[Federal Register: May 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 102)]
[Notices]
[Page 30445-30446]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26my06-117]
[[Page 30445]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[(WY-060-1320-EL), WYW154432]
Notice of Availability of Maysdorf Coal Lease Application Draft
Environmental Impact Statement and Federal Coal Notice of Hearing,
Wyoming
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of a draft environmental impact
statement (DEIS) and notice of public hearing for coal lease by
application (LBA) WYW154432 in the decertified Powder River Federal
Coal Production Region, Wyoming.
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SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the
implementing regulations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces
the availability of the Maysdorf Coal DEIS and announces a public
hearing pursuant to 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3425.4.
DATES: Requests to be included on the mailing list and to receive
copies of the DEIS and notification of the comment period and hearing
date should be sent to the address, facsimile number, or electronic
address listed below. Written comments on the DEIS will be accepted for
60 days following the date that the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) publishes their NOA of the DEIS in the Federal Register. The BLM
asks that those submitting comments on the DEIS make them as specific
as possible with reference to page numbers and chapters of the
document. Comments that contain only opinions or preferences will not
receive a formal response; however, they will be considered and
included as part of the BLM decision-making process. The public hearing
will be held at 7 p.m. MST, on June 13, 2006, at the Clarion Hotel,
2009 South Douglas Highway, Gillette, Wyoming.
ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments, or concerns to the
Casper Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Nancy Doelger,
2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82604, fax them to 307-261-7587,
or send e-mail comments to the attention of Nancy Doelger at
casper_wymail@blm.gov. A copy of the DEIS has been sent to affected Federal,
State, and local Government agencies; persons, and entities identified
as potentially being affected by a decision to lease the Federal coal
in this tract; and persons who indicated to the BLM that they wished to
receive a copy of the DEIS. Copies of the DEIS are available for public
inspection at the following BLM office locations: BLM Wyoming State
Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009; and BLM Casper
Field Office, 2987 Prospector Lane, Casper, Wyoming 82604.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Doelger or Mike Karbs at the
above address, or telephone: 307-261-7600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS analyzes and discloses to the
public direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of
issuing a Federal coal lease in the Wyoming portion of the Powder River
Basin. The purpose of the public hearing is to solicit comments on the
DEIS on the proposed competitive sale of the Federal coal in the
Maysdorf Coal tract, and on the fair market value and maximum economic
recovery of the Federal coal. The BLM is considering a coal lease
issuance as a result of a September 20, 2001 application made by
Cordero Mining Company (CMC) to lease Federal coal near the Cordero
Rojo Mine approximately 15 miles south-southeast of Gillette, Wyoming.
in Campbell County, Wyoming.
Cordero, the operator of the mine, applied to lease the tract as a
maintenance tract to extend the life of their existing mining
operations under the provisions of the Leasing on Application
regulations at 43 CFR 3425. This tract, case number WYW154432, is
referred to as the Maysdorf Coal tract.
On November 8, 2004, BLM received a request from CMC to modify the
Maysdorf Coal tract. The following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming
are included in the tract as currently filed:
T. 46 N., R. 71 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
Sec. 4: Lots 5, 6, 7 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 10 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 11,
12;
Sec. 10: Lots 1, 2, 3 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 4 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\
S\1/2\), 5 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 6 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\);
Sec. 11: Lots 1 through 8, 9 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 10 (N\1/
2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 11 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 12 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\
S\1/2\);
T. 47 N., R. 71 W, 6th P.M., Wyoming
Sec. 8: Lots 3 through 6, 11 through 13;
Sec. 21: Lots 1, 2, 3 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 6 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 7
through 10, 11 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 14 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 15, 16;
Sec. 28: Lots 1, 2, 3 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 6 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 7
through 10, 11 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 14 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 15, 16;
Sec. 33: Lots 1, 2, 3 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 6 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 7
through 10, 11 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 14 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 15, 16;
Total Acres: 2,219.39 acres, more or less.
The tract as currently filed includes an estimated 230.30
million tons of in-place coal.
The Cordero Rojo Mine is adjacent to the lease application area and
has an approved mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality
Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The
Mine has an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division
of the Wyoming DEQ to mine up to 65 million tons of coal per year.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), the
Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental
Quality (WDEQ), and the Wyoming State Planning Office (WSPO) are
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the DEIS. If the tract is
leased as a maintenance tract, the new lease will be incorporated into
the existing mining and reclamation plan for the adjacent mine. The
Secretary of the Interior must approve the revision to the Mineral
Leasing Act (MLA) mining plan before the Federal coal can be mined. If
the tract is leased, OSM is the Federal agency that would be
responsible for recommending approval, approval with conditions, or
disapproval of the revised MLA mining plan to the Office of the
Secretary of the Interior. WDEQ has entered into a cooperative
agreement with the Secretary of the Interior to regulate surface coal
mining operations on Federal and non-Federal lands within the State of
Wyoming. WSPO coordinates planning within state agencies and
facilitates collaboration among the agencies, the Federal Government,
other states, the private sector, and the general public.
The DEIS analyzes leasing the tract as applied for as described
above as a separate Proposed Action. Under this alternative, a
competitive sale would be held and a lease issued for Federal coal in
the tract as applied for by Cordero. As part of the coal leasing
process, BLM has identified and is evaluating other tract
configurations which add Federal coal to avoid bypassing coal or to
prompt competitive interest in the unleased Federal coal in this area.
The tract configurations that BLM has identified are described and
analyzed as separate alternatives in the DEIS. Under these
alternatives, a competitive sale would be held and a lease issued for
Federal coal lands included in a tract modified by the BLM. The DEIS
also analyzes the alternative of rejecting the application to lease
Federal coal as the No Action Alternative. The Proposed Action and
Alternatives being considered in the DEIS are in conformance with the
``Approved Resource Management Plan for Public Lands Administered by
the Bureau of Land Management Buffalo Field Office'' (April 2001).
[[Page 30446]]
Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will
be available for public review at the Casper Field Office at the
address listed above during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. through
4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your
name or street address from public review or from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the
beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the
extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be
made available for public inspection in their entirety.
Robert A. Bennett,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E6-8085 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P