[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7475-7477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4018]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION
Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: United States Section, International Boundary and Water
Commission, United States and Mexico.
ACTION: Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Based on a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA)
prepared by TransTexas Gas Corporation (TransTexas), Houston, Texas, to
address the potential adverse environmental impacts of oil and natural
gas development within the Falcon Dam and Reservoir Project, Starr and
Zapata counties, Texas; the United States Section, international
Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico (USIBWC), finds
that the proposed action to grant exceptions to the USIBWC policy of
prohibiting development within the reservoir is not a major federal
action that would have a significant adverse effect on the quality of
the human environment. Therefore, pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; the Council on Environmental
Quality Final Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 1508); and the
USIBWC's Operational Procedures for Implementing Section 102 of NEPA,
published in the Federal Register September 2, 1981 (46FR 44083-44094);
the USIBWC hereby
[[Page 7476]]
gives notice that an environmental impact statement will not be
prepared for the proposed action.
ADDRESSES: Mr. Yusuf E. Farran, Division Engineer, Environmental
Management Division, United States Section, International Boundary and
Water Commission, United States and Mexico, 4171 North Mesa Street, C-
310, El Paso, Texas 79902-1441. Telephone: 915/534-6704.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In January, 1996, TransTexas Gas Corporation
(TransTexas) requested the United States Section, International
Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico (USIBWC), to
grant them permission to install a drill pad site above the 307-foot
mean sea level elevation on an island located within USIBWC real
property below the 307-foot elevation traverse (the United States
property line also called the ``307-foot traverse'') within the
international Falcon Reservoir for the purpose of drilling eight
natural gas wells. The construction of the drill pad on an island
within the reservoir is desirable, due mainly to technical constraints
associated with current directional drilling, to enable the full
development of private and public gas reserves in the western portion
of TransTexas' lease area. The gas lease area is situated entirely
under Falcon Reservoir with very limited land available to reach the
required bottom hole locations.
The USIBWC began coordination with the United States Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), the federal authorizing agency which would approve an
application by TransTexas for a permit to drill for federal reserves
within the reservoir. BLM indicated it would not approve the
application for permit to drill until the USIBWC determined whether it
would waive the stipulation that prohibits oil and natural gas
development at the site below the 307-foot traverse. Both agencies
agreed that due to a lack of both funding resources and human resources
for an agency produced document and an immediate need by TransTexas to
gain access to private and public reserves within the reservoir, a
third party environmental analysis would be acceptable for
determination of the significance of the impacts of the federal action
of the USIBWC granting exceptions to its policy of prohibiting any
mineral exploration or development within its property at Falcon
Reservoir. The USIBWC approved a scope of work submitted by TransTexas
and requested it to develop, to the satisfaction of the USIBWC, a
programmatic environmental assessment that addresses the USIBWC's
granting exceptions to its policy of prohibiting any mineral
exploration or development upon USIBWC real property within Falcon
Reservoir.
Proposed Action
The action proposed is for the USIBWC to grant exceptions on a
case-by-case basis to its policy of prohibiting oil and gas development
upon USIBWC real property under Falcon Reservoir. Stipulation Number 1
is found in the special stipulations attached to and made a part of all
BLM oil and gas leases for the Falcon Dam and Reservoir Project, and it
reads as follows:
The lessee understands and agrees that a negative easement is
imposed in and upon said land to prohibit the drilling or deepening
of any well for the purpose of producing oil and/or gas and other
minerals provided, however, that exploration and development of oil
and/or gas and other minerals under said land will be permitted by
directional drilling from locations off the said land and above the
307-foot elevation traverse.
The proposed action would alter USIBWC policy so that limited
exceptions may be granted in appropriate cases, allowing some oil and
gas exploration and development on USIBWC real property located below
the 307-foot traverse property line at Falcon Reservoir but above the
307-foot mean sea level elevation.
Alternatives Considered
Two alternatives were considered in the Draft Programmatic
Environmental Assessment (PEA):
The Proposed Action Alternative is for the USIBWC to grant
exceptions to its policy of prohibiting oil and natural gas development
upon USIBWC real property under Falcon Reservoir on a case-by-case
basis. If the USIBWC makes the determination to allow exceptions to
this prohibition, BLM could then approve applications for permits to
drill for oil and gas reserves located within the reservoir. Separate
environmental assessments would then be prepared by project proponents
tiered from this PEA to address the specific impacts of drilling for
oil and natural gas at specific locations within the reservoir, and the
USIBWC would consider issuing land use permits to ensure that such
works do not interfere with the operation and maintenance of the Falcon
Dam and Reservoir Project. A site specific environmental assessment
prepared by TransTexas that addresses the impacts of natural gas
development upon USIBWC real property under Falcon Reservoir is
concurrently being processed under separate notice in the Federal
Register. Although the site specific document is prepared and processed
simultaneously with this Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment
for potential oil and natural gas development on USIBWC real property
located below the 307-foot traverse property line at Falcon Reservoir,
no final action will be taken on the site specific document until the
PEA is complete and final action is declared on it.
