[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53998-54000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23441]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[ID 075 1330 EO]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Smoky Canyon Mine, Panels F and G Extension, BLM Pocatello Field 
Office and Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Caribou County, ID

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, USDI and Forest Service, USDA

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the Smoky Canyon Mine and

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Reclamation Plan, Panels F and G Extension.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Pocatello Field Office and the 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS), Caribou-Targhee 
National Forest, will jointly prepare an EIS to determine and analyze 
the effects of a proposed phosphate mine and reclamation plan on people 
and the environment. BLM will serve as the lead agency. Plans have been 
developed and submitted for agency review for an extension of open pit 
mining operations at the J.R. Simplot Company (Simplot) Smoky Canyon 
Phosphate Mine in Caribou County, Idaho, located approximately 20 miles 
west of Afton, Wyoming. Simplot has operated existing Smoky Canyon Mine 
since 1983 and within a few years will complete mining of currently 
permitted reserves.
    Agency Decisions: The BLM Idaho State Director or delegated 
official will make a decision regarding approval of the proposed mine 
and reclamation plan and appropriate land use authorizations (including 
a proposed 520 acre modification to I-27512) on leased lands. Decisions 
will be based on the EIS and any recommendations the FS may have 
regarding surface management of leased National Forest System lands. 
The Caribou-Targhee National Forest Supervisor makes recommendations to 
the BLM concerning surface management and mitigation on leased lands 
within the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and makes decisions on mine-
related activities which occur off-lease. The Army Corps of Engineers 
may also make decisions related to permits under Section 404 of the 
Clean Water Act.

DATES: Written comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be 
received within 30 days of the date of publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register. A draft EIS is expected to be completed by March 
of 2005. A final EIS is expected in September of 2005.
    Scoping Procedure: The scoping procedure to be used for this EIS 
will involve: Notification in the Federal Register; a mailing to 
interested and potentially affected individuals, groups, Federal, State 
and local government entities eliciting comments, issues and concerns; 
local news releases or newspaper legal notices; and public scoping 
meetings.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Panels F and G Extension EIS, 
Bureau of Land Management, Pocatello Field Office, 1111 N. 8th Ave., 
Pocatello, Idaho 83201. Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Blair, Bureau of Land 
Management, Pocatello Field Office, 1111 N. 8th Ave., Pocatello, Idaho 
83201, phone (208) 478-6384; or Scott Gerwe, Caribou-Targhee National 
Forest, Soda Springs Ranger District, 410 E. Hooper Ave., Soda Springs, 
Idaho 83276, phone (208) 547-4356. Information is also available at: 
http://www.id.blm.gov/offices/pocatello/sim_fg.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed new extension of mining 
operations in Panels F and G lie within the Caribou-Targhee National 
Forest on lands administered by the FS and Federal mineral leases 
administered by the BLM. Mining as proposed would take place on Panel 
F, including a lease modification (enlargement) of I-27512, and Panel. 
These existing Federal mineral leases are adjacent to the southwest 
portion of the existing mine and were previously issued to Simplot by 
competitive bid in January of 2001 and October of 1950 respectively. 
Environmental impacts of the proposed mining operations and reasonable 
alternatives will be analyzed in the EIS. Appropriate mitigation 
measures will also be formulated.
    The proposed mining activities consist of two open pits--Panel F on 
Federal phosphate lease I-27512 (sometimes referred to as the Manning 
Creek lease) and Panel G on Federal phosphate lease I-01441 (sometimes 
referred to as the Deer Creek lease), topsoil stockpiles, mine 
equipment parking and service areas, access and haul roads, a power 
line extension from the existing Smoky Canyon loop, permanent external 
overburden storage areas, and runoff/sediment control facilities. A new 
haul/access road to transport ore to the existing Smoky Canyon mill is 
proposed to be constructed from the south end of the existing Panel E 
approximately 0.7 miles to the proposed Panel F. As operations move 
south to Panel G, another haul road is proposed to transport ore 7.7 
miles from Panel G north to Panel F. Much of these activities are 
proposed to occur within the FS Sage Creek inventoried roadless area.
    As proposed, the existing Smoky Canyon Mine, maintenance, 
administrative, and milling facilities would continue to be used. 
However, because G panel lies several miles south of the currently 
existing maintenance and fuel facilities, Simplot's plans propose mine 
support facilities at the new panels including: equipment ready lines, 
electrical substations, warehouse and storage areas, lunch rooms, 
repair shops, restrooms, fuel and lubricant storage and dispensing 
facilities and blasting supplies.
    Ore from the new panels would be hauled in trucks over new and 
existing haul/access roads to the existing Smoky Canyon mill facilities 
to be concentrated. Ore concentrate from the mill would be transported 
to the Simplot fertilizer plant in Pocatello, Idaho via the existing 
slurry pipeline system. Mill tailings would continue to be deposited in 
the currently approved and permitted tailings disposal facilities 
located on Simplot property east of the mill.
    Initially, overburden generated from Panel F would be trucked to 
the existing Panel E open pit and used as backfill. Excess waste rock 
is proposed to be permanently placed in a 35-acre pit overfill fill on-
lease. Remaining overburden from Panel F would then be placed as 
backfill in Panel F as soon as practical. Overburden generated from 
mining Panel G would be permanently placed in 132 acres of external 
overburden fills on-lease at Panel G as well as backfill in the Panel G 
open pit.
    Disturbed lands directly resulting from the proposed activities 
total about 1,325 acres. New pits would disturb approximately 842 acres 
of which approximately 796 acres would be backfilled and reclaimed. 
Forty-six acres of highwall and pit bottoms would remain after 
reclamation is complete. The remaining 23 acres of the Panel E 
(currently approved and active) open pit would also be backfilled with 
overburden from Panel F. This pit is currently permitted to be left 
open. The rest of the disturbed acreage would consist of approximately 
307 acres of roads, 167 acres of overburden disposal areas, and 9 acres 
of runoff management facilities, water monitoring facilities, and 
topsoil piles. Each would be reclaimed. The FS Sage Creek inventoried 
roadless area overlaps large portions of the proposed mine and haul 
road disturbance areas.
    Potential impacts to surface resources and water quality include 
erosion, sediment, and dissolved contaminants such as selenium. Simplot 
has proposed to implement practices designed to reduce, eliminate, or 
mitigate these impacts. Suitable topsoil would be salvaged from 
disturbed areas for use in reclamation. Reclamation of mining 
disturbances include: removal of facilities and equipment, backfilling 
pits, regrading slopes, restoring drainages, spreading topsoil, 
stabilizing surfaces, revegetation, testing and

