[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 131 (Monday, July 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35561-35563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-16779]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Intent To Reopen Formal Scoping and Hold Public Meetings
Concerning the Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed Warm
Springs Project; Iron, Kane, and Washington Counties, Utah; Coconino
County, Arizona; and Clark County, Nevada
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSM) (the Agencies) intend to offer the public an opportunity to
comment, in either written or oral form, on changes to the proposed
size and mine life at the Smoky Hollow Mine that may affect the
analysis of impacts in the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the
proposed Warm Springs Project.
Andalex Resources, Inc. (Andalex) has recently submitted revisions
to the permit application packages (PAPs) for the proposed Smoky Hollow
Mine. These revisions identify a proposed mining area of nearly 25,000
acres of leased Federal and State land within Andalex's 36,419-acre
leasehold that would contain sufficient coal reserves to accommodate
proposed underground mining operations over the next 40 years. Previous
proposals had identified a mining area of 9,775 acres of Federal and
State land that would have been mined over a 30-year period. No other
major changes are being proposed in the revisions to the PAPs. Coal
would still be: (1) mined by underground methods, (2) produced at a
rate in the range of 2.5 to 3 million tons per year, and (3) hauled by
contractor-supplied trucks to the proposed unit-train loadout
facilities near Cedar City, Utah, and Moapa, Nevada. The larger mining
area would constitute an expansion of the underground workings
identified in the
[[Page 35562]]
original proposal, but would not involve an additional mine.
Formal scoping activities are being announced to explain the
revisions to the PAPs and solicit public input pertaining to any
additional environmental concerns that may need to be addressed in the
Warm Springs Project EIS.
DATES: Comment Period: Written comments pertaining to additional
environmental concerns that may need to be addressed in the EIS will be
accepted through September 5, 1995, at either of the two locations
listed below, under ADDRESSES.
Public Meetings: BLM and OSM will hold seven public meetings for
the receipt of oral statements pertaining to additional environmental
concerns that may need to be addressed in the EIS. The Agencies intend
to conduct these meetings under an open-house format. No formal
presentation will be given, but Agency representatives will be on hand
to answer questions and receive public comment/statements. The first
open-house/meeting will be held on August 8, 1995, in the Juniper No. 3
Conference Room of the Holiday Inn, 1575 West 200 North in Cedar City,
Utah. Successive open-house/meetings will be held on August 9, 1995, in
the Hurricane Senior Citizen Center, 95 North 300 West in Hurricane,
Utah; August 10, 1995, in the Tucson Room of the Little America Hotel,
500 South Main Street in Salt Lake City, Utah; August 14, 1995, in the
Moapa Community Center, Highway 168 in Moapa, Nevada; August 15, 1995,
in the Willows Room of the Shilo Inn, 296 West 100 North in Kanab,
Utah; and August 16, 1995, in the City of Page Council Chambers, 697
Vista Avenue in Page, Arizona. The final open-house/meeting will be
held on August 17, 1995, at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 706 South Milton
Road in Flagstaff, Arizona. Each open-house/meeting will begin at 7
p.m. local time and continue as long as necessary to accommodate the
needs of all interested parties. Agency representatives will remain
present at the open-house/meeting site until at least 10 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Written comments pertaining to additional environmental
concerns that may need to be addressed in the EIS should be mailed or
hand-delivered to either: (1) Mat Millenbach, Utah State Director, c/o
Kanab Resource Area, Bureau of Land Management, 318 North 100 East,
Kanab, Utah 84741, (Attention: Michael Noel); or (2) Peter A. Rutledge,
acting Chief, Technical Support Division, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, Western Regional Coordinating Center, 1999
Broadway, Suite 3320, Denver, Colorado 80202-5733, (Attention: Floyd
McMullen).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, contact either: (1) Michael Noel, BLM EIS
Project Manager (telephone: 801-644-2672); or (2) Floyd McMullen, OSM
EIS Project Manager (telephone: 303-672-5601) at the Kanab, Utah and
Denver, Colorado, locations given under ADDRESSES.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Andalex Resources, Inc. (Andalex), with
cooperation from: The Garkane Power Association, Inc.; the Utah Power
and Light Company; the Overton Power District; the U.S. West
Communications Company; the Moapa Valley Telephone Company, Inc.; the
Union Pacific Railroad Company; the Kane County Board of Commissioners;
the Iron County Board of Commissioners; and, a private, bulk-carrier
transport company; proposes to develop the Warm Springs Project.
