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Written by Publisher
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Saturday, 31 October 2009 |
Public meeting to focus on oil, gas drilling.
By Ted Lutz
Staff Writer
A public meeting is set in Kane on preliminary alternatives for a key environmental document for oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF).
The U.S. Forest Service will conduct the forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18 at the Kane Area Community Center at 46 Fraley St.
The preliminary alternatives are related to the Transition Environmental Impact Statement (TEIS) that will guide new drilling for oil and gas in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF).
The TEIS is scheduled to be issued by Jan. 15 followed by a 45-day period to receive public comments. A final decision on the TEIS is due by April 15, 2010.
Until the TEIS is finalized, new plans for drilling in the forest are on hold. Appeals could extend the freeze on new drilling projects until July 2010 or later, it has been pointed out.
The preparation of the TEIS is part of a settlement reached in April for a lawsuit against the Forest Service for allegedly side-stepping the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by permitting drilling in the forest.
Because of that pending lawsuit, there was an unofficial moratorium on the issuance of “notices to proceed” to area companies to drill for oil and gas in the forest.
More than 90 percent of the mineral rights in the 513,000-acre ANF is privately owned or leased.
Even though companies have met requirements and received drilling permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), they apparently won’t receive “notices to proceed” from the Forest Service until the TEIS is completed and put in place. Under the TEIS, drilling projects apparently will need to meet the criteria, which will include the “appropriate level of environmental analysis” under NEPA.
The TEIS is the second environmental study now under way for drilling in the ANF. The Forest Service also is preparing a “supplemental” EIS to augment the latest “forest plan” finalized in 2007. A final “supplemental” EIS is due Dec. 11.
A second public meeting on preliminary alternatives for the TEIS will be held Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Warren.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 09 November 2009 )
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