| Planning | Form: (02A ) 400476600 11/23/2013 | • Conduct wildlife surveys to determine presence of game/non-game species/habitat
• Site access roads, pads and facilities in locations that minimize habitat impacts
• Minimize well pad density to the extent possible
• Minimize the number, size and distribution of well pads and locate pads along existing roads where possible.
• Adequately size infrastructure and facilities to accommodate both current and future gas production.
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| General Housekeeping | Form: (02A ) 400476600 11/23/2013 | • Treat/control noxious weeds/plants including Tamarisk
• Continue to Support Operation Game Thief
• Participate in wildlife seminars and conferences (e.g. AFWA)
• Focus Ranch and Property Management (WPXs’ owned/managed properties) on wildlife resources
• Restrict and/or manage grazing to benefit wildlife
• Enforce policies to protect wildlife (e.g., no poaching, no firearms, no dogs on location, no feeding of wildlife, etc.).
• Inventory, monitor and remove obsolete, degraded, or hazardous fencing on WPX owned property
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| Construction | Form: (02A ) 400476600 11/23/2013 | • Surface roads to ensure that the anticipated volume of traffic and the weight and speed of vehicles using the road do not cause environmental damage, including generation of fugitive dust and contribution of sediment to downstream areas.
• Protect culvert inlets from erosion and sedimentation and install energy dissipation structures at outfalls
• Install impermeable barriers beneath fluid pits to protect groundwater, riparian areas and wetlands.
• Salvage topsoil from all road construction and other rights-of-way and re-apply during interim and final reclamation.
• Strip and segregate topsoil prior to construction. Appropriately configure topsoil piles and immediately seed to control erosion, prevent weed establishment and maintain soil microbial activity
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| Drilling/Completion Operations | Form: (02A ) 400476600 11/23/2013 | • Install automated emergency response systems (e.g., high tank alarms, emergency shut- down systems, etc.).
• Implement fugitive dust control program
• Locate above-ground facilities to minimize the visual effect (e.g., low profile equipment, appropriate paint color, vegetation screening in wooded areas, etc.)..
• Apply an aggressive, integrated, noxious and invasive weed management plan. Utilize an adaptive management strategy that permits effective responses to monitored findings and reflects local site and geologic conditions
• Map the occurrence of existing weed infestations prior to development to effectively monitor and target areas that will likely become issues after development.
• Use locally adapted seed whenever available and approved by landowner.
• Use appropriately diverse reclamation seed mixes that mirror an appropriate reference area for the site being reclaimed where approved by landowner.
• Conduct seeding in a manner that ensures that seedbed preparation and planting techniques are targeted toward the varied needs of grasses, forbs and shrubs (e.g., seed forbs and shrubs separately from grasses, broadcast big sagebrush but drill grasses, etc.)
• Emphasize bunchgrass over sod-forming grasses in seed mixes in order to provide more effective wildlife cover and to facilitate forb and shrub establishment.
• Seed during appropriate season to increase likelihood of reclamation success
• Establish vegetation with total perennial non-invasive plant cover of at least eighty (80) percent of pre-disturbance or reference area levels.
• Observe and maintain a performance standard for reclamation success characterized by the establishment of a self-sustaining, vigorous, diverse, locally appropriate plant community on the site, with a density sufficient to control erosion and non-native plant invasion and diversity sufficient to allow for normal plant community development.
• Use early and effective reclamation techniques, including interim reclamation to accelerate return of disturbed areas for use by wildlife
• Remove all unnecessary infrastructure during the production phase.
• Remediate hydrocarbon spills on disturbed areas prior to reclamation.
• Complete final reclamation activities so that seeding occurs during the first optimal season following plugging and abandonment of oil and gas wells.
• Perform interim reclamation to final reclamation species composition and establishment standards.
• Perform interim reclamation on all disturbed areas not needed for active support of production operations
• Apply certified weed free mulch and crimp or tacify to remain in place to reclaim areas for seed preservation and moisture retention
• Control weeds in areas surrounding reclamation areas in order to reduce weed competition
• Educate employees and contractors about weed issues
• Conduct necessary reclamation and invasive plant monitoring.
• Maintain pre and post development site inspection records and monitor operations for compliance
• Utilize GIS technologies to assess the extent of disturbance and document the reclamation progression and the footprint of disturbances
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