The Warm Springs Project would have seven elements: (1) the
proposed Smoky Hollow Mine; (2) a proposed 138-kV power transmission
line extending from an existing powerline southeast of Big Water to the
mine; (3) a proposed microwave communication system that would serve
the mine; (4) either the Warm Creek Road, an existing county-maintained
road passing through a corner of the Glen Canyon National Recreation
Area (NRA) which would require reconstruction and realignment, or the
Benchtop Road, a new county road that would be constructed over Nipple
and Tibbet Benches; (5) a proposed unit-train loading facility adjacent
to the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way (ROW) west of Cedar City,
Utah, near Iron Springs; (6) a proposed unit-train loading facility
adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad ROW southwest of Moapa, Nevada;
and (7) a proposed truck-maintenance facility near either Fredonia,
Arizona, or Hurricane, Utah.
The Smoky Hollow Mine would be a new underground coal mine located
at the site of the inactive Missing Canyon Coal (Test) Mine, about 6
miles north of the Glen Canyon NRA, 13 miles northeast of the City of
Big Water, Utah, and 15 miles north of the Arizona/Utah border. The
mine, the majority of the powerline, the microwave communication
system, and the Warm Creek/Benchtop Road would be located in eastern
Kane County, Utah. The reminder of the powerline would be located in
Coconino County, Arizona. The coal-loadout facilities would be located
in Iron County, Utah, and Clark County, Nevada. The truck maintenance
facility would be located in either Coconino County, Arizona, or
Washington County, Utah.
The proposed Smoky Hollow Mine that would be considered in the
environmental analysis would be in operation for up to 54 years,
including 1 to 2 years for premining construction and development, 40
years of active coal mining, 2 years for reclamation, and, a minimum of
10 years for total bond release. Andalex proposes to eventually recover
100 to 120 million tons of coal during this period, using primarily
longwall mining methods. The coal, proposed to be produced at a rate in
the range of 2.5 to 3 million tons per year, would be hauled by
contractor-supplied trucks over county, State, and Federal roads to the
new unit-train loadout facilities near Cedar City, Utah, and Moapa,
Nevada. Once loaded on railcars, produced coal would be delivered to
developing markets in the southwestern United States and in foreign
countries along the western rim of the Pacific Ocean (the Pacific Rim).
The proposed Smoky Hollow Mine area would encompass about 25,000
acres of land located in Secs. 25 through 28, and 33 through 35, T. 40
S., R. 3 E., Sec. 31, T. 40 S., R. 4 E.; Secs. 1, 3 through 5, 8
through 15, 17 23 through 25, and 36, T. 41 S., R. 3 E; and Secs. 5
through 10, 16 through 21, and 29 through 32, T. 41 S., R. 4 E., all in
the Salt Lake Meridian. About 150 to 200 acres in this area would be
disturbed by exploration activities and by mine-support facilities
(including ventilation facilities, a coal stockpile, equipment and
operation buildings, coal-processing and loadout facilities, a sediment
pond, and a topsoil stockpile). The surface effects of underground
mining (subsidence) within the Smoky Hollow Mine area could potentially
occur on about 14,000 acres.
BLM and OSM originally announced their intent to jointly prepare an
EIS on the proposed Warm Springs Project on July 14, 1992 (57 FR
31207). Scoping activities concerning the proposed Project and the EIS
conducted by the Agencies since that time have, so far, resulted in
over 1,000 letters and over 3,000 comments from the interested public.
At this time, BLM and OSM are requesting that any interested party
submit written comments, and/or attend one of the public meetings to
submit oral statements, pertaining to additional environmental concerns
that may need to be addressed in the EIS. Comments/statements that are
received will assist the Agencies in gathering information and in
further defining the scope of
[[Page 35563]]
issues and concerns to be evaluated in the EIS.
Please note that the current effort is an extension of the scoping
activities for the EIS that have been taking place over the last
several years. The Agencies have retained the scoping comments
submitted previously by the public and suggest that commenters focus
their attention on those additional environmental concerns that they
feel need to be addressed in the EIS. It is not necessary to repeat
comments that were submitted during previous scooping activities.
The EIS is being prepared to assist the Assistant Secretary of the
Interior, Land and Minerals Management, and the BLM Authorized
Officer(s) in making decisions to approve or disapprove the mining plan
and the various rights-of-way grants pertaining to the proposed
Project.
The public should be aware that any material(s) submitted in
response to this Federal Register notice will become part of the public
record and will be accessible to any member of the public who desire to
see it.
Dated: June 28, 1995.
G. William Lamb,
Acting State Director, Utah State Office, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 95-16779 Filed 7-7-95; 8:45 am]
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