[[Page 54000]]

treatment for remaining hydrocarbon contaminants and environmental 
monitoring.
    Simplot has applied for two lease modifications to expand Federal 
Phosphate Lease I-27512 for the Panel F operations. They are a smaller 
120-acre lease modification on the northern edge of the lease and a 
larger 400-acre modification on the southern edge of the lease. The 
proposed northern lease modifications would be included in all action 
alternatives. The issuance and mining of a southern lease modification 
would be evaluated as a separate alternative. Environmental impacts of 
mining operations within the lease modifications will be analyzed in 
this EIS.
    Issues initially identified for the proposed mining of F and G 
panels include potential effects on: ground water and surface water 
quantity and quality, wildlife and their habitats; livestock grazing, 
wetlands and riparian habitat, socio-economics, FS inventoried roadless 
areas, visual resources, and cumulative effects.
    At this early stage, the BLM and FS believe that it is important to 
give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
draft EISs must structure their participation in the environmental 
review of the proposal to be meaningful and alerts an agency to 
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 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). Due to 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. This is necessary so that 
substantive comments and objections are made available to the BLM and 
FS at a time when they can meaningfully consider them and respond to 
them in the final EIS.

Possible Alternatives

    The EIS will analyze the Proposed Action with and without issuing a 
lease modification on the southern margin of Panel F operations, 
alternative access/haul road alignment to access the Panel G operations 
and the No Action Alternative. Other alternatives may include: 
additional access and haul road designs, use of conveyors to transport 
ore to the existing mill, revising the layout or sequencing of the 
proposed mining facilities, different methods for reducing impacts from 
overburden handling, and; other alternatives that could provide 
mitigation for impacts.

Tentative EIS Project Schedule

    The tentative project schedule is as follows:
    [sbull] Begin Public Comment Period: September 2003.
    [sbull] Hold Public Scoping Meetings: September 2003.
    [sbull] Estimated date for Draft EIS: March 2005.
    [sbull] Public Comment Period on Draft EIS: 60 days from when the 
Notice of Availability is published in the Federal Register.
    [sbull] Final EIS Publication: September 2005.
    [sbull] Decision: October 2005.

Public Scoping Meetings

    At least two public scoping meetings will be held. Each will be the 
open house type. The open houses will include displays explaining the 
project and provide a forum for commenting on the project. Meetings are 
currently planned for Pocatello, Idaho and Afton, Wyoming. The dates, 
times, and locations of the public scoping meetings will be announced 
in mailings and public notices issued by the BLM or may be obtained 
from James Blair, Bureau of Land Management, Pocatello Field Office, 
1111 N. 8th Ave., Pocatello, Idaho 83201, or http://www.id.blm.gov/offices/pocatello/sim_fg, phone (208) 478-6384.

Public Input Requested

    The BLM and FS are seeking information and written comments from 
Federal, State and local agencies as well as individuals and 
organizations interested in, or affected by, the Proposed Action or 
Alternatives. To assist the BLM and FS in identifying issues and 
concerns related to the Proposed Action or Alternatives, comments for 
scoping, and later for the Draft EIS, should be as specific as 
possible.

    Dated: August 14, 2003.
Phil Damon,
Manager, Pocatello Field Office, Bureau of Land Management.
Jerry B. Reese,
Forest Supervisor, Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
[FR Doc. 03-23441 Filed 9-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-GG-P