United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management
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United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Environmental Assessment-DOI-BLM-MT-C030-2013-068-EA July 16, 2013 North Dakota Field Office Oil and Gas Leasing EA for July 2013 Location: North Dakota Field Office Location: North Dakota Field Office (see attached Appendix A for list of lease parcels by number and legal description and Map 1.1.1) U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management North Dakota Field Office 99 23rd Ave W, Suite A Dickinson, ND 58601 Phone: (701) 227-7700 Fax: (701) 227-7701 United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT North Dakota Field Office 99 23rd Avenue West – Suite A Dickinson, North Dakota 58601-2619 In Reply Refer To: www.blm.gov/mt 1600/3100 (MTC030) April 17, 2013 Dear Reader: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) North Dakota Field Office has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the potential effects from offering 36 nominated lease parcels for competitive oil and gas leasing in a sale tentatively scheduled to occur on July 16, 2013. The EA with an unsigned Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is available for a 30-day public comment period. Written comments must be postmarked by March 12, 2013 to be considered. Comments may be submitted using one of the following methods: Email: [email protected] Mail: North Dakota Field Office Attn: Shelly Gerhart 99 23rd Avenue West, Suite A Dickinson, ND 58601-2619 Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – will be available for public review. If you wish to withhold personal identifying information from public review or disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), you must clearly state, in the first line of your written comment, “CONFIDENTIALITY REQUESTED.” While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All submissions from organizations, from businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives of organizations or businesses, will be available for public review. Upon review and consideration of public comments, the EA will be updated as needed. Based on our analysis, parcels recommended for leasing in our assessment would be included as part of a competitive oil and gas lease sale tentatively scheduled to occur on July 16, 2013. Prior to issuance of any leases, the Decision Record and FONSI will be finalized and posted for public review on our BLM website. Please refer to the Montana/Dakotas BLM website at www.blm.gov/mt. From this home page, go to the heading titled “Frequently Requested,” where you will find a number of links to information about our oil and gas program. Current and updated information about our environmental assessments can be found on the link titled “Oil & Gas Info / Sales” listed under the heading “Frequently Requested”. Next, click on the link titled “Oil and Gas Leasing”. Then click on the link titled “Oil and gas lease sale information”. Once there, click on “2013”, where you will find the NDFO EA for the July 16, 2013 lease sale for your review. If you have any questions or would like more information about lease sale notices or the issuance of the EA, Decision Record and FONSI, please contact me at 701-227-7700. Sincerely, Richard A. Rymerson Field Manager North Dakota Field Office Oil and Gas Leasing EA for July 2013 DOI-BLM-MT-C030-2013-068-EA CONTENTS Page 1.0 PURPOSE and NEED ...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................1 1.2 Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action ..................................................................3 1.3 Conformance with BLM Land Use Plan(s) ..................................................................3 1.4 Public Scoping and Identification of Issues ..................................................................4 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVES, INCLUDING PROPOSED ACTION ......................5 2.1 Alternative A – No Action ...........................................................................................5 2.2 Alternative B- Proposed Action ...................................................................................5 3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................7 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................7 3.2 Air Resources ...............................................................................................................8 3.3 Soil Resources .............................................................................................................14 3.4 Water Resources .........................................................................................................15 3.5 Vegetation Resources..................................................................................................17 3.6 Special Status Species .................................................................................................19 3.7 Fish and Wildlife.........................................................................................................25 3.8 Cultural Resources ......................................................................................................27 3.9 Native American Religious Concerns………………..……………………………..30 3.10 Paleontology .............................................................................................................30 3.11 Lands and Realty.......................................................................................................31 3.12 Minerals ....................................................................................................................32 3.13 Visual Resources…………………………………………………………………...34 3.14 Recreation and Travel Management.………………………………………………35 3.15 Economic Conditions………………………………………………………………35 3.16 Social and Environmental Justice .............................................................................40 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ...........................................................................................42 4.1 Assumptions and Reasonably Foreseeable Development Scenario Summary ...........42 4.2 Air Resources ..............................................................................................................48 4.3 Soil Resources .............................................................................................................54 4.4 Water Resources .........................................................................................................55 4.5 Vegetation Resources .................................................................................................57 4.6 Special Status Species ................................................................................................58 4.7 Fish and Wildlife ........................................................................................................62 4.8 Cultural Resources ......................................................................................................63 4.9 Native American Religious Concerns………………………..…………………..…64 4.10 Paleontology .............................................................................................................65 4.11 Lands and Realty.......................................................................................................66 4.12 Minerals.…………………………………………………………..………………………66 4.13 Visual Resources……………………………………………………….……………...…67 4.14 Recreation and Travel Management.………………………………...…………………67 4.15 Economic Conditions………………………………………………………………68 4.16 Social and Environmental Justice .............................................................................70 4.17 Cumulative Impacts ..................................................................................................71 5.0 CONSULTATION & COORDINATION ..............................................................................76 5.1 Persons, Groups, & Agencies Consulted ....................................................................76 5.2 Summary of Public Participation ................................................................................76 5.3 List of Preparers ..........................................................................................................77 6.0 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................78 FIGURES 3.2.1.1 Trends in haze index (deciview) on haziest and clearest days, 2000-2004 to 2005-2009 TABLES 3.2.1. USEPA Air Quality Index Report (North Dakota); USEPA,( 2009-2011) 3.2.2. Monitored Concentrations Representative of the Study Area 3.5.2.1. Noxious weeds in North Dakota 3.6.1 Aquatic sensitive or specials status wildlife species in the analysis area 3.6.2 List of sensitive bird species found in North Dakota 3.12.1 Existing Development Activity 3.12.2 Oil and Gas Leasing and Existing Development within Townships Containing Lease Parcels 3.12.3 Oil and Gas Leasing and Existing Development Abbreviations Key 3.15.6 Current Contributions