[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 246 (Friday, December 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65984-65985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31407]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-040-1320-EL, WYW154595]


Federal Coal, Environmental Document and Notice of Scoping

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental document on one 
lease application received for one Federal coal tract in the 
decertified Green River/Hamms Fork Coal Production Region, Wyoming, and 
Notice of Scoping.

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    The type of environmental document (Environmental Assessment or 
Environmental Impact Statement), will be determined after the scoping 
process is completed. If analysis shows that a plan amendment is 
necessary, the Green River Resource Management Plan (RMP) will be 
amended.
SUMMARY: BLM received a competitive coal lease application on September 
28, 2001, from Bridger Coal Company. The tract applied for is 
approximately 7,054.34 acres in size, and contains approximately 110 
million tons of in-place coal reserves. The tract is adjacent to the 
Bridger Mine in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The tract, which is 
referred to as the Ten Mile Rim Lease by Application (LBA) Tract, was 
assigned case number WYW154595.
    The tract was applied for as a tract LBA under the provisions of 43 
CFR 3425.1. As part of the LBA process, BLM will prepare an 
environmental analysis in accordance with the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act, develop possible stipulations 
regarding mining operations, determine the fair market value (FMV) of 
the Federal coal included in the tract, and evaluate the maximum 
economic recovery (MER) of the coal in the tract. 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 an environmental analysis and in evaluating the 
FMV and MER of the Federal coal included in this coal lease 
application.

Dates: Scoping comments must be received by 30 days after publication 
of this notice in order to be fully considered in the draft 
environmental analysis. A public scoping meeting at

[[Page 65985]]

the BLM Rock Springs Field Office, 280 Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, 
Wyoming will be announced in local media.
    If you have concerns or issues that you believe the BLM should 
address in processing this LBA proposal, you can express them verbally 
at the scoping meeting; or you can mail, e-mail or fax written comments 
to BLM at the addresses given below.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments or concerns to the BLM 
Rock Springs Field Office, Attn: Teri Deakins, 280 Highway 191 North, 
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901, fax them to 307-352-0329, or email them to 
the attention of Teri Deakins at [email protected]. Please refer to 
Ten Mile Rim Lease in the subject field.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teri Deakins or Ted Murphy at the 
above address, or phone: 307-352-0256.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 28, 2001, Bridger Coal Company 
filed a coal lease application for the following lands adjacent to the 
Bridger Mine in Sweetwater County, Wyoming:

Ten Mile Rim--WYW154595

T. 21 N., R. 100 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Section 2: Lots 5-8, S2N2, S2;
    Section 4: Lots 5-8, S2N2, S2;
    Section 6: Lots 8-14, S2NE, SENW, E2SW, SE;
    Section 8: All;
    Section 10: All;
    Section 12: W2;
    Section 14: All.
T. 22 N., R. 100 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Section 30: Lots 5-8, E2W2, E2;
    Section 32: All;
    Section 34: All;
T. 22 N., R. 101 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Section 26: Lots 1-16;
    Section 34: Lots 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 13, NESE, SWSE.
Containing 7,054.34 acres, more or less.

    The tract includes an estimated 110 million tons of in place coal 
reserves. According to the application the coal would be required to 
provide fuel to the nearby Jim Bridger Power Plant for an additional 15 
to 20 years. Land ownership in the area is checkerboard, where BLM 
manages for the Federal government approximately every even numbered 
section.
    As part of the coal leasing process, BLM will evaluate the tract 
configuration and may decide to add or subtract Federal coal to avoid 
bypassing coal or to increase estimated FMV.
    The Bridger Mine, which is adjacent to the Ten Mile Rim LBA Tract, 
has an approved mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality 
Division of the Wyoming Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) and an 
approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the 
Wyoming DEQ.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) will 
be a cooperating agency in the preparation of the environmental 
document. If the tract is leased as a tract then the lease must be 
incorporated into the existing Jim Bridger Mining and Reclamation Plan 
and the Secretary of the Interior must approve the revision to the 
Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) mining plan before the Federal coal in the 
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 plan to the office of the Secretary of the 
Interior if the tract were leased.
    Tentative issues have been identified as occurring in the area of 
the Ten Mile Rim LBA Tract or during the processing of previous 
applications to lease Federal coal in the State of Wyoming. These 
include:
    1. The need for resolution of conflicts between existing and 
proposed oil and gas development, including coal bed methane, and coal 
mining on the tracts proposed for leasing;
    2. Potential impacts on air and water quality, and the Great Divide 
Basin Watershed.
    3. Subsidence.
    4. Potential impacts to surface resources including crucial winter 
range, raptor nesting, sage grouse, and listed, proposed for listing, 
candidate, and BLM-sensitive plant and animal species.
    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. 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 or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    Preparation of the environmental analysis may include actions that 
upon review could require an amendment to the Green River RMP. Should 
actions be found that are not in conformance with the Green River RMP, 
a planning review of existing land-use decisions would be conducted at 
that time.

    Dated: November 16, 2001.
Darla D. Pindell,
Acting Chief, Branch of Solid Minerals.
[FR Doc. 01-31407 Filed 12-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P