Coal Bed Methane

CBM Environmental Impact Statement (E.I.S)

Lead Agencies
Montana Department of Environmental Quality
Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (Miles City Field Office)
Calendar of Events (meetings, hearings)
Public hearings on the CBM draft E.I.S
January 2001 Scoping Meetings, announcement and handout, "Coal Bed Methane...Its Future? Its Impacts"(describes E.I.S planning process and tentative E.I.S schedule).
CBM Coordination Group Meeting Agendas and Minutes
 
Agenda, October 30, 2001
Agenda, May 9, 2001
Contractor
The contractor for the CBM E.I.S is Arthur Langhus Layne (A.L.L) of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  To supplement A.L.L's capabilities on this project, they have added CH2M Hill to the project team.  A.L.L is responsible for writing the draft E.I.S for the State of Montana and the BLM.
Newsletter
Oil and Gas E.I.S Newsletter, May 2001
Planning Materials
Letter from Governor Judy Martz to Montana D.E.Q, Montana DNRC, and Board of Oil and Gas Conservation to include the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation as a lead agency with Montana D.E.Q on the CBM E.I.S, 2/5/01.
Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Montana and the Bureau of Land Management Concerning Preparing an E.I.S for Oil and Gas Development, 12/21/2000.
Draft Planning Criteria for the Oil and Gas E.I.S and Amendment of the Billings and Powder River Resource Management Plans, Miles City, Montana, 12/13/2000.
Press Releases
04/30/03  Montana BLM releases Record of Decision on final EIS that addresses CBM development in Montana
01/10/03   Montana final EIS on potential CBM development
03/22/02   Montana Draft Oil and Gas EIS Public Hearing
02/19/02   BLM and Montana D.E.Q, announce the availability of the Draft Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement that addresses potential CBM development in Montana.  The press release also announces five public hearings on the Draft E.I.S to be held in April 2002.
04/25/01   BLM, Miles City Office announces third meeting of the CBM Coordination Groupclick here for meeting agenda
01/08/01   Comment Period Extended for Oil and Gas E.I.S
12/14/00   BLM and Montana D.E.Q Start Planning For Proposed Coal Bed Methane Development
Comments
EPA's Review of the Montana Statewide Draft Oil and Gas E.I.S and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans, May 15, 2002
EPA's detailed comments for the Montana Draft Oil and Gas E.I.S Powder River Basin.
comments in PDF (document size 1.25 mb), HTML (document size 517 kb)
Summary of Scoping Process, Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
Final Public Comment Summary and Recommendations, Montana Statewide Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans, prepared for U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Miles City Field Office, February 20, 2001 PDF document size 119 KB) Public Comment Summary Table PDF document size 277 KB).
Letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8,to the Montana D.E.Q and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that accompanied EPA's scoping comments (see below) for the Oil and Gas Resource Management Plan Amendment and Montana Statewide Environmental Impact Statement, February 1, 2001.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, scoping comments for the Oil and Gas Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and the Statewide E.I.S, February 1, 2001.
Public Documents/Technical Reports - Several of these reports are large pdf files and take a minute to load
Air Quality Modeling Report and Appendix A
Air Quality Modeling Report Figures in Color
Air Quality Modeling Report Appendices B through F
Crow Tribe Narrative Report
Northern Cheyenne Tribe Narrative Report
Northern Cheyenne Letter of 8-13-02
Water Modeling Report, 2D
Water Modeling Report, 3D
Surface Water Quality Analysis Technical Report
Final Soils Technical Report Complete Report), Montana Statewide Oil and Gas E.I.S and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans, prepared by A.L.L Consulting (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and subcontractor CH2M Hill (Boise, Idaho) for the U.S.D.I, BLM, Miles City Field Office, June 2001.
Report by chapters:
Contents - Acronyms
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - CBM Water, Soils, Crop Characterization
Chapter 3 - Potential Impacts of CBM Water Use
Chapter 4 - Impact Analysis
Chapter 5 - Findings
Chapter 6 - References
Appendix A - Exhibits
Appendix B - Selected AG Notes From MSU Extension Service
Final Water Resources Technical Report (Complete Report), Montana Statewide Oil and Gas E.I.S and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans, prepared by A.L.L Consulting (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and subcontractor CH2M Hill (Boise, Idaho) for the U.S.D.I, BLM, Miles City Field Office, June 2001.
Report by chapters:
Contents  Exhibits, Appendicies, Acronyms
Chapter 1 - Background
Chapter 2 - Coal Bed Methane Operational Summary
Chapter 3 - Geology and Hydrology (PDF 17 KB - slow loading)
Chapter 4 - Water Use and Quality
Chapter 5 - Water Resources Impact Issues
Chapter 6 - Mitigation of Impacts to Water Resources
Chapter 7 - Conclusions
Chapter 8 - References
Oil and Gas Resource Management Plan/E.I.S Amendment
BLM is currently amending this document to include coal bed methane.
Public Notices
01/03/01   Federal Register Extension of Scoping Period, Montana. The BLM issued a Notice of Intent to Plan in a December 19, 2000 Federal Register notice.  This notice is to inform the public that the scoping period has been extended to January 31, 2001.
12/19/00   Federal Register Notice of Intent to Amend the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans (RMPs) and Conduct Scoping Meetings, Montana
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Statewide Draft Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement and Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans, January 2002, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Miles City Field Office and State of Montana, Board of Oil and Gas Conservation and Department of Environmental Quality (PDF document size 30,307 kb).
Questions and Answers regarding the Bureau of Land Management Environmental Impact Statements in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, prepared by the Bureau of Land Management, Council on Environmental Quality, and Environmental Protection Agency, March 14, 2002.
Final Environmental Impact Statement
Final Statewide Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Amendment of the Powder River and Billings Resource Management Plans, January 2003, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
Records of Decision
Record of Decision, Montana DEQ, August 7, 2003
Record of Decision, Montana Board of Oil & Gas, March 26, 2003
Record of Decision, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, April 30, 2003