The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Northeastern States District (NSD) is seeking public comments on a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) of potential oil and gas leasing in the Wayne National Forest located in southeastern Ohio. The EA analyzes the environmental impacts of leasing oil and gas resources on an estimated 40,000 subsurface acres underlying land in the Athens Ranger District, Marietta Unit. Of the 40,000 acres being studied, about 18,000 acres are being considered for lease at this time. The EA also proposes measures that would mitigate potential impacts.
The BLM is conducting the EA on the entire Marietta Unit in its continuing efforts to increase efficiency and facilitate a smoother leasing process instead of conducting the analysis on a lease-by-lease basis. Only nominated parcels that have been reviewed by the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service for lease may be offered by the BLM at a competitive oil and gas lease sale in the future.
The EA and other associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents are available online at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/nepa/nepa_register.do. Search under NEPA project number: DOI-BLM-Eastern States-0030-2016-0002-EA.
These documents will be available for a 30-day public review and comment period, until May 29, 2016. Comments that identify issues relevant to the proposed action, or those that contain new technical or scientific information are most helpful, but all comments are considered in this decision-making process. They may be submitted by one of the following methods:
Fax Number: (414) 297-4409, Kurt Wadzinski
U.S. Postal Service:
BLM Northeastern States District Attn: Kurt Wadzinski Planning & Environmental Coordinator
626 E. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 200 Milwaukee, WI 53202-4617
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, 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 from public review your personal identifying information, 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.
Following the conclusion of the public comment period for the EA, the BLM analyzes and incorporates (where appropriate) all substantive comments received during the public comment period and makes changes to the document, if necessary.
For additional information regarding BLM Eastern States oil and gas lease sales, please visit the website at http://www.blm.gov/es/st/en/prog/minerals.html.
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message. You will receive a reply during normal business hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDST.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
