservative Council underestimate of the true social cost of carbon. A 2013 meta-analysis of the broader literature found a mean estimate of $59 per ton of carbon dioxide,42 and a soon-to-be- published update by the same author finds a mean estimate of $108 (at a 1% discount rate).43 A 2015 meta-analysis— which sought out estimates besides just those based on DICE, FUND, and PAGE—found a mean estimate of $83 per ton of carbon dioxide.44 Various studies relying on expert elicitation45 from a large body of climate economists and scientists have found mean estimates of $50 per ton of carbon dioxide,46 $96-$144 per ton of carbon dioxide,47 and $80-$100 per ton of carbon dioxide.48 There is a growing consensus in the literature that even the best existing estimates of the social cost of greenhouse gases may severely underestimate the true marginal cost of climate damages.49 Overall, a central estimate of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide at a 3% discount rate, with a high-percentile estimate of about $120 for year 2015 emissions, is consistent with the best available literature; if anything, the best available literature supports considerably higher estimates.50 Similarly, a comparison of international estimates of the social cost of greenhouse gases suggests that a central estimate of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide is a very conservative value. Sweden places the long-term valuation of carbon dioxide at $168 per ton; Germany calculates a “climate cost” of $167 per ton of carbon dioxide in the year 2030; the United Kingdom’s “shadow price of carbon” has a central value of $115 by 2030; Norway’s social cost of carbon is valued at $104 per ton for year 2030 emissions; and various corporations have adopted internal shadow prices as high as $80 per ton of carbon dioxide.51 There are a number of ways in which the IWG’s approach could be improved to more accurately reflect the true social cost of greenhouse gases. For instance, the IWG’s values should reflect risk aversion and account for the additional price that society is willing to pay to avoid uncertainty around increasingly more severe impacts from climate change.52 In addition, as noted Harvard economist Martin Weitzmann has observed, the three IAMs assume a relatively smooth upward slope in economic damages even as global climates increase well past critical tipping points. An improved social cost of greenhouse gases could reflect modified damage functions that better address tipping points.53
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of The SCC methodology relies on three integrated assessment models (IAMs): DICE (the Basin Resource Carbon Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy31), FUND (the Climate Framework Council for Uncertainty, Negotiation, and Distribution32), and PAGE (Policy Analysis of the Greenhouse Effect33). To arrive at its estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases, the SCC methodology combines these models with inputs derived from peer-reviewed literature on climate sensitivity, socio-economic and emissions trajectories, and discount rates.34 Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of In assessing the significance of GHG impacts, one available tool is the social cost of carbon Basin Resource Carbon (“SCC”) protocol, which was “designed to quantify a project’s contribution to costs Council associated with global climate change.” High Country Conservation Advocates, 52 F. Supp. 3d at 1190. Critically, the SCC not only contextualizes costs associated with climate change but can also be used as a proxy for understanding climate impacts and to compare alternatives. The SCC was developed by the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (“IWG”).23 The Interagency Working Group is comprised of multiple federal agencies and White House economic and scientific experts, and the SCC was developed using up-to-date peer- reviewed models. The SCC allows agencies to “incorporate the social benefits of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into cost- benefit analyses of regulatory actions that impact cumulative global emissions.”24 The SCC estimates the benefit to be achieved, expressed in monetary value, by avoiding the damage caused by each additional metric ton (tonne) of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere.25 These costs are created when greenhouse gas emissions force climate change, increasing global temperatures. This leads to sea level rise, increased intensity of storms, drought, and other changes, which have negative economic impacts including property damage from storms and floods, reduced agricultural productivity, impacts on human health, and reduced ecosystem services. The SCC estimates the dollar value of these negative economic impacts and recognizes that every marginal ton of CO2 carries with it a social cost of carbon. The graphic below depicts (a) dramatically increasing damages from global warming over time (expressed as the percent decline in global GDP), as well as (b) the distribution of the social cost of carbon across a range of future economic conditions and discount rates:26
