[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50446-50447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24662]



[[Page 50446]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-920-1320-EM, WYW136142]


Federal Coal Lease Modification

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Documentation of Land Use Plan 
Conformance and Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) and notice of 
public hearing on the Modification of Federal Coal Lease WYW136142 at 
the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex operated by Powder River Coal 
Company, in Campbell County, WY.

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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 the DNA for the 
modification of Federal coal lease WYW136142 in the Wyoming Powder 
River Basin, and announces the scheduled date and place for a public 
hearing pursuant to 43 CFR 3432, 3425.3 and 3425.4. The draft DNA 
addresses the impacts of modifying this Federal coal lease and mining 
the modification area as a part of the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine 
Complex operated by Powder River Coal Company, in Campbell County, WY. 
The purpose of the hearing is to solicit public comments on the DNA, 
the fair market value, the maximum economic recovery, and the proposed 
noncompetitive offer of the coal included in the proposed lease 
modification. This lease modification is being considered for offer as 
a result of a request received from Powder River Coal Company on June 
19, 2000. The tract as requested includes about 19.97 acres containing 
approximately 2.5 million tons of Federal coal reserves.

DATES: A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. MDT, on October 9, 2001, 
at the Clarion Western Plaza Motel, 2009 S. Douglas Highway, Gillette, 
Wyoming. Written comments on the DNA will be accepted on or before 
November 2, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments or requests for copies of 
the DNA to the BLM Casper Field Office, Attn: Mike Karbs, 2987 
Prospector Drive, Casper, WY 82604; or you may e-mail them to the 
attention of Mike Karbs at [email protected]; or fax them to 307-
261-7587.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM Casper Field Office has received a 
request to modify an existing Federal coal lease at the North Antelope/
Rochelle Mine Complex. This mine is operated by Powder River Coal 
Company, and is located in Campbell County, WY, approximately 20 miles 
southeast of Wright. On June 19, 2000, Powder River Coal Company filed 
an application with the BLM to modify Federal lease WYW136142 by adding 
the following lands:

T. 41 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming

Section 18: Lot 6 (N\1/2\) or (N\1/2\NW\1/4\NE\1/4\)

    This tract is adjacent to Powder River Coal Company's North 
Antelope/ Rochelle Mine Complex and includes 19.97 acres more or less 
with an estimated 2.5 million tons of coal. This application was filed 
as a lease modification under the provisions of 43 CFR 3432.
    BLM believes that this lease modification serves the interests of 
the United States because it allows for a more efficient recovery of 
coal in a narrow or ``neck'' area of the current lease. This 
modification area is logically recovered as a part of the planned 
operations on the existing lease, and while this area could be 
recovered as part of a later competitive coal lease tract, that is not 
a certainty. If this coal is recovered in concert with the existing 
lease, it would result in minimal additional surface disturbance.
    BLM further believes that there is no current competitive interest 
in the lands proposed for lease modification, although as noted above, 
this area could be recovered as part of a later competitive coal lease 
tract, but that may or may not occur. This lease modification would not 
reduce the competitive value of a later competitive coal lease tract. 
Under the lease modification process, the modified lands would be added 
to the existing lease without competitive bidding. Before offering the 
lease modification the BLM will prepare an appraisal of the fair market 
value of the lease. The United States would receive fair market value 
of the lease for the added lands.
    The proposed lease modification is within the mine permit area of 
the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex. No new facilities or 
employees would be needed to mine the coal. Haul distances would not be 
increased. If production at the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine continues 
at the 2000 rate of 70 million tons of coal, the 2.5 million tons of 
coal included in the proposed lease modification would represent less 
than one-half month of production. The lands have most recently been 
studied under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) as 
part of the Powder River/Thundercloud LBA EIS (lease by application 
environmental impact statement), as well as several earlier NEPA 
analyses. BLM prepared a DNA for this action to make most effective use 
of these existing NEPA analyses. If this tract is modified into the 
current lease, the new lands must be incorporated into the existing 
mining plans for the North Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex. The Office 
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is a cooperating 
agency in the preparation of the environmental document because it is 
the Federal agency that is responsible for any required actions 
necessary to incorporate these lands into the current mining plan.
    BLM conducted scoping during August 2001, soliciting specific 
concerns that should be considered in processing this modified lease 
application, with scoping comments accepted through September 7, 2001. 
The DNA addresses issues identified or information received during this 
scoping period for the proposed lease modification. In addition to 
preparing the DNA, BLM will also develop possible stipulations 
regarding mining operations, determine the fair market value of the 
tract and evaluate maximum economic recovery of the coal in the 
proposed tract while processing this lease modification.
    Comments on the DNA, the fair market value, the maximum economic 
recovery, and the proposed noncompetitive offer of the coal included in 
the proposed lease modification, as well as scoping comments already 
received, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the address below 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.

[[Page 50447]]


    Dated: August 30, 2001.
Alan Rabinoff,
Deputy State Director, Minerals and Lands.
[FR Doc. 01-24662 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P