[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50447-50449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24661]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-920-1320-EL; WYW150210, WYW150318, WYW151134, WYW151643, & 
WYW154001]


Federal Coal, Environmental Impact Statement and Notice of 
Scoping

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
on four maintenance lease applications received for five Federal coal 
tracts in the decertified Powder River Federal Coal Production Region, 
Wyoming, and Notice of Scoping.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has received the following 
competitive coal lease applications:
    1. On March 10, 2000, Powder River Coal Company applied for a 
maintenance coal lease for approximately 4,500 acres (approximately 564 
million recoverable tons of coal) in two tracts adjacent to the North 
Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex in Campbell County, WY. The tracts, 
which are referred to as the NARO North Lease by Application (LBA) 
Tract and the NARO South LBA Tract, were assigned case numbers 
WYW150210 and WYW154001, respectively.
    2. On March 23, 2000, Ark Land Company applied for a maintenance 
coal lease for approximately 2,799.5 acres (approximately 383.6 million 
in-place tons of coal) adjacent to the Black Thunder Mine in Campbell 
County, WY. The tract, which is referred to as the Little Thunder LBA 
Tract, was assigned case number WYW150318. On June 14, 2001, Ark Land 
Company filed an application to modify the Little Thunder LBA Tract. As 
currently filed, the tract includes approximately 3,449.317 acres and 
440 million tons of recoverable coal reserves.
    3. On July 28, 2000, Triton Coal Company applied for a maintenance 
coal lease for approximately 1,868 acres (approximately 173.2 million 
in-place tons of coal) adjacent to the North Rochelle Mine in Campbell 
County, WY. The tract, which is referred to as the West Roundup LBA 
Tract, was assigned case number WYW151134.
    4. On September 12, 2000, Antelope Coal Company applied for a 
maintenance coal lease for approximately 3,500 acres (approximately 
292.5 million in-place tons of coal) adjacent to the Antelope Mine in 
Campbell and Converse Counties, WY. The tract, which is referred to as 
the West Antelope LBA Tract, was assigned case number WYW151643. On 
June 27, 2001, Antelope Coal Company filed an application to modify the 
West Antelope LBA Tract. As currently filed, the tract includes 
approximately 3,542 acres and 293.9 million tons of in place coal 
reserves.
    The tracts were applied for as maintenance tract LBAs under the 
provisions of 43 CFR 3425.1. The Powder River Regional Coal Team (RCT) 
reviewed these lease applications at a public meeting held on October 
25, 2000, in Cheyenne, WY. The RCT recommended that BLM process these 
four lease applications. As part of the LBA process, BLM will prepare 
an environmental analysis in accordance with the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),

[[Page 50448]]

develop possible stipulations regarding mining operations, determine 
the fair market value (FMV) of the Federal coal included in each tract, 
and evaluate maximum economic recovery (MER) of the coal in each 
proposed tract.
    BLM has determined that the requirements of NEPA would be best 
served by preparing one environmental impact statement (EIS) for these 
four lease applications, which are part of a contiguous group of five 
mines located south and east of Wright, WY. The purpose of the public 
scoping period and public scoping meeting is to allow interested 
parties to submit comments and/or relevant information that BLM should 
consider in preparing a draft EIS and in evaluating the FMV and MER of 
the Federal coal included in these four coal lease applications in the 
Wyoming Powder River Basin.

DATES: Scoping comments should be submitted by October 31, 2001, in 
order to be fully considered in the draft EIS. A public scoping meeting 
is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 10, 2001, at 
the Clarion Western Plaza Motel, 2009 S. Douglas Highway, Gillette, WY.
    If you have concerns or issues that you believe the BLM should 
address in processing this exchange proposal, you can express them 
verbally at the scoping meetings; or you can mail, e-mail or fax 
written c1omments to BLM at the addresses given below by October 31, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments or concerns to the BLM 
Casper Field Office, Attn: Nancy Doelger, 2987 Prospector Drive, 
Casper, WY 82604, fax them to 307-261-7587, or send e-mail comments to 
the attention of Nancy Doelger at [email protected].

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 10, 2000, Powder River Coal Company 
filed a coal lease application for the following lands in two tracts 
adjacent to the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex in Campbell 
County, WY:

NARO North--WYW150210

T. 42 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 28: Lots 5-16;
    Section 29: Lots 5-16;
    Section 30: Lots 9-20;
T. 42 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 25: Lots 5-15;
    Section 26: Lots 7-10;
    Section 35: Lots 1, 2, 7-10, 15, 16.

    Containing 2,369.38 acres, more or less.

NARO South--WYW 154001

T. 41 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 19: Lots 6-11, 12(S\1/2\), 13-20;
    Section 20: Lots 5(S\1/2\), 6(S\1/2\), 7(S\1/2\), 8(S\1/2\), 9-
16;
    Section 21: Lots 5(S\1/2\), 12,13;
    Section 28: Lots 3-6, 11, NE\1/4\ SW\1/4\;
    Section 29: Lots 1-12;
    Section 30: Lots 5--12.

    Containing 2,133.635 acres, more or less.

