BLM Finalizes Rule to Open Federal Lands to Oil Shale Leases, Development Tanya Lee WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 -- The U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management has issued final regulations for commercial leasing and development of federally-owned oil shale resources in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The rule is effective Jan. 17. Oil shale is a rock that must be mined or treated with heat while it is in place in the ground (in-situ leaching) in order to extract kerogen, an organic resource that can be refined into oil. "The American Association of Petroleum Geologists estimates that the total world oil shale resources contain the equivalent of 2.6 trillion barrels of oil. According to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States holds more than 50 percent of the world's oil shale resources. The largest known deposits of oil shale in the world are located in a 16,000-square-mile area in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming," the Federal Register notice reads. BLM has found this rule includes policies that could affect tribal interests. Critics maintain that the Bush administration is pushing to get these regulations in place before it has adequate information to assess the possible environmental impacts of extracting oil shale. One of the largest concerns is the impact on water resources. Opponents also note that the technology to make oil shale extraction economically feasible is at least ten year away, and they object to the incentive royalty rate (5 percent as opposed to the usual 12.5 percent for extracting mineral resources on federal lands) that is being offered to leasees. Finally, the Natural Resource Defense Council has called oil shale the "dirtiest fuel on the planet." The programmatic environmental impact statement for these regulations was completed in Sept. 5. On Nov. 17, BLM Assistant Secretary C. Stephen Allred "signed the Record of Decision for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement that amends several resource management plans to open lands for application for potential oil shale leasing in the future. In the PEIS, the BLM amended land-use plans in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to set aside approximately 1.9 million acres of public lands for potential commercial oil shale development. Additional site-specific NEPA analysis will have to be completed before leasing or development occurs," according to a BLM press release. Record of Decision http://www.newswatchnativeamerica.com/FRNotices/081120.ShaleROD.pdf Federal Register Notice http://www.newswatchnativeamerica.com/FRNotices/081118.Shale.pdf For further information, contact Mitchell Leverette, 202/452-5088, or Kelly Odom, 202/452-5028.