Media Advisory: BLM to Host Listening Sessions on Progress of Oil and Gas Pilot Program

The Bureau of Land Management will hold two public listening sessions in Denver on Tuesday, November 14, 2006, at the Renaissance Denver Hotel. The first session will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MST, with a second session in the evening from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. MST. The hotel is located at 3801 Quebec Street; Denver, Colorado 80207.

Media is welcome to attend. Agency representatives will be available to answer questions.

The listening sessions will begin with an overview of progress to date on the project. Participants who request to speak will then be given a set amount of time to provide their comments. BLM will hear views and ideas on implementation of the Pilot Project to improve Federal oil and gas permit coordination, providing an opportunity for the public to comment on progress made during the first year of the project.

Section 365 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Interior Department to establish Pilot Project Offices in seven BLM Field Offices, including Grand Junction/Glenwood Springs, Colorado; Rawlins and Buffalo, Wyoming; Miles City, Montana; Farmington and Carlsbad, New Mexico; and Vernal, Utah. Pilot Offices are developing and testing innovative ways to coordinate the efforts of various Federal agencies responsible for reviewing Applications for Permits to Drill for oil and natural gas on BLM-managed public lands. Information gathered at the listening sessions will be useful as implementation proceeds in current Pilot Offices and for later use in reports and recommendations to Congress.

-BLM-