Forest Service Plan Would Speed Drilling

[Eugene]

Forest Service Plan Would Speed Drilling

By DALE WETZEL
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 10, 2005; 12:39 AM

BISMARCK, N.D. -- The U.S. Forest Service will propose regulations to
shorten the environmental reviews of small oil-drilling projects in
national grasslands, an Agriculture Department official said Friday.

The proposal would affect grasslands covering about 4 million acres in
a dozen states in the Great Plains and West.

Oil exploration is off limits in some areas of the national grasslands,
but where drilling is allowed, a required environmental assessment takes
a minimum of six months. North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven complained some
of the reviews were taking three times that long, delaying projects that
could help the economy.

Mark Rey, a USDA undersecretary, outlined a proposal Friday to allow
some small projects to undergo two-month reviews instead.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090902032.html