Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2011 – In keeping with President Obama's strategy to expand domestic oil and gas production safely and responsibly, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released an interagency approach to address air quality issues associated with onshore oil and gas development on public lands.
A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishes a common process for the agencies to follow in analyzing the potential air quality impacts of proposed oil and gas activities on federally managed public lands. The collaborative approach established in the MOU will increase efficiency, certainty and transparency in the process - benefitting industry, federal agencies, states, and Tribes.
"This agreement is an important step forward for our nation's energy security," said Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes. "This agreement helps institutionalize the type of collaborative effort that created a path forward for the Greater Natural Buttes gas project in Utah and that encouraged the use of best practices and sensible air pollution control technologies. We want to build on lessons learned to establish clearer lines of communication and a predictable, common sense process for ensuring prompt and thorough reviews of proposed oil and gas projects."
Previously, federal agencies responsible for land management and air quality reviews associated with oil and gas development made decisions based on individual agency protocols. Agencies used different approaches when determining the adequacy of air quality analyses and mitigation; the stage in oil and gas activities—planning, leasing, or permitting—when air quality analyses should occur; and the appropriate thresholds and resource conditions to use as the starting point for analyzing impacts to visibility and other air quality related values (AQRVs). These differences often resulted in project delays.
To alleviate these delays and improve interagency coordination, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the USDA Forest Service worked to establish mutually acceptable procedures for conducting air quality analyses as part of the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires all federal agencies to evaluate and disclose the potential environmental impacts of their proposed actions in a public process.
"This agreement ensures we do not have to sacrifice clean air in our communities nor our protected public landscapes when oil and gas development occurs," said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. "This is a good example of what the President called for in his State of the Union address to find creative and innovative ways for government to work better together."
"Today's agreement will align federal agencies so that oil and natural gas development in the United States is achieved in a way that also protects important environmental resources," said EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe. "Working with our federal partners, we are committed to delivering an environmental review process that is both transparent and comprehensive, supporting responsible domestic energy production on federal lands while ensuring environmental protection."
Today's agreement builds upon the best practices applied in a recent successful interagency collaboration
The MOU outlines a number of steps the agencies will take to ensure that federal laws protecting air quality, human health, and the environment are balanced with the nation's energy needs. The agreement provides for early interagency consultation throughout the NEPA process; common procedures for determining what type of air quality analyses are appropriate and when air modeling is necessary; specific provisions for analyzing and discussing impacts to air quality and for mitigating such impacts; and a dispute resolution process to facilitate timely resolution of differences among agencies.
For more information on the MOU: http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=251155
To view the MOU: http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=251152
For more information about NEPA: http://epa.gov/compliance/nepa/index.html
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