    The tracts as applied for include an estimated 564 million tons of 
recoverable coal. According to the application filed for the NARO North 
and NARO South LBA Tracts, mining the coal included in these 
maintenance tracts would extend the life of the North Antelope/Rochelle 
Mine Complex.
    On March 23, 2000, Ark Land Company filed a coal lease application 
for lands adjacent to the Black Thunder Mine in Campbell County, WY. 
The following lands are included in the tract as currently filed:

Little Thunder--WYW150318

T. 43 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 2: Lots 5, 6, 11-14, 19, 20;
    Section 11: Lots 1, 2, 7-10, 15, 16;
    Section 12: Lots 2 (W\1/2\ and SE\1/4\), 3-16;
    Section 13: Lots 1-16;
    Section 14: Lots 1, 2, 6-9, 14, 15;
    Section 24: Lots 1-16;
    Section 25: Lots 1, 2, 7-10, 15, 16;
T. 44 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 35: Lots 1, 2, 7-10, 15, 16.

    Containing 3,449.317 acres more or less.

    The tract includes an estimated 440 million tons of in-place coal. 
According to the application, the coal is needed to maintain existing 
mining operations at the Black Thunder Mine and would be used for 
electric power generation.
    On July 28, 2000, Triton Coal Company, LLC filed a coal lease 
application for the following lands adjacent to the North Rochelle Mine 
in Campbell County, WY:

West Roundup--WYW151134

T. 42 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 6: Lots 8-23;
    Section 7: Lots 5-14;
    Section 8: Lots 1-12;
    Section 9: Lots 11,12,14;
T. 43 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 31: Lots 13-20;
T. 42 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 1: Lots 5,6,11-13.

    Containing 1,868.120 acres more or less.

    The tract includes an estimated 173.2 million tons of in-place 
coal.
    On September 12, 2000, Antelope Coal Company filed a coal lease 
application for lands adjacent to the Antelope Mine in Campbell and 
Converse Counties, WY. The following lands are included in the tract as 
currently filed:

West Antelope--WYW151643

T. 40 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 3: Lots 15-18;
    Section 4: Lots 5-20;
    Section 5: Lots 5-7, 10-15, 19, 20;
    Section 9: Lot 1;
    Section 10: Lots 3, 4;
T. 41 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 28: Lots 1-16;
    Section 29: Lots 1-16;
    Section 32: Lots 1-3, 6-11, 14-16;
    Section 33: Lots 1-16.

    Containing 3,542.19 acres more or less.

    The West Antelope tract includes an estimated 293.9 million tons of 
in-place coal. According to the application, mining this coal would 
extend the life of the existing mine and the coal would be mined for 
sale to electrical power generating plants.
    As part of the coal leasing process, BLM will evaluate the tract 
configurations for each of these tracts and may decide to add or 
subtract Federal coal to avoid bypassing coal or to increase estimated 
FMV.
    Each of the mines adjacent to the applied for LBA tracts (North 
Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex, Black Thunder Mine, North Rochelle 
Mine, and Antelope Mine), has an approved mining and reclamation plan 
from the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming DEQ and an approved air 
quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the Wyoming DEQ. Each 
mine has previously acquired maintenance coal leases using the LBA 
process.
    The U.S. Forest Service (FS) will be a cooperating agency in the 
preparation of the EIS because the surface of some of the land included 
for consideration for leasing is owned by the Federal government and 
administered by the FS as part of the Thunder Basin National 
Grasslands.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) will 
be a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. If the tracts 
are leased as maintenance tracts, each new lease must be incorporated 
into the existing mining and reclamation plan for the adjacent mine and 
the Secretary of the Interior must approve the revision to the Mineral 
Leasing Act (MLA) mining plan before the Federal coal in each tract can 
be mined. OSM is the Federal agency that would be responsible for 
recommending approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the 
revised MLA mining plans to the office of the Secretary of the Interior 
if any or all of these tracts are leased.
    Several issues have been raised during processing previous 
applications to lease Federal coal in the Wyoming Powder River Basin. 
These include:
    1. The need for resolution of conflicts between existing and 
proposed oil and

[[Page 50449]]

gas development, including coal bed methane, and coal mining on the 
tracts proposed for leasing;
    2. Potential impacts to big game herds and hunting;
    3. Potential impacts to sage grouse;
    4. Potential impacts to Threatened and Endangered species;
    5. The need for considering the cumulative impacts of leasing 
decisions combined with other existing and proposed development in the 
Wyoming Powder River Basin;
    6. Potential health impacts related to blasting; and
    7. The potential impacts on air and water quality.
    If you have specific concerns about these issues, or have other 
concerns or issues that BLM should consider in processing this 
application, please express them at the public meeting or address them 
in writing to the above address. Written comments should be received by 
October 31, 2001, in order to be fully considered in the draft EIS.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the address listed above during 
regular business hours (7:45 a.m.-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 or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

    Dated: August 29, 2001.
Donald E. Shepard,
Acting Deputy State Director, Minerals and Lands.
[FR Doc. 01-24661 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P