This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as the lead Federal agency, and the Osage Nation, Osage Minerals Council, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The Osage County Oil and Gas Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) analyzes the potential impacts that future oil and gas development will have on the surface estate and subsurface mineral estate in Osage County, Oklahoma. This notice announces that the DEIS is available for public review and that the BIA will hold a public meeting to receive comments.

Information regarding the public comment period and public meeting will be posted on the project website: bia.gov/​regional-offices/​eastern-oklahoma/​osage-agency/​osage-oil-and-gas-eis.

The Osage Allotment Act of 1906 (1906 Act), as amended, reserved all rights to the subsurface mineral estate underlying Osage County, Oklahoma (Osage Mineral Estate) to the Osage Nation. In accordance with the 1906 Act, the Osage Mineral Estate is held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Osage Nation. All leases, applications for permits to drill, and other site-specific permit applications in Osage County are approved under the authority of the 1906 Act, as amended, and 25 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 226, Leasing of Osage Reservation Lands for Oil and Gas Mining.

The purpose of the BIA's action is to administer leasing and development of the Osage Mineral Estate in the best interest of the Osage Nation, in accordance with the 1906 Act, as amended, balancing resource conservation and maximization of oil and gas production in the long term. The BIA is required, under more generally applicable statutes, to include in the best interest calculation the protection of the environment in Osage County to enhance conservation of resources and protection of the health and safety of the Osage people. Based on these considerations, the BIA's action promotes the maximization of oil and gas production from the Osage Mineral Estate in a manner that is economic, efficient, and safe; prevents pollution; and is consistent with the mandates of Federal law.