Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic EIS Information Center
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), prepared a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Oil Shale and Tar Sands resources on lands administered by the BLM in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This Web site is the online center for public information and involvement in the PEIS process.
Announcements
OSTS ROD Available
The OSTS Record of Decision is available on the Documents page.
2012 Final OSTS PEIS Available
The Final OSTS PEIS is available on the Documents page.
Public Involvement
Opportunities for public involvement in the PEIS process; public meetings schedule and information; and how public comments were used in the PEIS process.
In 2008, the BLM published a Final PEIS that amended 10 resource management plans (RMPs) in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to make approximately 2 million acres of public lands potentially available for commercial oil shale leasing and development and 430,000 acres potentially available for tar sands leasing and development.
The 2008 PEIS summarized information on oil shale and tar sands technologies and their potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, along with potential mitigating measures that would be evaluated and applied when subsequent site-specific National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is undertaken for lease issuance or project approval.
In the spring of 2011, the BLM initiated a new planning effort to reassess the appropriate mix of public lands to be made available for oil shale and tar sands leasing. The planning initiative provided the BLM an opportunity to consider what public lands might be best suited for this kind of development in light of the nascent character of oil shale and tar sands extraction technology development and in light of information not available in 2008.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), prepared a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Oil Shale and Tar Sands resources on lands administered by the BLM in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This Web site is the online center for public information and involvement in the PEIS process.