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Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Carbon The SCC is likely an underestimate of costs because it does not include all important Council damages. Nevertheless, the IWG’s social cost metrics remain the best estimates yet produced by the federal government for monetizing the impacts of GHG emissions and are “generally accepted in the scientific community,” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.22(b)(4). Several courts have rejected agency refusals to use the SCC as a means of evaluating the impact of GHG emissions that result from agency action. See, e.g., High Country Conservation Advocates v. U.S. Forest Serv., 52 F. Supp. 3d 1174, 1190–93 (D. Colo. 2014); Mont. Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 274 F. Supp. 3d 1074, 1094–99 (D. Mont. 2017); Sierra Club v. FERC, 867 F.3d 1357, 1375 (D.C. Cir. 2017). The social cost of carbon protocol is a particularly useful tool to assess the significance of impacts in the NEPA context because, by translating impacts into dollars, the SCC allows agencies to “present the environmental impacts of the proposal and the alternatives in comparative form, thus sharply defining the issues and providing a clear basis for choice among options.” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.14. Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of In August 2016, the Interagency Working Group (“IWG”) provided an update to the social Basin Resource Carbon cost of carbon technical support document,54 and, for the first time, adopted a similar Council methodology for evaluating the climate impact of each additional ton of methane and nitrogen oxide emissions.55 BLM should use the social cost of methane in its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). Similar to the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane provides a standard methodology that allows state and federal agencies to quantify the social benefits of reducing methane emissions through actions that have comparatively small impacts on cumulative global emission levels. The social cost of methane is intended to “offer a method for improving the analyses of regulatory actions that are projected to influence [methane or nitrogen oxide] emissions in a manner consistent with how [carbon dioxide] emission changes are valued.”56 Like the social cost of carbon, the social cost of methane is presented as a range of figures across four discount rates; it is based on results from three integrated assessment models; displayed in dollars per metric ton of emissions; and increases over time because emissions become more damaging as their atmospheric concentrations increase.57 The IWG estimated that each additional ton of methane emitted in 2020 will cause between $540 and $3,200 dollars (measured in $2007).58
E-92 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of (Continued from previous line above) Basin Resource Carbon The IWG’s social cost metrics remain the best estimates yet produced by the federal Council government for monetizing the impacts of GHG emissions and are “generally accepted in the scientific community,” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.22(b)(4). This is true notwithstanding Executive Order 13,783, which disbanded the Interagency Working Group and formally withdrew its technical support documents.59 Indeed, that Executive Order did not find fault with any component of the IWG’s analyses. To the contrary, it encourages agencies to “monetiz[e] the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions” and instructs agencies to ensure such estimates are “consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4.”60 The IWG tools, however, illustrate how agencies can appropriately comply with the guidance provided in Circular A-4: OMB participated in the IWG and did not object to the group’s conclusions. As agencies follow the Circular’s standards for using the best available data and methodologies, they will necessarily choose similar data, methodologies, and estimates as the IWG, since the IWG’s work continues to represent the best estimates presently available.61 Thus, the IWG’s 2016 update to the estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases remains the best available and generally accepted tool for assessing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, notwithstanding the fact that this document has formally been withdrawn.62 Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of The SCC is an appropriate tool for use in analyzing and disclosing the significance of impacts Basin Resource Carbon under NEPA notwithstanding Executive Order 13,783, which disbanded the Interagency Council Working Group and formally withdrew its technical support documents.27 Notably, that Executive Order did not find fault with any component of the IWG’s analysis. To the contrary, it encourages agencies to “monetiz[e] the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions” and instructs agencies to ensure such estimates are “consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4.”28 As agencies follow the Circular’s standards for using the best available data and methodologies, they will necessarily choose similar data, methodologies, and estimates as the IWG, since the IWG’s work continues to represent the best estimates presently available.29 Thus, the IWG’s 2016 update to the estimates of the social costs of greenhouse gases remains the best available and generally accepted tool for assessing the significance of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.30 Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of Incorporate the social cost of carbon into its SEIS for the RMPs; Basin Resource Carbon Council
