The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comments on the proposal to offer 156 parcels at its March 26, 2019, quarterly oil and gas lease sale, most of which were removed from an upcoming December sale to comply with a judge’s order.
The oil and gas lease sale proposal includes a total of nearly 217,519 acres in lands managed by the Canyon Country, Green River and West Desert Districts of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM said in a recent press release that of the 156 parcels,116 parcels were pulled from the BLM’s December 2018 quarterly sale to comply a preliminary injunction ordered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
The preliminary injunction was the result of the court case W. Watersheds Project v. BLM, which required lengthier comment periods on environmental compliance documents associated with parcels that intersect “Priority or General Habitat Management Areas for Greater Sage-Grouse.”
The public comment period on associated environmental documents related to the 2019 sale began on Nov. 15 and will close on Dec. 17.
The BLM will hold the lease sale online at www.energynet.com, the agency said.
An additional environmental review will take place whenever an “Application for Permit to Drill” (APD) is being processed, the BLM said. These are site-specific “Conditions of Approval” and will be placed on the permit in addition to the stipulations attached to the lease, the BLM said. Comments on the environmental assessment (EA) and Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) must be submitted in writing to the BLM Utah State Office, 440 W. 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84101, or faxed to Sheri Wysong at 801-539-4237.
Links to the environmental documents, such as lists and maps of the parcels and attached stipulations, may be viewed online at go.usa.gov/xPfnq.
Idaho judge orders injunction on parcels in BLM’s December sale
