[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 11129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5303]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[ID-075-03-1330-EO]


Notice of Availability of Supplemental Mine and Reclamation Plan, 
North Rasmussen Ridge Mine, and Associated Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement, Caribou County, ID

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement has been 
prepared for the Supplemental Mine and Reclamation Plan for the North 
Rasmussen Ridge phosphate mine, Caribou County, Idaho. The 
Environmental Impact Statement was prepared to assess the impacts of 
implementing the Supplemental Mine and Reclamation Plan, and to 
disclose those impacts to the public and the lead agency decision-
maker. The DEIS analyzes the potential impacts related to the expansion 
of mining at Agrium's North Rasmussen Ridge Mine in southeast Idaho. 
The Proposed Action includes developing two mine pits and a haul road. 
Use of existing support and transportation systems would continue. 
Existing operations at the Central Rasmussen Ridge Mine were approved 
in a 1997 Record of Decision. This environmental analysis reviews 
potential impacts from selenium and updates the previous impact 
analyses for other resources. Alternatives to the Proposed Action are 
also analyzed and site-specific mitigation measures developed.

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS will be accepted for 60 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the 
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the Pocatello Field 
Office Manager, BLM, 1111 N. 8th Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83201, or e-
mailed to [email protected]. Our practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available 
for public review during regular business hours. 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 and businesses, and 
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection 
in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the document, 
please call (208) 478-6353, or write or e-mail Mr. Wendell Johnson, BLM 
Pocatello Field Office, 1111 North 8th Avenue, Pocatello, Idaho 83201, 
or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The agency Preferred Alternative is the 
Proposed Action because it disturbs the least acreage of the action 
alternatives and all waste material is backfilled to the pits. In 
addition to the Proposed Action of continuing mining along the strike 
of the ore while backfilling previously mined-out pits, two additional 
alternatives are being considered. Alternative 1 is similar to the 
proposed alternative, but includes impermeable capped backfilled 
wastes. Alternative 2 is described as the No-Action Alternative and 
would not allow mineral extraction to occur on the approved leases.
    The BLM 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. First, reviewers of 
draft environmental impact statements 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 
contentions. 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 that 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 
proposed action participate by the close of the 60-day comment period 
for the draft EIS so that substantive comments and objections are made 
available to the BLM at a time when it can meaningfully consider and 
respond to them in the final EIS.

Phil Damon,
Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 03-5303 Filed 3-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-GG-P