[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 217 (Thursday, November 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27882]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 10, 1994]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

 

Phosphate Leasing, Caribou National Forest, Caribou County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA and Bureau of Land Management, USDI.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS), Caribou 
National Forest, and the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM), Idaho Falls District, will jointly prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposal to issue two new 
phosphate leases within the Caribou National Forest. The Dairy Syncline 
Tract lies about 13 air miles east of Soda Springs, Idaho, and the 
Manning Creek Tract lies about 14 air miles southwest of Afton, 
Wyoming. If a lease(s) is issued pursuant to the mineral leasing 
regulations at 43 CFR part 3500, the lessee has a right to develop a 
mine and necessary ancillary facilities for the purposes of mining the 
phosphate ore reserves within the lease boundaries. However, before 
actual mining could occur, the lessee would be required to obtain an 
approved mining and reclamation plan, which would require a NEPA 
document addressing the site specific proposed mine development.

SCOPING PROCEDURE: The scoping procedure to be used for this EIS has or 
will involve the following: a wide-scale mailing asking for comments, 
issues and concerns to interested and potentially affected individuals, 
groups, Federal, State, and local governments; public information 
gathering meetings; news releases; and a scoping meeting. The scoping 
meeting will be held in Chubbuck, Idaho on Monday, November 21, 1994, 
at 7:00 p.m. in the Aspen-Willow Room, Days Inn, 133 West Burnside 
Avenue. Public information meetings were announced in a newsletter by 
the EIS contractor and held in Pocatello and Soda Springs, Idaho and 
Afton, Wyoming on October 18-20, 1994, respectively.
DATE: Written comments concerning the scope of the analysis described 
in this Notice should be received by December 12, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions to Steve Robison, 
Caribou National Forest, 250 South 4th Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions concerning the proposed action and EIS should be directed to 
Steve Robison, Geologist, Caribou National Forest, 250 South 4th 
Avenue, Pacatello, Idaho 83201, phone: (208) 236-7573, or Dennis Hoyem, 
Environmental Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, 940 Lincoln Rd., 
Idaho Falls, Idaho, phone: (208) 524-7525.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
received proposals to lease two parcels of land for the development and 
mining of phosphate reserves within the Caribou National Forest (FS). 
The 1920 Leasing Act, as amended, gives the primary responsibility for 
leasing of solid minerals, like phosphate, to the BLM, even though the 
surface of the lands may be administered by other agencies such as the 
FS. The FS develops recommendations to the BLM concerning whether or 
not leases should be issued, and if so, what stipulations or mitigation 
measures should be included with each lease to protect the surface 
resources. Although the BLM decision to be made based on this EIS (the 
FS only makes recommendations) is whether or not to lease the two 
proposed Tracts, and if so, under what conditions, lease issuance 
confers a right to mine. Therefore, the anticipated impacts from mining 
and transportation of the ore must also be analyzed in this EIS.
    These Tracts have only received sufficient exploration to determine 
the presence of mineable phosphate ore and rough estimates of ore 
reserves. Because of this limited information, and because there is no 
lessee that has developed a site-specific mining and reclamation plan, 
only conceptual mine plans have been developed for analysis in this 
EIS. The ore from both Tracts would be removed by surface mining 
methods.
    The proposed Dairy Syncline Tract contains 3,380 acres, with 
preliminary phosphate ore reserves estimated at about 20 million tons. 
Phosphate rock mined from the Tract would probably be transported to 
primary users (phosphate fertilizer or elemental phosphorus plants) by 
one of the following methods: hauling ore by truck or conveyor to 
existing railroad loading facilities located about 4.5 road miles from 
the Tract; by building a new railroad spur to the Tract (about 5-7 road 
miles depending on where loading facilities were located); or by the 
development of a slurry pipeline (it could parallel an existing slurry 
pipeline for all but about 4 miles of its length). About 14 miles of 
existing road into the area may need to be upgraded to accommodate mine 
related traffic (not ore haul), and new power/phone lines to the lease 
Tract area would need to be constructed. Mine life for this lease Tract 
is estimated at 10-20 years, depending on annual mine production.
    The proposed Manning Creek Tract covers 2,000 acres, with 
preliminary estimated phosphate ore reserves in the range of 18-50 
million tons. Mineable reserves may be about 30 million tons. The lease 
Tract could be developed as an extension of an existing, operating 
mine, or ore could be transported from the lease Tract in a slurry 
pipeline. Based on the phosphate ore reserves in the proposed leases, 
the following options do not appear to be economically feasible at this 
time: build a phosphate processing plant near the lease Tract; build a 
railroad facility to the lease Tract area; or transport the ore to 
existing railroad facilities or phosphate plants by means other than a 
