[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7338-7340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-3470]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Beech Fork Coal Lease and Project Specific Forest Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement, 
a Land Resource Management Plan (LRMP) amendment, issue a call for coal 
and other resource information, and notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will prepare an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) to analyze the environmental impacts of leasing 
three federal coal reserve tracts. The three tracts total 1,210.44 
acres and underlie lands administered by the USFS. The proposed 
development of the three federal coal reserve tracts involves 
underground mining of coal using room-and-pillar mining methods. No 
surface disturbance related to mine openings, haul roads, or processing 
will occur on the federal tracts. The tracts are adjacent to an 
existing underground coal mine on private lands.
    In conjunction with the EIS, a Land Resource Management Plan 
Amendment will be prepared in a cooperative effort between the USFS, 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM). 
As part of the initiation of the LRMP Amendment, a Call for Coal and 
Other Resource Information is being made. This data request solicits 
(1) information on the coal resource development potential of the three 
proposed tracts and (2) resources that may be affected by coal 
development for lands in the project area.
    Authority: The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (MLS) authorizes the 
leasing of federal coal in tracts that permit the mining of all 
economically extractable coal. The Daniel Boone National Forest Land 
Resource Management Plan provides overall guidance for land management 
activities, including extraction of mineral resources. The Forest Plan 
provides for the consideration of lease proposals in the project area 
and directs that special stipulations be used to protect surface 
resources. The LRMP Amendment is being prepared to update the 1985 
Forest Plan to address leasing of two of the three tracts, as the 
Tennessee Valley Authority previously owned them.
    Since the passage of the MLA, the federal government has had the 
authority to lease minerals on federal lands. The act requires that the 
lands be included in a comprehensive land use plan, and the lease be 
compatible with the plan and meet the requirements of

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the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
    Executive Order 13212, May 18, 2001 is intended to improve the 
internal management of the federal government in dealing with 
processing energy-related projects in a timely manner to aid the flow 
of domestic mineral production. The Forest Plan, as noted previously, 
identifies standards and guidelines, some of which are applicable to 
minerals activities. The Daniel Boone National Forest is presently 
preparing a revision to the Forest Plan that will be accompanied by its 
own EIS. However, 42 United States Code (USC) Section 885 does not 
permit the Secretary of Agriculture to delay processing of lease 
applications pending the completion of the revised Forest Plan. The 
current Forest Plan guides management of this national forest until the 
revised plan is completed and the administrative appeal process has 
ended. The Forest Service is publishing this Notice of Intent pursuant 
to the Council on Environmental Quality implementing regulations of the 
National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1501.7.
    Date Comments Are Due: Comments concerning the scope of this 
planning project and responses to the Call for Coal and Other Resource 
Information must be received by March 15, 2003. The Draft LRMP 
Amendment and EIS is expected to be completed in May 2003 and the Final 
LRMP Amendment and EIS is expected to be completed in September 2003.
    Send Comments to: Submit written comments to Corey Miller, Daniel 
Boone National Forest, 1700 Bypass Road, Winchester, KY 40391. Comments 
may also be sent by fax at (859) 744-1568; or by electronically to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Corey Miller is the Interdisciplinary 
Team Leader for this proposed action. He can be reached by US mail at 
the Daniel Boone National Forest, 1700 Bypass Road, Winchester, KY 
40391; by phone at (859) 745-3149; or by e-mail at [email protected].
    Lead and Cooperating Agencies: The U.S. Department of Agriculture 
Forest Service, Daniel Boone National Forest is the lead agency. There 
will be two cooperating agencies associated with this project--U.S. 
Department of the Interior (USDI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
Jackson Field Office, Jackson, MS and the USDI Office of Surface Mining 
(OSM), Lexington, KY.
    Responsible Officials: The Forest Supervisor is the responsible 
official from the Forest Service for this project. The District 
Manager--Jackson Field Office is the responsible official from the BLM 
for this project. The Field Office Director--Lexington, Kentucky is the 
responsible OSM official for this project.
    Decision To Be Made: The responsible official for the Daniel Boone 
National Forest will determine if the leasing of federal coal tracts 
underlying these National Forest System lands will occur after the LRMP 
Amendment and EIS in prepared and what stipulations should be applied 
if a lease are issued.
    The Bureau of Land Management has the responsibility to address 
coal lease applications (coal lease sales) on federal mineral reserves. 
In consultation with the USFS, the responsible official for the BLM 
will decide whether or not to offer the tracts for competitive leasing, 
and under what terms, conditions and stipulations.
    The Office of Surface Mining will be responsible for providing 
recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior regarding approval, 
disapproval, or conditional approval of the mine plan on lands 
contained within the federal lease area. If it is determined that there 
may be surface impacts resulting from mining in the proposed lease 
area, the Office of Surface Mining, with input from the U.S. Forest 
Service, will also be responsible for providing recommendations to the 
Secretary of the Interior concerning the issuance of findings as to 
whether or not the proposed lease and mining areas contain significant 
recreational, timber, economic or other values that may be incompatible 
with the proposed mining activities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Purpose and Need for the Proposal: The purpose and need for the EIS 
is to determine if federal coal will be leased in response to the lease 
application submitted for this federal coal. Private coal leases, 
permitted by the state, surround the proposed federal coal lease 
tracts. The leasing of this coal would allow for the development of the 
private and federal coal resources in an economic and efficient manner 
and would maximize the recovery of the coal.
    Scoping Process: Scoping is the process used to determine the scope 
of issues to be addressed and for identifying the significant issues 
related to this project. Public involvement is an integral component of 
coping. The public will be contacted in several different ways, 
provided information about this project, and given an opportunity to 
provide input on it. Information will be sent to a mailing list of 
individuals, groups, and agencies that are known to have an interest in 
this project or have previously expressed an interest in projects of 
this nature or general activities in the project area.
    In addition to the publication of this Notice of Intent, legal 
notices will be published in the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader and the 
Manchester (KY) Times.
    A Public coping open house meeting will be held at the Leslie 
County Extension Office at 22045 Main Street in Hyden, KY on March 10, 
2003 from 6 PM to 9 PM.
    Additional hearings pursuant to Title 43 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Section 1610.2 and 43 CFR 3425.4, will be announced 
through the Federal Register, local news media and web sites at least 
15 days prior to the event.
    Preliminary Issues: Preliminary issues of concern include 
subsidence, and changes in the local hydrologic regime and water 
quality. The potential for surface and ground water resource impacts 
will be studied in the EIS.
    Preliminary Alternatives: The proposed development of the federal 
coal reserve tracts involves an economic and efficient method of mining 
the resource. Other preliminary alternatives include the No Action 
alternative, which is a rejection of the Proposed Action to mine the 
federal coal. The adjoining private coal resource leases that surround 
the three federal tracts have been permitted, and the coal underlying 
those leases would be mined at a reduced level.
    Permits or Licenses Required: A permit is required from the State 
Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement prior to any 
development of coal resources.
    Unsuitability Criteria: The information addressing the 
Unsuitability Criteria is listed in 43 CFR 3461. Application of the 
unsuitability criteria will result in a preliminary review of Daniel 
Boone National Forest lands for leasing. The determination relates only 
to the specific resources and uses addressed in the 20 unsuitability 
criteria. Section 43 CFR 3461.1 provides for an exemption in the 
application of the unsuitability criteria. However, in this case the 
exemption isn't met, because of the surface impacts resulting from 
subsidence from underground mines. The unsuitability criteria will be 
addressed in the EIS.
    Lands within the project area, which are acceptable for further 
leasing consideration after application of the unsuitability criteria 
will then be addressed in regards to other resource values and uses 
that could be affected by lease issuance.

