UPDATES
- All federal leasing for oil shale development in Utah and Colorado have expired or have been relinquished.
- Activities for tar sand development in Utah have ceased.
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60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue from NGOs (Issued May 23, 2013)
RECORD OF DECISION (Issued March 22, 2013)
DRAFT REGULATIONS
PROTESTS filed on December 10, 2012
WEBSITES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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RELEASE OF THE FINAL PEIS in November of 2012
Click here to read the BLM Press Release
Click here to visit the BLM's web page on the documents of the Final PEIS.
Click here to proceed directly to the documents.
Click here to submit comments on the Final PEIS
Be advised that two research and development leases for oil shale on federal lands in Colorado are now under review as a Final Environmental Assessment . Click here to visit the appropriate BLM web page.
Protest Information:
Publishing the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register of the Final PEIS initiates a 30-day protest period for the proposed plan amendment decisions. The period closes on December 10, 2012. Publication of the Notice of Availability also begins a 60-day period for Governors Consistency review which closes on January 9, 2013.
Click here for more information on the requirements for filing a valid protest.
All protests, including the follow-up letter to emails or faxes, must be in writing and mailed to one of the following addresses:
Regular Mail
Director (210)
Attn: Brenda Hudgens-Williams P.O. Box 71383
Washington, D.C. 20024-1383
Overnight Mail
Director (210)
Attn: Brenda Hudgens-Williams 20 M Street SE, Room 2134LM Washington, D.C. 20003
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THE RECORDS BELOW ARE RELATED TO THE ANALYSIS OF THE DRAFT PEIS AND THE INITIATION OF THE PUBLIC SCOPING PERIOD
Letter: Comments by Living Rivers et al
Letter: Comments by Western Resource Advocates et al
Letter: Comments by Outdoor Alliance
WEBSITES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comments are due on May 4, 2012
Send letters to:
Draft OSTS PEIS
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Ave.
EVS/240
Argonne, IL 60439
Contacts: For further information about this PEIS, you may contact Sherri Thompson, Project Manager, BLM Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215-7093; (303) 239-3758.
Visit the online comment submission template
BLM Press Release
Oil Shale and Tar Sands Website (BLM & Argonne National Lab)
How to get involved
EcoWatch
The public meetings for the DEIS on oil shale is as follows:
Monday, March 12, 2012
BLM Colorado River Valley Office
2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, Colorado
7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Westin Plaza Hotel
1684 West Highway 40, Vernal, Utah
7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Grand America Hotel
555 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah
7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
BLM Rock Springs Field Office
280 Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming
7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
These will be "open house" meetings with tables and displays set-up and the BLM on hand to answer questions. Folks can submit written comments at these hearings.
THE DETAILS
There are approximately 2.3 million acres of BLM-administered lands within this area that are the subject of this programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS).
Alternative 1
No Action Alternative, would not amend land use plans. The lands available for lease under the 2008 land use plan amendment decisions would remain available for future leasing consideration.
Alternative 2(a)
Would exclude certain lands from leasing and would amend 10 land use plans in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to make approximately 461,965 acres available for future consideration for commercial oil shale leasing and 91,045 acres available for application for commercial tar sands leasing.
Alternative 2b (preferrred alternative)
The Preferred Alternative would make approximately 461,965 acres available for future consideration for commercial oil shale leasing and 91,045 acres available for application for commercial tar sands leasing, but only for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) leases.
Alternative 3
Would amend 10 land use plans in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to limit public lands available for commercial leasing to the those lands encompassed by existing oil shale RD&D leases and their associated preference right lease acreage, plus the areas encompassed by the three RD&D lease applications currently under review. Under this alternative, 32,640 acres would be open for potential future leasing of oil shale. For the tar sands resources under Alternative 3, the lands identified as available for application for commercial leasing would be limited to those lands in the Vernal, Utah, planning area, for which there is a pending tar sands lease application (approximately. 2,100 acres).
Alternative 4(a)
Would exclude certain lands from commercial oil shale or tar sands leasing, similar to Alternative 2 and would amend 10 land use plans in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to designate acreage less than 2,017,714 acres as available for future consideration for leasing for commercial oil shale leasing and less than 430,686 acres as available for application for commercial tar sands leasing.
Alternative 4(b)
would open the same acreage as those lands opened in Alternative 4(a) but only for RD&D leases. The BLMwould issue a commercial lease only when a lessee satisfies the conditions of its RD&D lease and the regulations at 43 CFR Subpart 3926 for conversion to a commercial lease. The preference right acreage, if any, which would be included in the converted lease, would be specified in the RD&D lease.
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