slurry pipeline. If this proposed lease Tract were to be developed 
separate from the existing mine, as many as 8 miles of new pipeline may 
be necessary to reach an existing slurry line corridor, about 5 miles 
of new mine access road would be required, as many as 7 miles of 
existing road upgraded to accommodate mine traffic (not ore haul), and 
new power/phone lines built. Mine life is estimated to be 10-25 years.
    This EIS will tier to the final EIS for the caribou National Forest 
Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). The Caribou Forest 
Plan provides the overall guidance (Goals, Objectives, Standards, and 
Management Area direction) to achieve the Desired Future Condition for 
the area being analyzed, and contains specific management area 
prescriptions for the entire Forest.
    Preparation of the EIS will include the following steps:
    1. Define the purpose of and need for action.
    2. Identify potential issues.
    3. Eliminate issues of minor importance or those that have been 
covered by previous and relevant environmental analysis.
    4. Select issues to be analyzed in depth.
    5. Identify reasonable alternatives to the proposed action.
    6. Describe the affected environment.
    7. Identify the potential environmental effects of the 
alternatives.
    Steps 2, 3, and 4 have started and will be completed through the 
scoping process.
    Step 5 will consider a range of alternatives developed from the key 
issues. Four alternatives have been drafted to date:
    Alternative 1, no lease or the no action alternative.
    Alternative 2, issue both leases as delineated (proposed action).
    Alternative 3, issue the Manning Creek lease only.
    Alternative 4, issue the Dairy Syncline lease only.
    Other alternatives could be developed based on key issues.
    Step 6 will describe the physical attributes of the area to be 
affected by this proposal, with special attention to the environmental 
factors that could be adversely affected.
    Step 7 will analyze the environmental effects of each alternative. 
This analysis will be consistent with management direction outlined in 
the Forest Plan. The direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of each 
alternative will be analyzed and documented. In addition, the site 
specific mitigation measures for each alternative will be identified 
and the effectiveness of these mitigation measures will be disclosed.
    The Forest Service and BLM are seeking information and comments 
from Federal, State and local agencies as well as individuals and 
organizations who may be interested in, or affected by, the proposed 
action as part of the scoping process. The scoping process is designed 
to guide project analysis and documentation and obtain input to 
identify significant issues and alternatives to the proposal. The EIS 
will consider a range of alternatives based on the issues, concerns and 
opportunities identified for the project. Comments should be submitted 
to the Forest Service within 30 days from the date of publication of 
this Notice in the Federal Register.
    The estimated date for completion of the draft EIS is June, 1995. A 
public meeting(s) will be held in conjunction with the issuance of the 
draft EIS. The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the 
date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of 
availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service and BLM believe it is important to give 
reviewers notice at this early stage in the process of court rulings 
related to public participation in the environmental review process. 
Reviewers of draft EISs must structure their participation in the 
environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and 
alerts the agencies to the reviewers' position and contentions. Vermont 
Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). 
Environmental objections that could have been raised at the draft stage 
may be waived if not raised until after completion of the final EIS. 
City of Angoon v. Hodel, (9th Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, 
Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). We mention 
these court cases to ensure that substantive comments and objections 
are made available to the BLM and FS at a time when they can 
meaningfully consider them and respond in the Final EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service and BLM in identifying and considering 
issues and concerns related to the proposed action, comments for 
scoping, and later for the draft EIS, should be as specific as 
possible. It would be helpful if comments on the draft EIS refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the draft or the merits of the 
alternatives formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may 
wish to refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for 
implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental 
Policy Act, 40 CFR 1503.3, in addressing these points.
    The final EIS is expected to be available in December, 1995.
    The BLM Idaho State Director, who is the responsible official for 
the EIS, will then make a decision regarding this proposal, 
considering: FS recommendations; comments; responses; anticipated 
environmental consequences discussed in the Final EIS; and applicable 
laws regulations, and policies. The reasons for the decision will be 
documented in the Record of Decision.

    Dated: November 3, 1994.
Harold W. Klein,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Caribou National Forest.
Jeff S. Steele,
Area Manager, Pocatello Resource Area.
[FR Doc. 94-27882 Filed 11-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M