The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is preparing a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) for the Ruby Pipeline Project. The Draft SEIS is in response to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision that found the Ruby Pipeline Final Environmental Impact Statement did not provide sufficient quantified or detailed data about the cumulative loss of sagebrush steppe vegetation and habitat. The pipeline has been constructed and is currently operational. It includes an approximately 678 mile, 42-inch interstate natural gas pipeline that crosses 368 miles of Federal land beginning near Opal, Wyoming, extends through northern Utah and northern Nevada, and terminates near Malin, Oregon.
The Draft SEIS will include supplemental information about the original and present condition of the sagebrush steppe habitat and analyze the cumulative impacts of the project based on the supplemental information. The Draft SEIS also will serve as the foundation for the BLM’s decision on whether to reissue the right-of-way for the project and, if so, to determine what terms and conditions it would require.
A 45-day public comment period will be available when the Draft SEIS is issued. For further information and/or to have your name added to the mailing list, contact Mark Mackiewicz, Project Manager at (435) 636-3616, Bureau of Land Management Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price Utah 84501; email [email protected]. Additional information about the project can be found at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/
