[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 148 (Friday, August 1, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45271-45272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-19204]


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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, Final Environmental Impact Statement, 
Caribou County, ID

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations and 
Bureau of Land Management policy, this notice announces the publication 
of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Supplemental Mine 
and Reclamation Plan for the North Rasmussen Ridge phosphate mine, 
Caribou County, Idaho.
    In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 102(2)(C) 
of 1969, 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 environmental impact statement 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. 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.

DATES: A 30-day availability period will start when the Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes its notice of availability and filing of 
the FEIS in the Federal Register. The public can comment on the FEIS 
during that 30-day period. Upon completion of the 30-day availability 
period, the BLM will consider the comments received on the FEIS and 
then will issue a Record of Decision (ROD).

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: A Notice of Intent to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement was published in the Federal Register on 
May 18, 2001. A Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS) was published in the Federal Register on March 
7, 2003. In addition to the Proposed Action (the Agencies Preferred 
Alternative) 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. Two additional alternatives 
were identified and considered in comments received on the DEIS--the 
first additional alternative suggested in the comments included a 
redesign of the partially backfilled pit bottom to allow water to drain 
to one end of an impermeable layer lined pit. The water collected 
within the pit could then be pumped to adjacent wetlands. The second 
alternative identified from

[[Page 45272]]

comments in the DEIS was to mine and transport ore from Utah to supply 
Agrium's fertilizer plant in Idaho. The FEIS is published in an 
abbreviated format that responds to comments received on the DEIS.

Phil Damon,
Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 03-19204 Filed 7-31-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-GG-P