[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 46 (Thursday, March 10, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12005-12006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4688]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Amendments to Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Desert Rock Energy Project, San Juan County, 
NM

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs is amending its Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project, San 
Juan County, New Mexico, published in the Federal Register on November 
10, 2004 (69 FR 65215), which described the proposed action. The 
amendments: (1) Add the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) as cooperating agencies; (2) include the mining 
of up to six million more tons of coal per year from the BHP Navajo 
Coal Company lease area and delivery of that coal to the proposed power 
plant, plus the issuance of permits required under the Clean Water Act 
by the Army Corps of Engineers and/or the EPA, for analysis in the EIS; 
(3) announce five more public scoping meetings to identify potential 
issues and alternatives for inclusion in the EIS; and (4) extend the 
period for public comment on scoping for the EIS.

DATES: Written comments addressing issues or alternatives to be 
considered in the EIS or other information bearing on the EIS must 
arrive by April 11, 2005. The additional public scoping meetings will 
be held March 28, 29 (2 meetings), 30, and 31, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to Eloise 
Chicharello, Director, Navajo Regional Office, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, PO Box 1060, Gallup, New Mexico 87305.
    The addresses and times for the public scoping meetings are:
    1. March 28, 2005--Cortez Middle School Cafeteria, 450 West 2nd 
Street, Cortez, Colorado, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
    2. March 29, 2005--Sanostee Chapter House, Highway 491, Navajo 
Nation, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.,and Burnham Chapter House, Navajo Nation, 4 
p.m. to 8 p.m.
    3. March 30, 2005--Auxiliary Gymnasium, Shiprock High School, 
Highway 64 West, Shiprock, New Mexico, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
    4. March 31, 2005--Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Silver & 
Turquoise

[[Page 12006]]

Room, 2401 12 Street NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
    An EPA representative will be present at the Albuquerque public 
meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Loretta A.W. Tsosie, (505) 863-8296, 
or Richard Knox, (602) 861-7428.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sithe Global Power, LLC, a privately held, 
independent power company, and Din[eacute] Power Authority, an 
enterprise of the Navajo Nation established by the Navajo Nation 
Council to promote the development of energy resources, have entered 
into a joint agreement to develop a coal-fired electric power-
generating plant on a 600-acre site approximately 30 miles southwest of 
Farmington, New Mexico. Coal to support the long-term production of 
electricity may be mined from the adjacent BHP Navajo Coal Company 
lease area, hence the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement would approve any necessary permits for the existing lessee 
to mine additional areas of the coal lease and construct a coal-
handling facility for delivery of coal to the proposed electric power-
generating plant.
    Resources and issues so far identified for analysis in the EIS 
include air, geology, soils, water, vegetation, wildlife, special 
status species, land use, access, visual resources, noise, social and 
economic conditions, environmental justice, hazardous materials, and 
cultural and paleontological resources. Analyses will address 
requirements of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species 
Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and 
Liability Act, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and others, 
as needed. Alternatives to be analyzed include, at a minimum, the 
proposed action and no action. The range of issues and alternatives to 
be addressed may be expanded based on comments received during the 
scoping process.

Public Comment Availability

    Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the mailing address shown in the 
ADDRESSES section, 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 us to withhold your name and/or 
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. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. 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.

Authority

    This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 
1508) implementing the procedural requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the 
exercise of authority delegated to the Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary--Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: February 23, 2005.
Michael D. Olsen,
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 05-4688 Filed 3-9-05; 8:45 am]
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