Record of Decision and Final SEIS for Ruby Pipeline Released

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Final SEIS) for the Ruby Pipeline Project with the publication of a notice in the Federal Register on November 21.

The ROD documents BLM’s intention to reissue the right-of-way granted to Ruby Pipeline, LLC. The decision is based on the analysis contained in the Final EIS, the Draft SEIS, and Final SEIS for the Ruby Pipeline Project. It also relies on the revision to the June 8, 2010 Biological Opinion for the Ruby Pipeline Project (Revised BiOp) prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The ROD and Final SEIS have been prepared in response to an October, 2012 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Decision. 

The BLM issued a Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Ruby Pipeline Project on July 5, 2013. The release of the Draft SEIS initiated a formal 45-day public comment period that ended on August 19, 2013. 

The BLM received 31submissions from the public, agencies, tribes, organizations, and businesses during the comment period.  Comments on the Draft SEIS received from the public and resulting from internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as appropriate into the Final EIS. Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not significantly change the analysis or the proposed decisions.

The pipeline has been constructed and is currently operational. It includes an approximately 678-mile long, 42-inch diameter 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 ROD and Final SEIS may be viewed at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/nepa/ruby_pipeline_project.html

Copies of the ROD and Final SEIS are also available for review at the following locations:

•          BLM Kemmerer Field Office, 312 Highway 189 North, Kemmerer, Wyoming;
•          BLM Salt Lake Field Office, 2370 South 2300 West, Salt Lake City, Utah;
•          BLM Elko District Office, 3900 East Idaho Street, Elko, Nevada;
•          BLM Winnemucca District Office, 5100 East Winnemucca Boulevard, Winnemucca, Nevada;
•          BLM Lakeview District Office, 1301 South G Street., Lakeview, Oregon;
•          BLM Klamath Falls Resource Area Office, 2795 South Anderson Avenue, Suite 25, Klamath Falls, Oregon; 
•          BLM Surprise Field Office, 602 Cressler Street, Cedarville, California

·       Additional locations where printed hard copies of the ROD and Final SEIS can be viewed can be found on the project website http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/nepa/ruby_pipeline_project.html or by contacting the project manager.

Instructions for filing an appeal of this Decision are described in the ROD.

For further information, contact Mark A. Mackiewicz, PMP, Senior National Project Manager at (435) 636-3616, Bureau of Land Management Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, Utah 84501; email [email protected].