Who Prepared the Programmatic EIS

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Minerals and Realty Management Directorate prepared the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic EIS, with assistance from Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne).

About the BLM

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, administers 245 million surface acres as well as 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate in the United States, located primarily in 12 western states. The BLM sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

About the Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection Directorate

The BLM Minerals and Realty Management Directorate is responsible for establishing and coordinating policies and guidance for the BLM's mineral and realty programs. The Directorate develops policies and guidance for the fluid minerals programs, including oil and gas, geothermal, and helium; solid minerals programs, including mining and salable minerals; the lands and realty programs, and the Public Land Survey System; provides substantive guidance for program development, policy analysis, and activities under his/her direction; prepares and maintains current and long-range program plans and strategies; and monitors program management implementation in order to achieve the BLM's goals and strategic objectives.

About Argonne

Argonne National Laboratory is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers. It is also the nation's first national laboratory, chartered in 1946.

The Environmental Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory conducts applied research, assessment, and technology development in such areas as risk and waste management, natural resources, integrated assessments, restoration, pollution prevention, environmental policy analysis and planning, and environmental management.

The PEIS Team

The BLM used an interdisciplinary approach to develop the Programmatic EIS in order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines were involved in the PEIS preparation: minerals and geology, wildlife and fisheries, air quality, outdoor recreation, archeology, paleontology, hydrology, soils, wilderness characteristics, sociology, and economics.