[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 151 (Monday, August 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41031-41032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19548]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-060-1320-EL, WYW146744]


Federal Coal Lease Application

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement on the North Jacobs Ranch 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 Impact Statement (FEIS) for the North Jacobs Ranch Coal 
Lease Application, BLM serial number WYW146744, in the Wyoming Powder 
River Basin. The FEIS analyzes the impacts of issuing a Federal coal 
lease for the proposed North Jacobs Ranch Federal coal tract. The North 
Jacobs Ranch tract is being considered for sale as a result of a coal 
lease application received from Jacobs Ranch Coal Company (JRCC) on 
October 2, 1998. JRCC is a subsidiary of Kennecott Energy Company. The 
tract as applied for includes about 4,821.19 acres containing 
approximately 533

[[Page 41032]]

million tons of in-place Federal coal reserves in Campbell County, 
Wyoming.

DATES: Written comments on the FEIS will be accepted for 30 days 
following the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes their notice of availability of the FEIS in the Federal 
Register. The BLM will notify all parties on this project's mailing 
list of the dates when comments will be accepted.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments or requests for copies of 
the FEIS to the Casper Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Attn: 
Nancy Doelger, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming 8260; 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 North Jacobs Ranch 
tract was filed as a maintenance tract coal lease-by-application (LBA) 
under the provisions of 43 CFR 3425.1
    On October 2, 1998, JRCC filed coal lease application WYW146744 for 
the North Jacobs Ranch Federal coal tract with the BLM for the 
following lands:

Sixth Principal Meridian

T. 44N., R. 70 W.,
    Sec 26, lots 9 and 10;
    Sec 27, lots 1 to 16, inclusive;
    Sec 28, lots 1 to 16, inclusive;
    Sec 29, lots 1 to 16, inclusive;
    Sec 30, lots 5 to 20, inclusive;
    Sec 31, lots 5 to 20, inclusive;
    Sec 32, lots 1 to 16, inclusive;
    Sec 33, lots 4, 5, 12, and 13.

Sixth Principal Meridian

    T. 44 N., R. 71 W.,
    sec 25, lots 1 to 16, inclusive.

    Total surface area applied for: 4,821.19 acres.
    The Powder River Regional Coal Team (RCT) reviewed this competitive 
lease application at public meetings held on February 23, 1999, in 
Billings, Montana; October 27, 1999, in Gillette, Wyoming; and October 
25, 2000, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. At the most recent meeting, the RCT 
recommended that BLM continue to process this LBA.
    The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was mailed to the 
public in December, 2000. The EPA and the BLM each published a Notice 
of Availability in the Federal Register on December 15, 2000. A formal 
public hearing on this application was held, pursuant to 43 Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) 3425.4, at 7:00 P.M. MDT, on January 17, 2000 
at the Clarion Western Plaza Motel, 2009 S. Douglas Highway, Gillette, 
Wyoming. The purpose of the hearing was to solicit public comments on 
the DEIS, the fair market value, the maximum economic recovery, and the 
proposed competitive sale of the coal included in the proposed North 
Jacobs Ranch Federal coal tract. The 60-day comment period on the DEIS 
ended on February 13, 2001.
    The Jacobs Ranch 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 38 million 
tons of coal per year through 2001, and 50 million tons of coal per 
year to be mined in 2002 through 2004. According to the application 
filed for the North Jacobs Ranch tract, the maintenance tract would be 
mined to extend the life of the existing mine. JRCC estimates that, 
under the current mine plan, the existing recoverable reserves at the 
Jacobs Ranch Mine will be mined out in about 7 years at an average 
production rate of 24.5 million tons per year. The Black Thunder Mine 
is also contiguous to the lease application area.
    JRCC previously acquired a maintenance coal lease (serial number 
WYW117924, issued effective 10/1/92) containing approximately 1,709 
acres adjacent to the Jacobs Ranch Mine using the LBA process.
    The FEIS analyzes four alternatives. The Proposed Action is to 
lease the North Jacobs Ranch tract as applied for to the successful 
bidder at a competitive sealed bid sale. Alternative 1, is the No 
Action Alternative, which assumes that the application for the North 
Jacobs Ranch tract is rejected. Alternative 3, the BLM's preferred 
alternative, evaluates issuing a lease for the tract as modified by the 
BLM to avoid a potential bypass situation. Under Alternative 3, 
approximately 160 acres would be added to the east of the tract as 
applied for. Alternative 4 evaluates issuing a lease for a smaller 
tract that would be modified to reduce multiple mineral development 
conflicts with existing oil and gas development.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is a 
cooperating agency in the preparation of this EIS because it is the 
Federal agency that would recommend approval or disapproval of the 
mining plan for the North Jacobs Ranch LBA tract to the Secretary of 
the Interior, if a lease is issued for the tract.
    Fourteen written comments were received during the comment period 
on the Draft EIS, and four oral comments were recorded at the public 
hearing. The issues that were identified in the comment letters and at 
the hearing included potential conflicts with existing conventional oil 
and gas and coalbed methane development; potential cumulative impacts 
of increasing mineral development in the Powder River Basin; validity 
and currency of resource data; public access; potential impacts to 
threatened and endangered species and other species of concern; 
potential cumulative air quality impacts; potential impacts of nitrogen 
oxide emissions resulting from blasting of coal and overburden; and 
cumulative impacts of reasonably foreseeable actions such as the 
construction and operation of the DM&E railroad in the cumulative 
analysis.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the Bureau of Land Management, 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, and may be published as part of the final 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. 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: July 3, 2001.
Alan R. Pierson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 01-19548 Filed 8-3-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P