[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74643-74645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31836]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-060-1320-EL) WYW150210, WYW150318, WYW151134, WYW151643, WYW154001]


Notice of Availability of South Powder River Basin Coal Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) on four maintenance lease applications received for 
five Federal coal tracts in the decertified Powder River Federal Coal 
Production Region, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
implementing regulations and other applicable statutes the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the South Powder 
River Basin Coal FEIS.
    The FEIS analyzes the impacts of issuing five Federal coal leases 
in the Wyoming portion of the Powder River Basin. The tracts are being 
considered for sale as a result of coal lease applications received 
from existing

[[Page 74644]]

companies operating mines in the Wyoming Powder River Basin.

DATES: Written comments on the FEIS will be accepted for 30 days 
following the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes their NOA of the FEIS in the Federal Register. The BLM will 
notify all parties on this project's mailing list of the dates when 
comments will be accepted.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions, comments, or concerns to the 
Casper Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Nancy Doelger, 
2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82604, fax them to (307) 261-
7587, or send e-mail comments to the attention of Nancy Doelger at 
[email protected]. Copies of the FEIS are available for public inspection 
at the following BLM office locations: Bureau of Land Management, 
Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009; 
Bureau of Land Management, Casper Field Office, 2987 Prospector Lane, 
Casper, Wyoming 82604.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The five Federal coal tracts being 
considered for leasing are adjacent to four mines located south and 
east of Wright, Wyoming. The operators of these mines applied to lease 
the tracts as maintenance tracts to extend the life of their existing 
mining operations under the provisions of the Leasing on Application 
regulations at 43 CFR 3425. The following paragraphs provide 
descriptions of the tracts as they were applied for.
    On March 10, 2000, Powder River Coal Company applied for a 
maintenance coal lease for approximately 4,500 acres (approximately 564 
million tons of recoverable coal) in two tracts adjacent to the North 
Antelope/Rochelle Mine Complex in Campbell County, Wyoming. The tracts, 
which are referred to as the NARO North Lease by Application (LBA) 
Tract and the NARO South LBA Tract, were assigned case numbers 
WYW150210 and WYW154001, respectively:

NARO North--WYW150210

T. 42 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 28: Lots 5 thru 16;
    Sec. 29: Lots 5 thru 16;
    Sec. 30: Lots 9 thru 20;
T. 42 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 25: Lots 5 thru 15;
    Sec. 26: Lots 7 thru 10;
    Sec. 35: Lots 1, 2, 7 thru 10, 15, 16.
    Containing 2,369.38 acres, more or less.

NARO South--WYW 154001

T. 41 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 19: Lots 6 thru 11, 12 (S\1/2\), 13 thru 20;
    Sec. 20: Lots 5 (S\1/2\, 6 (S\1/2\), 7 (S\1/2\), 6 (S\1/2\), 8 
(S\1/2\), 9 thru 16;
    Sec. 21: Lots 5 (S\1/2\), 12, 13;
    Sec. 28: Lots 3 thru 6, 11, NE\1/4\SW\1/4\;
    Sec. 29: Lots 1 thru 12;
    Sec. 30: Lots 5 thru 12;

    Containing 2,133.635 acres, more or less.

    On March 23, 2000, Ark Land Company applied for a maintenance coal 
lease for approximately 2,799.5 acres (approximately 383.6 million in-
place tons of coal) adjacent to the Black Thunder Mine in Campbell 
County, Wyoming. The tract, which is referred to as the Little Thunder 
LBA Tract, was assigned case number WYW150318. According to the 
application, the coal is needed to maintain existing mining operations 
at the Black Thunder Mine and would be used for electric power 
generation. On June 14, 2001, Ark Land Company filed an application to 
modify the Little Thunder LBA Tract. As currently filed, the tract 
includes approximately 3449.3 acres and 440 million tons of recoverable 
coal reserves.

Little Thunder--WYW150318

T. 43 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 2: Lots 5, 6, 11 thru 14, 19, 20;
    Sec. 11: Lots 1, 2, 7 thru 10, 15, 16;
    Sec. 12: Lots 2 (W\1/2\ & SE\1/4\), 3 thru 16;
    Sec. 13: Lots 1 thru 16;
    Sec. 14: Lots 1, 2, 6 thru 9, 14, 15;
    Sec. 24: Lots 1 thru 16;
    Sec. 25: Lots 1, 2, 7 thru 10, 15, 16.

T. 44 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 35: Lots 1, 2, 7 thru 10, 15, 16.
    Containing 3,449.317 acres, more or less.

    On July 28, 2000, Triton Coal Company applied for a maintenance 
coal lease for approximately 1870.6 acres (approximately 173.2 million 
in-place tons of coal) adjacent to the North Rochelle Mine in Campbell 
County, Wyoming. The tract, which is referred to as the West Roundup 
LBA Tract, was assigned case number WYW151134.

West Roundup--WYW151134

T. 42 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 6: Lots 8-19, 20 (N\1/2\), 21 (N\1/2\), 22 (N\1/2\), 23 
(N\1/2\);
    Sec. 7. Lots 5 (S\1/2\), 6 (S\1/2\), 7 (S\1/2\), 8 (S\1/2\), 9 
thru 14;
    Sec. 8: Lots 1 (SW\1/4\), 2 (S\1/2\), 3 (S\1/2\), 4 (S\1/2\), 5 
thru 12;
    Sec. 9: Lots 5 (SW\1/4\), 11, 12, 14;
T. 43 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 31: Lots 13 thru 20.
T. 42 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 1: Lots 5, 6, 11 thru 13.
    Containing 1,870.638 acres more or less.