[[Page 7340]]

    Comments Requested: This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping 
process that begins the preparation of the EIS. As part of the scoping 
process, the USFS is requesting comments on the proposed action. 
Comments received will be part of the public record on this project and 
will be available for public inspection.
    Estimated Dates for DEIS and FEIS: The DEIS is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency and to be available for public 
review and comment by May 2003. At that time, The Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) will publish a Notice of Availability (NOA) of 
the DEIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the DEIS will 
be a minimum of 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the NOA in the 
Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important 
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. Firstly, reviewers 
of the draft EIS must structure their participation in the 
environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and 
alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and concerns (Vermont 
Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978)) Also, 
environmental objections that could be raised at the draft EIS stage, 
but are not raised until after completion of the final EIS, may be 
waived or dismissed by the courts (City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris. 490 
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980)). Because of these court rulings, 
it is very important that those interested in this project participate 
by the close of the scoping comment period, so that substantive 
comments are made available to the Forest Service at a time when the 
comments can be meaningfully considered and responded to in the final 
EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should 
be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the draft EIS. Comments may also address 
the adequacy of the draft EIS or the merits of the alternatives 
formulated and discussed in the draft EIS. Reviewers may wish to refer 
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing 
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
    After the comment period ends on the DEIS, the comments will be 
analyzed, considered, and responded to by the Forest Service in 
preparing the FEIS. The FEIS is scheduled to be completed in September 
2003. The responsible official will consider the comments, responses, 
environmental consequences discussed in the FEIS, and applicable laws, 
regulations, and policies in making a decision regarding this proposed 
action.
    The responsible official will document the decision and reasons for 
the decision in a Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to 
appeal in accordance with 36 CFR part 215.

    Dated: February 6, 2003.
Benjamin T. Worthington,
Forest Supervisor, Daniel Boone National Forest.
[FR Doc. 03-3470 Filed 2-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M