Document Type

Report

Publication Date

3-2006

Abstract

Section 369(d)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58 (H.R. 6), enacted August 8, 2005, directs the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for a commercial leasing program for oil shale and tar sands (OSTS) resources on public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming (see Figure 1). Through the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources Leasing PEIS, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will evaluate decisions regarding which public lands will be open for leasing in the three-state area and under what constraints. The PEIS will analyze and document the environmental, social, and economic issues associated with alternative approaches for leasing OSTS resources. The PEIS also will amend BLM Resource Management Plans (RMPs) in each of the three states. A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources Leasing PEIS was published in the Federal Register on December 13, 2005. This NOI identified planning criteria, initiated the public “scoping” process, and invited interested members of the public to provide comments on the scope and objectives of the PEIS, including identification of issues and alternatives that should be considered in the PEIS analyses. The BLM conducted scoping for the PEIS from December 13, 2005, through January 31, 2006. This report is intended to assist the BLM in developing the scope of the analyses to be considered in preparing the PEIS. It presents a summary of the comments that were received during the scoping period for consideration in preparing the PEIS. Specific comments and their context are not presented here; only the relevant issues raised in those comments as they apply to preparation of the PEIS are presented. All comments, regardless of how they were submitted, will receive equal consideration in the development and conduct of the PEIS.

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