    On September 12, 2000, Antelope Coal Company applied for a 
maintenance coal lease for approximately 3,500 acres (approximately 
292.5 million in-place tons of coal) adjacent to the Antelope Mine in 
Campbell and Converse Counties, Wyoming. The tract, which is referred 
to as the West Antelope LBA Tract, was assigned case number WYW151643. 
On June 27, 2001, Antelope Coal Company filed an application to modify 
the West Antelope LBA Tract. As currently filed, the tract includes 
approximately 3,542 acres and 293.9 million tons of in place coal 
reserves. According to the application, mining this coal would extend 
the life of the existing mine and the coal would be mined for sale to 
electrical power generating plants.

West Antelope--WYW151643

T. 40 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 3: Lots 15 thru 18;
    Sec. 4: Lots 5 thru 20;
    Sec. 5: Lots 5 thru 7, 10 thru 15, 19, 20;
    Sec. 9: Lot 1;
    Sec. 10: Lots 3, 4;
T. 41 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming,
    Sec. 28: Lots 1 thru 16;
    Sec. 29: Lots 1 thru 16;
    Sec. 32: Lots 1 thru 3, 6 thru 11, 14 thru 16;
    Sec. 33: Lots 1 thru 16.
    Containing 3,542.19 acres more or less.

    Each of the mines adjacent to the LBA tracts described above (the 
North Antelope/Rochelle, Black Thunder, North Rochelle, and Antelope 
mines, respectively) has an approved mining and reclamation plan from 
the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental 
Quality and an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality 
Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Each of 
these mines has previously acquired one or more maintenance coal leases 
using the LBA process.
    The Powder River Regional Coal Team (RCT) reviewed these 
competitive applications at public meetings held on October 25, 2000, 
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and May 30, 2002, in Casper, Wyoming. At the most 
recent meeting, the RCT recommended that BLM continue to process these 
LBAs.
    The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was mailed to the 
public in February 2003. The EPA and the BLM each published a Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register on February 7 and February 20, 
2003, respectively. A formal public hearing on these applications was 
held, pursuant to 43 CFR 3425.4 at 7:00 P.M. MDT on March 4, 2003, at 
the Best Western Tower West Lodge, 109 N. U.S. Highway 14-16, Gillette, 
Wyoming. The

[[Page 74645]]

purpose of the hearing was to solicit public comments on the DEIS, the 
fair market value, the maximum economic recovery, and the proposed 
competitive sale of the coal included in each of the proposed five 
tracts. The 60-day comment period on the DEIS ended on April 11, 2003.
    The draft and final EIS analyze leasing each of the five tracts as 
applied for (described above) as a separate Proposed Actions. As part 
of the coal leasing process, BLM has identified and is evaluating other 
tract configurations for these tracts which add or subtract Federal 
coal to avoid bypassing coal or to increase competitive interest in the 
unleased Federal coal in this area. The tract configurations that BLM 
has identified for each tract are described and analyzed as 
alternatives in the EIS. The EIS also analyzes the alternative of 
rejecting each application to lease Federal coal s the No Action 
Alternative for each tract.
    The agency-preferred alternatives are identified in the FEIS. The 
agency-preferred alternative varies for each tract, depending on which 
tract configuration is determined to best advance the public interest 
in avoiding bypassing Federal coal and increasing competitive interest 
in obtaining the fair market value of the Federal coal. The Proposed 
Actions and Alternatives that are considered in the EIS are in 
conformance with the ``Approved Resource Management Plan for Public 
Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land Management Buffalo Field 
Office'' (April 2001), the USDA Forest Service ``Final EIS for the 
Northern Great Plains Revision'' (May 2001) and the BLM ``Platte River 
Resource Area Resource Management Plan'' (1985).
    The USDA Forest Service (Forest Service) is a cooperating agency in 
the preparation of the EIS. The surface of some of the land included 
for consideration for leasing in three of the tracts (NARO North, 
Little Thunder, and West Roundup) is National Forest System land 
administered by the Forest Service as part of the Thunder Basin 
National Grasslands.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is a 
cooperating agency in the preparation of this EIS. If the tracts are 
leased as maintenance tracts, each new lease must be incorporated into 
the existing mining and reclamation plan for the adjacent mine and the 
Secretary of the Interior must approve each revision to the MLA 
(Mineral Leasing Act) mining plan for each mine before the Federal coal 
in each tract can be mined. OSM is the Federal agency that would be 
responsible for recommending approval, approval with conditions, or 
disapproval of the revised MLA mining plans to the office of the 
Secretary of the Interior if any or all of these tracts are leased.
    Eleven written comments were received during the comment period on 
the Draft EIS, and four were recorded at the public hearing. The issues 
that were identified in the comment letters and at the hearing included 
potential conflicts with existing conventional oil and gas coalbed 
methane development; potential cumulative impacts of increasing mineral 
development in the Powder River Basin; validity and currency of 
resource data; public access; potential impacts to threatened and 
endangered species and other species of concern; potential cumulative 
air quality impacts; and potential impacts of nitrogen oxide emissions 
resulting from blasting of coal and overburden.
    A separate Record of Decision (ROD) will be prepared for each of 
the five LBA tracts being considered for leasing. Comments received on 
the FEIS will be considered during preparation of the RODs.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the Bureau of Land Management, Casper 
Field Office, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming, during regular 
business hours (8 a.m. to 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: October 23, 2003.
Alan L. Kesterke,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 03-31836 Filed 12-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-M