The No Action Alternative is for the USIBWC to not grant any
exceptions to its policy of prohibiting oil and natural gas development
upon USIBWC real property under Falcon Reservoir. BLM would only be
able to approve applications for permits to drill from sites above the
307-foot traverse property line; hence outside the reservoir. Project
proponents would need to consider use of alternative means to recover
private and public natural gas reserves within the reservoir. Since no
oil and natural gas development would be done within the Falcon
Reservoir, the USIBWC would not issue land use permits to project
proponents. The no action alternative would result in no development
below the 307-foot traverse for private and public reserves in the
reservoir; avoidance of any potential impacts associated with the
proposed action; the loss of tax and royalty revenues to the local,
state and federal governments; the loss of royalty revenues to mineral
owners; and the loss of an otherwise recoverable clean energy source.
Programmatic Environmental Assessment
The USIBWC has coordinated with BLM, the agency responsible for
permitting federal reserves within the reservoir, and TransTexas in the
development of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA).
The PEA describes the historical and existing development of oil and
natural gas in the general vicinity (but above the 307-foot traverse
property line) of the reservoir area and the planned oil and natural
gas activities within or adjacent to potential drill sites on the
United States side of the international reservoir in the reasonably
foreseeable future. It analyzes the general impacts expected from such
development in the foreseeable future and the cumulative environmental
impacts of oil and natural gas development within Falcon Reservoir. The
Draft PEA discusses mitigation measures to minimize degradation of
environmental resources within and adjacent to the reservoir.
[[Page 7477]]
The PEA is envisioned to serve as a baseline environmental document
from which other drilling proponents and permit applicants will be able
to tier site specific environmental assessments for similar activities
within the reservoir area. The USIBWC reviewed and approved the
completed Draft PEA from TransTexas for proposed oil and gas
development within the reservoir, and it is currently available for
review and comment.
Finding of the Programmatic Environmental Assessment
The PEA finds that the proposed action for the USIBWC to grant
exceptions to its policy of prohibiting oil and natural gas development
upon USIBWC real property below the 307-foot traverse property line at
Falcon Reservoir but above the 307-foot mean sea level elevation does
not constitute a major federal action which would cause a significant
local, regional, or national adverse impact on the environment based on
the following facts:
1. Construction, drilling and production activities at potential
well pad sites will have no significant adverse impacts on air quality.
Standard construction practices to control fugitive dust would be
utilized.
2. The slight impacts from construction, drilling and production
activities associated with noise at potential well pad sites are fully
mitigable through vegetative buffer zones, equipment noise suppressors,
and avoidance of critical wildlife use periods.
3. Negligible impacts to geologic and water resources are mitigable
through the use of erosion and sediment control measures and devices,
secondary containment measures, best management practices during all
phases of site development, and use of site specific spill prevention
control and countermeasure plans.
4. Biological resources will be protected from impacts by total
avoidance of clearing within heavy brush corridors, animal exclusion
fences around drill pad locations, site specific surveys for threatened
and endangered plants and animals, and monitoring plans coordinated by
the appropriate federal and state conservation agencies.
5. Impacts to cultural resources can be mitigated through avoidance
of sites determined to be eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places and if avoidance is not viable, implementation of a
Memorandum of Agreement for mitigating impacts will be necessary prior
to BLM approval of applications for permits to drill, USIBWC issuance
of land use permits, and any development at potential drill sites.
6. Negligible impacts associated with land use and transportation
will not require additional mitigation.
7. Negligible impacts associated with visual resources are
mitigable through properly placed night lighting, unobtrusive painting
of facilities, and alignment of access road and utility corridors for
limited views of individual project facilities.
On the basis of the TransTexas Draft PEA, the USIBWC has determined
that an environmental impact statement is not required for the USIBWC
to grant exceptions to its policy of prohibiting oil and natural gas
development upon USIBWC real property under Falcon Reservoir and hereby
provides notice of a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). An
environmental impact statement will not be prepared unless additional
information which may affect this decision is brought to our attention
within thirty (30) days of the date of this Notice. Copies of the Draft
PEA are available for public review at the USIBWC Falcon Dam Field
Office, Falcon Road, Falcon Heights, Texas 78545, and have been
distributed to Federal, State, and local agencies and organizations
that have been consulted and coordinated within the preparation of the
PEA. A limited number of copies are available to fill single copy
requests at the above address.
Dated: February 10, 1997.
Randall A. McMains,
Attorney.
[FR Doc. 97-4018 Filed 2-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-03-M
