[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 24, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 20681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-10052]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-060-1320-EL, WYW151133]


Federal Coal Lease Application, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final Environmental Assessment on 
the Belle Ayr 2000 Federal Coal Lease Application in the decertified 
Powder River Federal Coal Production Region, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
implementing regulations and other applicable statutes, the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of a Final 
Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Belle Ayr 2000 Coal Lease 
Application, BLM serial number WYW151133, in the Wyoming Powder River 
Basin. The final EA is being published in abbreviated format. Reviewers 
will need the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Belle Ayr 2000 
Coal Lease Application, BLM, December, 2000, for review of the complete 
EA. The EA analyzes the impacts of issuing a Federal coal lease for the 
proposed Belle Ayr 2000 Federal coal tract. The Belle Ayr 2000 tract is 
being considered for sale as a result of a coal lease application 
received from RAG Wyoming Land Company (RAG) on July 28, 2000. The 
tract as applied for includes about 243.61 acres containing 
approximately 29 million tons of recoverable Federal coal reserves in 
Campbell County, Wyoming.

DATES: Written comments on the final EA will be accepted through May 
11, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments or requests for copies of 
the EA to the Casper Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Attn: 
Nancy Doelger, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82601; or you may 
e-mail them to the attention of Nancy Doelger at [email protected]; 
or fax them to 307-261-7587.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Doelger or Mike Karbs at the 
above address, or phone 307-261-7600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The application for the Belle Ayr 2000 tract 
was filed as a maintenance tract coal lease-by-application (LBA) under 
the provisions of 43 CFR 3425.1
    On July 28, 2000, RAG filed coal lease application WYW151133 for 
the Belle Ayr 2000 Federal coal tract with the BLM for the following 
lands:

T. 48 N., R. 71W., 6th P.M., Campbell County, Wyoming
    Section 28: Lots 3 through 6;
    Section 29: Lots 1 and 6.

    Total surface area applied for: 243.61 acres.
    RAG had previously applied for a maintenance LBA that encompassed 
the coal resources included in the Belle Ayr 2000 lease application as 
well as additional coal resources northwest of the Belle Ayr 2000 lease 
application area on March 20, 1997. They filed a request to modify the 
1997 Belle Ayr LBA by withdrawing the lands included in the Belle Ayr 
2000 application on July 28, 2000. RAG then filed a separate lease 
application for the lands withdrawn from the original LBA and included 
in Belle Ayr 2000 Tract.
    The Powder River Regional Coal Team reviewed the request to modify 
the Belle Ayr 1997 LBA application and the application for the Belle 
Ayr 2000 LBA at their public meeting on October 25, 2000, in Cheyenne, 
Wyoming, and recommended that BLM process it.
    The draft EA was released to the public in early January 2001. The 
comment period on the draft EA ended in early February 2001. A public 
hearing was held at 7 p.m., MDT, on January 18, 2001, at the Clarion 
Western Plaza Motel, 2009 S. Douglas Highway, Gillette, Wyoming. The 
purpose of the hearing was to solicit public comments on the Draft EA, 
the fair market value, the maximum economic recovery, and the proposed 
competitive sale of the coal included in the proposed Belle Ayr 2000 
Federal coal tract. Three written comment letters were received on the 
draft EA. They are included, with responses, in the final EA.
    The Belle Ayr Mine, which is adjacent to the lease application 
area, has an approved mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality 
Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and an 
approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the 
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to mine up to 45 million 
tons of coal per year. According to the application filed for the Belle 
Ayr 2000 tract, the maintenance tract would be mined to maintain 
production at the existing Belle Ayr Mine. The tract is also contiguous 
to an existing lease at the Caballo Mine.
    The Belle Ayr 2000 tract is bounded on three sides by existing coal 
leases at the Belle Ayr and Caballo Mines. Under the approved mining 
plans for these two mines, a large portion of the tract will be 
disturbed when the adjacent leases are mined in order to recover all of 
the coal in those leases.
    The EA analyzes two alternatives. The Proposed Action is to issue a 
maintenance lease for the Belle Ayr 2000 tract as applied for to the 
successful bidder at a competitive sealed bid sale. The second 
alternative, Alternative 1, is the No Action Alternative, which assumes 
that the application for the Belle Ayr 2000 tract is rejected.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is a 
cooperating agency in the preparation of this EA because it is the 
Federal agency that would recommend approval or disapproval of the 
Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) mining plan for the Belle Ayr 2000 LBA tract 
to the Secretary of the Interior, if a lease is issued for the tract.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the BLM Casper Field Office, 2987 
Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming, during regular business hours (8 
a.m. to 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 of officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
made available for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: April 5, 2001.
Alan Rabinoff,
Deputy State Director, Minerals and Lands.
[FR Doc. 01-10052 Filed 4-23-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P