Opportunity to Object to the Draft Decision Notice and Environmental Assessment. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and USDA Forest Service (FS) have prepared an environmental assessment (EA) and the FS has prepared a draft decision notice and finding of no significant impact (DN/FONSI) for the proposed West Mamm Creek Pipeline Project. The proposed action is located on the Rifle Ranger District of the White River National Forest in Garfield County, approximately 7.5 miles due south of Rifle. Two decisions will be issued for this project. One decision will reflect project activities on National Forest System Lands (NFS), and the second decision will reflect project activities on BLM lands. The Responsible Officials issuing the decisions are the Forest Supervisor of the White River National Forest and the Field Manager of the Colorado Valley Field Office. Interested parties have the opportunity to object to the draft decision notice for the portion of the project that is located on NFS lands. All objections must follow the process outlined below. The BLM has a separate appeal process for the decision issued for portions of the project on BLM lands. Please refer to the BLM decision notice on the ePlanning site:https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2025023/510 for instructions on how to appeal. The Responsible Officials are planning to implement the Proposed Action (Alternative 2) analyzed in the environmental assessment, in which TEP Rocky Mountain LLC (TEP) would install, operate, and maintain an 8-inch produced water pipeline and Grand River Gathering, LLC (GRG) would install, operate, and maintain two 8-inch natural gas pipelines on NFS, BLM and private lands within the Rifle Ranger District. The total length of the pipelines on National Forest System (NFS) lands will be 2.9 miles. The produced water pipeline would expand TEP’s water transfer system to allow transfer of produced water for use in well completions and to deliver produced water to the water management system. The 8-inch natural gas pipelines would collect low pressure natural gas from TEP’s existing pipeline system for delivery to national markets. The proposed pipelines would be installed within or adjacent to existing pipeline rights-of-way. The EA and draft DN/FONSI for the West Mamm Creek Pipeline Project are available upon request at the Rifle Ranger District office, 0094 CR 94, Rifle, Colorado 81650. This document is also available on the BLM ePlanning site:https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2025023/510 as well as the White River National Forest website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/whiteriver/projects/64353. Additional information regarding this Proposed Action can also be obtained from Cary Green, USDA Forest Service Environmental Coordinator at 970-390-3234 or by e-mail at cary.green@usda.gov. The West Mamm Creek Pipeline Project is an activity implementing a land management plan. This activity is subject to pre-decisional objection under subparts A and B of 36 CFR Part 218. Objections, including attachments, must be filed with the appropriate reviewing officer within 45 calendar days following publication of this notice in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, the newspaper of record. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Objectors should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. It is the objector’s responsibility to ensure timely filing of a written objection with the reviewing officer pursuant to 36 CFR 218.9. Objections will only be accepted from those who have previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project during scoping or other designated opportunities for public comment in accordance with 36 CFR 218.5(a). Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted timely, specific written comments regarding the proposed project unless the issue is based on new information arising after the designated comment opportunities. The objection must contain the minimum content requirements specified in 36 CFR 218.8(d) and incorporation of documents by reference is permitted only as provided in 36 CFR 218.8(b). Objections that do not adhere to these requirements make review of an objection difficult and are conditions under which the reviewing officer may set aside an objection pursuant to 36 CFR 218.10. All eligible objections are available for public inspection. Electronic objections are preferred and must be submitted to the Objection Reviewing Officer online at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=64353, with “West Mamm Creek Pipeline Project Objection” in the subject line. Electronic submissions must be submitted in a format that is readable with optical character recognition software (e.g., Word, PDF, Rich Text) and be searchable. An automated response should confirm your electronic objection has been received. Note: Any person who wishes to fax an objection should contact Scarlett Vallaire, Administrative Review Coordinator, via phone at 801-989-6605 or email at scarlett.vallaire@usda.gov. Written objections may be submitted via regular mail to: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Attn: Reviewing Officer, C/O Director of Strategic Planning, 1617 Cole Blvd., Bldg. 17, Lakewood, CO, 80401. Objections sent by private carrier or hand delivery must be addressed to: Objection Reviewing Officer, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region, Attn: Reviewing Officer, C/O Director of Strategic Planning, 1617 Cole Blvd., Bldg. 17, Lakewood, CO 80401. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30am-4:00pm, excluding Federal holidays, for hand delivery The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Cary Green