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-93 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Social Cost of The requisite hard look includes analysis of the climate impacts of resulting from Basin Resource Carbon greenhouse gas emissions, such as changes in agricultural productivity, human health, Council ecosystem services, and property. To take the required "hard look," agencies must also tell the reader what quantitative estimates mean in terms of "actual environmental effects. Jayni Hein Institute for Social Cost of Incorporate and apply the Interagency Working Group's social cost of carbon and social Policy Integrity, Carbon cost of methane in order to quantify and monetize relevant climate change effects. These NYU School of peer-reviewed metrics are the best available tools to disclose and compare the climate Law change effects of each alternative Warren King Wilderness Social Cost of iii. The agency must quantify impacts using SCC and SCM. Society Carbon Warren King Wilderness Social Cost of The agency must go beyond simply quantifying potential direct, indirect and end-use Society Carbon emissions and analyze the resulting direct, indirect and cumulative climate impacts. This includes standardizing emissions using GWPs, completing a more robust cumulative impacts analysis, and using the social cost of carbon (SCC) and social cost of methane (SCM) to quantify and compare the benefits of potential emission reductions. Warren King Wilderness Social Cost of Accordingly, BLM should properly apply full SCC and SCM estimates to assess the impact of Society Carbon greenhouse gas emissions from this planning process. Linda Weiss Western Social Cost of As such, BLM should incorporate the SCC into its NEPA analyses to disclose the Organization of Carbon significance of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b). If BLM Resource monetizes the economic benefits of fossil fuel extraction, as it did in its initial EIS, it must Councils then also monetize the costs of carbon pollution. Linda Weiss Western Social Cost of BLM Must Use Available Tools Such as the Social Cost of Carbon and Social Cost of Organization of Carbon Methane Protocols and Carbon Budgeting to Analyze and Disclose the Significance of Resource Emissions Under the Buffalo and Miles City RMPs. Councils Linda Weiss Western Social Cost of BLM should use the social cost of methane in its NEPA analyses to disclose the significance Organization of Carbon of impacts, as required by 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.8(b); 1502.16(a)-(b) Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Social Cost of For the fossil fuel development anticipated in year 2018 under these two RMPs, I calculate Organization of Carbon over $80 billion in damages in that single year. Such annual economic costs dwarf any Resource Councils
E-94 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Linda Weiss Western Social Cost of BLM Should Analyze Whether the Federal Coal Program Provides a Fair Return For Organization of Carbon American Taxpayers Resource Councils Linda Weiss Western Social Cost of Thus, not only must BLM include quantitative estimates of the total GHG emissions Organization of Carbon resulting from its decisions - it must also include an assessment of the ecological, economic, Resource and social impacts of those emissions, including an assessment of their significance Councils Mathew Mead State of T&E/SSS Finally, the SEIS should take into account the potential impact from changing resource Wyoming allocations on Greater sage-grouse management in Wyoming. The 2015 approved RMP's suitability criteria analysis recognized that sage-grouse core populations and connectivity corridors contain important habitats for maintaining sage-grouse. The BLM's SEIS suitability analysis for coal should align with the State of Wyoming's strategy for conserving sage- grouse contained in my Executive Order 201 5-4, as supplemented by Executive Order 201 7-2, and the State of Wyoming's Revised Greater Sage-Grouse-Compensatory Mitigation Framework. Matthew Mead State of T&E/SSS the SEIS should take into account the potential impact from changing resource allocations Wyoming on Greater sage-grouse management in Wyoming. Shannon Anderson Powder River Water According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource Resources by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15
March 2019 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA E-95 Scoping Report Appendix E. Substantive Public Scoping Comments
Organization Comment First Name Last Name Comment Text Name Code Shannon Anderson Powder River Water In the case of these RMPs, significant new information or circumstances includes any Basin Resource Resources changed market conditions for oil and gas and coal extraction, changed ground and surface Council water availability and quality conditions, changed regulatory requirements for oil and gas or coal extraction (for instance, rollback of federal rules and regulations), and changed population or conservation restrictions for wildlife (for instance, sage-grouse and mule deer). As described in detail below, it also includes new information on climate change and the need to dramatically and rapidly reduce the use of fossil fuels for energy production. Shannon Anderson Powder River Wildland Fire According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in October 2018, prepared Basin Resource Management by the U.S. Global Change Research Program8, climate change exacerbates existing Council vulnerabilities across the United States, such as aging infrastructure, stressed ecosystems, and economic inequality.9 Climate change is intensifying droughts, increasing heavy downpours, reducing snowpack, and causing declines in surface water quality across the United States.10 Climate change is expected to increase exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, affecting food and water safety.11 Meanwhile, rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States.12 Climate change has already had observable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems and is projected to have transformative impacts on some ecosystems, including coral reef and sea ice ecosystems.13 Climate-related impacts on one system, such as water resources, food production, public health, or national security, can result in increased risks or failures in others.14 Particularly in the Northern Great Plains, climate change will impact water supplies, agriculture management, recreation and tourism, and indigenous communities.15
E-96 Buffalo Field Office Supplemental EIS and RMPA March 2019 Scoping Report
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