Nevada State Office
| Contacts: | Mark Mackiewicz | , 435-636-3616 |
Long-Term Monitoring Plan Approved for Ruby Pipeline Project
Reno, Nev.—The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management signed a decision amending the Right-of-Way Grant (ROW) and Plan of Development (POD) for the Ruby Pipeline Project on July 27, 2012. The changes are in consideration of agency comments and with the concurrence of the Fremont-Winema, Uinta Wasatch-Cache National Forests, and the Bureau of Reclamation. The changes include amending the ROW to include documents that reflect the final pipeline as built and the approval and inclusion of The Long Term Monitoring Plan in the POD.
The Ruby Pipeline is a 678-mile, 42-inch diameter interstate natural gas pipeline. It crosses 368 miles of Federal land beginning near Opal, Wyoming, extending through northern Utah and northern Nevada, and terminating near Malin, Oregon.
The Ruby Pipeline was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission April 5, 2010 and the ROW Grant and Plan of Development were approved by a Record of Decision (ROD) issued by the BLM on July 12, 2010. Potential effects of the pipeline were analyzed in an Environmental Impact Statement, released in January 2010. The BLM issued multiple Notices to Proceed for each segment after Ruby demonstrated that all conditions and stipulations had been met for a given segment.
The pipeline went into service on July 28, 2011. Construction restoration, stabilization, and final clean-up are not expected to be completed until later in 2012. The FERC and the BLM will continue to closely monitor and evaluate restoration progress along the entire pipeline ROW for several years.
Copies of the Decision, as well as the original ROD, are available on the on the Internet at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/nepa/ruby_pipeline_project.html.
Questions about the Decision to Amend the Right-of-Way Grant may be directed to: Mark A. Mackiewicz, PMP, BLM National Project Manager, c/o125 South 600 West, Price, UT 84501.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
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