[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30445-30446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8085]



[[Page 30445]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[(WY-060-1320-EL), WYW154432]


Notice of Availability of Maysdorf Coal Lease Application Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement and Federal Coal Notice of Hearing, 
Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of a draft environmental impact 
statement (DEIS) and notice of public hearing for coal lease by 
application (LBA) WYW154432 in the decertified Powder River Federal 
Coal Production Region, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the 
implementing regulations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces 
the availability of the Maysdorf Coal DEIS and announces a public 
hearing pursuant to 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 3425.4.

DATES: Requests to be included on the mailing list and to receive 
copies of the DEIS and notification of the comment period and hearing 
date should be sent to the address, facsimile number, or electronic 
address listed below. Written comments on the DEIS will be accepted for 
60 days following the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) publishes their NOA of the DEIS in the Federal Register. The BLM 
asks that those submitting comments on the DEIS make them as specific 
as possible with reference to page numbers and chapters of the 
document. Comments that contain only opinions or preferences will not 
receive a formal response; however, they will be considered and 
included as part of the BLM decision-making process. The public hearing 
will be held at 7 p.m. MST, on June 13, 2006, at the Clarion Hotel, 
2009 South Douglas Highway, Gillette, Wyoming.

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]. A copy of the DEIS has been sent to affected Federal, 
State, and local Government agencies; persons, and entities identified 
as potentially being affected by a decision to lease the Federal coal 
in this tract; and persons who indicated to the BLM that they wished to 
receive a copy of the DEIS. Copies of the DEIS are available for public 
inspection at the following BLM office locations: BLM Wyoming State 
Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009; and BLM 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 DEIS analyzes and discloses to the 
public direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of 
issuing a Federal coal lease in the Wyoming portion of the Powder River 
Basin. The purpose of the public hearing is to solicit comments on the 
DEIS on the proposed competitive sale of the Federal coal in the 
Maysdorf Coal tract, and on the fair market value and maximum economic 
recovery of the Federal coal. The BLM is considering a coal lease 
issuance as a result of a September 20, 2001 application made by 
Cordero Mining Company (CMC) to lease Federal coal near the Cordero 
Rojo Mine approximately 15 miles south-southeast of Gillette, Wyoming. 
in Campbell County, Wyoming.
    Cordero, the operator of the mine, applied to lease the tract as a 
maintenance tract to extend the life of their existing mining 
operations under the provisions of the Leasing on Application 
regulations at 43 CFR 3425. This tract, case number WYW154432, is 
referred to as the Maysdorf Coal tract.
    On November 8, 2004, BLM received a request from CMC to modify the 
Maysdorf Coal tract. The following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming 
are included in the tract as currently filed:

T. 46 N., R. 71 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Sec. 4: Lots 5, 6, 7 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 10 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 11, 
12;
    Sec. 10: Lots 1, 2, 3 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 4 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ 
S\1/2\), 5 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 6 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\);
    Sec. 11: Lots 1 through 8, 9 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 10 (N\1/
2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 11 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ S\1/2\), 12 (N\1/2\, N\1/2\ 
S\1/2\);
T. 47 N., R. 71 W, 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Sec. 8: Lots 3 through 6, 11 through 13;
    Sec. 21: Lots 1, 2, 3 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 6 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 7 
through 10, 11 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 14 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 15, 16;
    Sec. 28: Lots 1, 2, 3 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 6 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 7 
through 10, 11 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 14 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 15, 16;
    Sec. 33: Lots 1, 2, 3 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 6 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 7 
through 10, 11 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 14 (E\1/2\ E\1/2\), 15, 16;

    Total Acres: 2,219.39 acres, more or less.
    The tract as currently filed includes an estimated 230.30 
million tons of in-place coal.

    The Cordero Rojo Mine is adjacent to the lease application area and 
has an approved mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality 
Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The 
Mine has an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division 
of the Wyoming DEQ to mine up to 65 million tons of coal per year.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), the 
Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental 
Quality (WDEQ), and the Wyoming State Planning Office (WSPO) are 
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the DEIS. If the tract is 
leased as a maintenance tract, the new lease will be incorporated into 
the existing mining and reclamation plan for the adjacent mine. The 
Secretary of the Interior must approve the revision to the Mineral 
Leasing Act (MLA) mining plan before the Federal coal can be mined. If 
the tract is leased, OSM is the Federal agency that would be 
responsible for recommending approval, approval with conditions, or 
disapproval of the revised MLA mining plan to the Office of the 
Secretary of the Interior. WDEQ has entered into a cooperative 
agreement with the Secretary of the Interior to regulate surface coal 
mining operations on Federal and non-Federal lands within the State of 
Wyoming. WSPO coordinates planning within state agencies and 
facilitates collaboration among the agencies, the Federal Government, 
other states, the private sector, and the general public.
    The DEIS analyzes leasing the tract as applied for as described 
above as a separate Proposed Action. Under this alternative, a 
competitive sale would be held and a lease issued for Federal coal in 
the tract as applied for by Cordero. As part of the coal leasing 
process, BLM has identified and is evaluating other tract 
configurations which add Federal coal to avoid bypassing coal or to 
prompt competitive interest in the unleased Federal coal in this area. 
The tract configurations that BLM has identified are described and 
analyzed as separate alternatives in the DEIS. Under these 
alternatives, a competitive sale would be held and a lease issued for 
Federal coal lands included in a tract modified by the BLM. The DEIS 
also analyzes the alternative of rejecting the application to lease 
Federal coal as the No Action Alternative. The Proposed Action and 
Alternatives being considered in the DEIS are in conformance with the 
``Approved Resource Management Plan for Public Lands Administered by 
the Bureau of Land Management Buffalo Field Office'' (April 2001).

[[Page 30446]]

    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the Casper Field Office at the 
address listed above during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. through 
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.

Robert A. Bennett,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E6-8085 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P