[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39191-39192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18687]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-923-01-1230-00]


Fair Market Value Meeting for the Flat Canyon Coal Tract, Sampete 
County, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting and Call for Public Comment on the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Proposed Sale and Fair Market 
Value and Maximum Economic Recovery Consideration for Coal Lease 
Application UTU-77114.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held a public meeting on 
June 21, 2001 on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the proposed 
sale and requests public comment on the fair market value of certain 
coal resources it proposes to offer for competitive lease sale. The 
lands included in the delineated Federal coal lease tract (``Flat 
Canyon'') are located in Sanpete County, Utah approximately 10 miles 
southwest of Scofield, Utah on public and private land located in the 
Manti-La Sal National Forest are are described as follows:

T. 13 S., R. 6 E., SLM
    Section 21, Lots 1-4, E2E2,
    Section 28, Lots 1-8, S2NW, SW,
    Section 23, E2, E2W2, NWNW, SWSW.
T. 14 S., R. 6 E., SLM
    Section 2, Lots 1-4, S2N2, S2,
    Section 5, Lots 1-4, S2N2, S2.

Non Federal Lands With Non Federal Coal

T. 13 S., R. 6 E., SLM
    Section 29, E2SE, SENE, S2NENE,
    Section 32, E2E2.
T. 14 S., R. 6 E., SLM
    Section 3, W2, and portions to Electric Lake,
    Section 8, N2N2,

[[Page 39192]]

    Section 9, N2N2,
    Section 10, N2N2 excluding Electric Lake.

Approximately 3792 acres
    The tract has three potentially minable coal beds, the Lower 
O'Connor B, Lower O'Connor A and the Flat Canyon. The minable portions 
of the coal beds in this area are from 6 to 14 feet in thickness. The 
tract contains an estimated 36 million tons of recoverable high-
volatile C bituminous coal. The coal quality in the seams on an ``as 
received basis'' is as follows: 12,700 Btu/lb., 5.95 percent moisture, 
4.63 percent ash, 44.73 percent volatile matter, 44.69 percent fixed 
carbon and 0.44 percent sulfur. The public is invited to the meeting to 
make public and/or written comments on the environmental implications 
of leasing the proposed tract, and also to submit comments on the Fair 
Market Value and the Maximum Economic Recovery of the tract.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with Federal coal management 
regulations 43 CFR 3422 and 3425, a public meeting was held on the 
proposed sale to allow public comment on and discussion of the 
potential effects of mining and proposed lease. The meeting was 
advertised in two newspapers, the Sun Advocate located in Price, Utah, 
and the Pyramid located in Mount Pleasant, Utah. 43 CFR 3422 states 
that, No less than 30 days prior to the publication of the notice of 
sale, the Secretary shall solicit public comments on the Fair Market 
Value appraisal and Maximum Economic Recovery and on factors that may 
affect these two determinations. Proprietary data marked as 
confidential may be submitted to the Bureau of Land Management in 
response to this solicitation of public comments. Data so marked shall 
be treated in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the 
confidentially of such information. A copy of the comments submitted by 
the public on fair market value and maximum economic recovery, except 
those portions identified as proprietary by the author and meeting 
exemptions stated in the Freedom of Information Act, will be available 
for public inspection at the Bureau of Land Management, Utah State 
Office during regular business hours (8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.) Monday 
through Friday. Comments on the Fair Market Value and Maximum Economic 
Recovery should be sent to the Bureau of Land Management and should 
address, but not necessarily be limited to the following information.
    1. The quality and quantity of the coal resource;
    2. The mining methods or methods which would achieve maximum 
economic recovery of the coal, including specifications of seams to be 
mined and the most desirable timing and rate of production;
    3. Whether this tract is likely to be mined as part of an existing 
mine and therefore should be evaluated on a realistic incremental 
basis, in relation to the existing mine to which it has the greatest 
value;
    4. Whether the tract should be evaluated as part of a potential 
larger mining unit and evaluated as a portion of a new potential mine 
(i.e., a tract which does not in itself form a logical mining unit);
    5. Restrictions to mining which may affect coal recovery;
    6. The price that the mined coal would bring when sold;
    7. Costs, including mining and reclamation, or producing the coal 
and the time of production.
    8. The percentage rate at which anticipated income streams should 
be discounted, either with inflamation or in the absence of inflation, 
in which case the anticipated rate of inflation should be given;
    9. Depreciation, depletion, amortization and other tax accounting 
factors;
    10. The value of any surface estate where held privately;
    11. Documented information on the terms and conditions of recent 
and similar coal land transactions in the lease sale area;
    12. Any comparable sales data of similar coal lands; and
    Coal quantities and the Fair Market Value of the coal developed by 
BLM may or may not change as a result of comments received from the 
public and changes in the market conditions between now and when final 
economic evaluations are completed. A notice of availability for the 
Flat Canyon Draft Environmental Impact Statement was published in the 
Federal Register on April 18, 2001. By virtue of this notice, all 
comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement should have been 
received by the Forest Supervisor of the Manti-La Sal National Forest, 
599 West Price River Drive, Price, Utah 84501 by July 2, 2001.

DATES: The public meeting was held at the Flat Canyon Campground group 
site in Flat Canyon on State Highway 264, from 6:00 p.m.--8:00 p.m. on 
June 21, 2001. If the public wishes to have an additional meeting on 
the subject, please notify Mr. Stan Perkes, 801-539-4036 or a request 
in writing may be submitted to the Utah State Director, Bureau of Land 
Management, Utah State Office, Division of Lands and Minerals P.O. Box 
45155, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0155, by July 24, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Written comments on the Fair Market 
Value and Maximum Economic Recovery must be received by August 24, 2001 
and should be addressed to Stan Perkes, 801-539-4036, Bureau of Land 
Management, Utah State Office, Division of Lands and Minerals, P.O. Box 
45155, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0155.

    Dated: June 28, 2001.
Roger Zortman,
DSD, Division of Lands and Minerals.
[FR Doc. 01-18687 Filed 7-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-M