[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42794-42795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-15964]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[(WY-920-1320-EL), WYW151634]


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 
and notice of scoping for a lease application received from Triton Coal 
Company for Federal coal in the decertified Powder River Federal Coal 
Production Region, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received a competitive 
coal lease application from Triton Coal Company, LLC (Triton) on August 
31, 2000, for a maintenance tract containing approximately 135 million 
tons of Federal coal and including approximately 933 acres in an area 
adjacent to the company's Buckskin Mine. This tract, assigned case 
number WYW151634, is called the West Hay Creek tract. On November 5, 
2001, BLM received a request from Triton to modify the West Hay Creek 
tract to include about 840 acres and 130 million tons of Federal coal. 
The Buckskin Mine and West Hay Creek tract are located in Campbell 
County, Wyoming. The tract was applied for as a lease-by-application 
(LBA) under the provisions of 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
3425.1. Triton proposes to mine the tract as a maintenance tract for 
the Buckskin Mine. At the 2001 mining rate of about 19 million tons per 
year, mining the coal in the West Hay Creek tract would extend the life 
of the Buckskin Mine by approximately seven years.
    The Powder River Regional Coal Team (RCT) reviewed this lease 
application at a public meeting held on October 25, 2000, in Cheyenne, 
Wyoming. The RCT recommended that BLM process the application. In order 
to process the application, BLM must comply with the requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). BLM has determined that 
the requirements of NEPA would be best served by preparing an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) for this lease application. The 
EIS process is beginning with this Notice of Intent and Notice of 
Scoping. 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 Fair Market Value (FMV) and Maximum Economic 
Recovery (MER) of the Federal coal included in this coal lease 
application.

DATES: The scoping period for this Federal coal lease application began 
on June 1, 2002, and will end July 31, 2002. Scoping comments should be 
submitted by July 31, 2002, in order to be fully considered in the 
draft EIS. A public scoping meeting is scheduled for June 26, 2002, at 
7 p.m., at the Clarion Western Plaza Hotel, 2009 South Douglas Highway, 
Gillette, Wyoming.
    If you have concerns or issues that you believe the BLM should 
address in processing this coal lease application, 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 by July 31, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments, or concerns to the 
Casper Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Patricia Karbs, 
2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82604, fax them to 307-261-7587, 
or send e-mail comments to [email protected], attn: Patricia 
Karbs.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 31, 2000, Triton filed a coal 
lease application for a maintenance tract containing approximately 135 
million tons of Federal coal and including approximately 933 acres. 
This tract, case number WYW151634, is called the West Hay Creek tract. 
On November 5, 2001, BLM received a request from Triton to modify the 
West Hay Creek tract for the following lands in Campbell County, 
Wyoming:

T. 52 N., R. 72 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Section 17: Lots 5 (S\1/2\ S\1/2\), 6 (S\1/2\S\1/2\), 7 (S\1/
2\S\1/2\), 8 (S\1/2\S\1/2\), 9-14;
    Section 18: Lots 13 (E\1/2\), 20 (E\1/2\);
    Section 19: Lots 5 (E\1/2\), 12 (E\1/2\), 13 (E\1/2\), 20 (E\1/
2\);
    Section 25: Lots 2 (W\1/2\, W\1/2\E\1/2\), 3-6, 7 (W\1/2\,W\1/
2\E\1/2\), 10 (W\1/2\, W\1/2\E\1/2\), 11-14.

    Containing 838.0975 acres, more or less.


[[Page 42795]]


    The tract includes an estimated 130 million tons of coal in place. 
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 fair market value.
    The Buckskin 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 (DEQ). The 
mine has an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division 
of the Wyoming DEQ to mine up to 27.5 million tons of coal per year.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) will 
be a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. If the West Hay 
Creek LBA tract is leased to the applicant, the new lease must be 
incorporated into the existing mining plans for the adjacent mine, and 
the Secretary of the Interior must approve the revised 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 mining plan to the 
Secretary if the tract is leased.
    A major issue the BLM has identified related to coal leasing in the 
Powder River Basin is the need to resolve conflicts between existing 
and proposed oil and gas development, including coal bed methane, and 
proposed coal mining on the West Hay Creek LBA tract. Other issues 
identified include the potential impacts to big game herds and hunting, 
the potential impacts to sage grouse, the size of the tract as applied 
for, the need for considering the cumulative impacts of this leasing 
decision, the validity and currency of the resource data to be used in 
analyzing the impacts, the impact on existing land uses, the potential 
impacts to sensitive and endangered species including prairie dogs and 
mountain plover, and 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 address them in writing to the above address. Written comments 
should be received by July 31, 2002, 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: April 17, 2002.
Alan Rabinoff,
Deputy State Director, Minerals and Lands.
[FR Doc. 02-15964 Filed 6-20-02; 2:01 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P