[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 136 (Friday, July 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43779-43780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17838]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV-030-1990-EX]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Oil-Dri Corporation Reno Clay Project Plan of Operations

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Carson City Field Office, Carson 
City, Nevada

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) for the Oil-Dri Corporation Reno Clay Project mining plan of 
operations; and notice of scoping period and public meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City Field Office 
will direct the preparation of an EIS to be produced by a third-party 
contractor on the impacts (direct, indirect, and cumulative) of a 
proposed clay mining operation in Washoe County, Nevada. The BLM 
invites comments on the scope of the analysis.

DATES: One public scoping meeting will be held on August 8, 2000 to 
allow the public an opportunity to identify issues and concerns to be 
addressed in the EIS. Representatives of the BLM and Oil-Dri 
Corporation will be available to answer questions about the proposed 
Reno Clay Project and the EIS process. Comments will be accepted until 
August 21, 2000.
    The scheduled public meeting is:

Reno, NV (5:30-7:30 p.m.)--August 8, 2000.
Reno-Sparks Convention Center, North Meeting Room B-1, 4590 S. Virginia 
St., Reno, NV.

    A Draft EIS (DEIS) is expected to be completed by December, 2000 
and made available for public review and comment. At that time a Notice 
of Availability (NOA) of the DEIS will be published in the Federal 
Register. The comment period on the DEIS will be 60 days from the date 
the NOA is published.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Scoping comments may be sent to: Bureau of 
Land Management, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, Carson City, NV 89701. ATTN: 
Clay EIS Project Manager. For additional information, write to the 
above address or call Terri Knutson, EIS Project Manager at (775) 885-
6156.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In July 1999 Oil-Dri Corporation of Nevada 
submitted a plan of operations to the BLM Carson City Field Office for 
a clay mining operation in Hungry Valley. The plan of operations was 
held in abeyance pending a determination of locatability

[[Page 43780]]

under the mining law until May 2000 when the clay mineral was 
determined locatable by BLM mineral examiners. At that time processing 
of the plan of operations commenced and BLM managers determined an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) would be prepared to analyze 
potential impacts resulting from the mining operations. The proposed 
mining operation would occur in phases over 20 years, in two pits, on a 
total of 340 acres of the 6,000 acres of mining claims Oil-Dri holds in 
the area. The processing plant for drying, crushing, and packaging of 
the clay material (cat litter) would be located on Oil-Dri private land 
located to the south of the mine area. Initially, the mine and 
processing plant would employ approximately 50 individuals, with an 
increase to 100 employees over time with expanded production.
    The EIS will address issues brought forth through scoping comments 
and will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of specialists. A 
range of alternatives and mitigating measures will be considered to 
evaluate and minimize environmental impacts and to assure that the 
proposed action does not result in undue or unnecessary degradation of 
public lands.
    Federal, state, and local agencies and other individuals or 
organizations who may be interested in or affected by the BLM decision 
on the proposed plan of operations are invited to participate in the 
scoping process with respect to this environmental analysis. These 
entities and individuals are also invited to submit comments on the 
DEIS.
    It is important that those interested in the proposed activities 
participate in the scoping and commenting processes. Comments should be 
as specific as possible.
    The project schedule is as follows:

Begin Public Comment Period--July, 2000.
Issue Draft EIS--December 2000.
Issue Final EIS--May 2001.
Issue Record of Decision--June 2001.

    The BLM's scoping process for the EIS will include: (1) 
Identification of issues to be addressed; (2) identification of viable 
alternatives; (3) notification of interested groups, individuals, and 
agencies so that additional information concerning these issues, or 
other issues, can be obtained.
    Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the above address during regular 
business hours (7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.), Monday through Friday and may be 
published as part of the EIS. 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. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. 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.

    Dated: July 10, 2000.
John Singlaub,
Manager, Carson City Field Office.
[FR Doc. 00-17838 Filed 7-13-00; 8:45 am]
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