[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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