[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68831-68833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20152]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Proposed Extension of the Absaloka Coal Mine on the Crow Indian
Reservation, Big Horn County, MT
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) as joint Lead Agencies, with the Crow Tribe of Indians, the
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), as Cooperating Agencies, intend to gather information
necessary for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the
proposed Extension of the Absaloka Coal Mine on the Crow Indian
Reservation, Montana. The proposed BIA action, taken under the Indian
Mineral Development Act, is the approval of a coal lease by the Crow
Tribe to Westmoreland Resources Inc. (WRI) and associated approval of
allotted Indian and Crow tribal surface estate use agreements. In
addition, the OSMRE will use this EIS to support a decision on the
application for a surface mining permit to be filed by WRI involving
the same acreage, commonly known as the Absaloka Mine ``South
Extension;'' the MDEQ will use it in considering approval of permit
revisions to facilitate mining of coal adjacent to the South Extension
that is presently under the Absaloka Mine, which MDEQ administers; and
the EPA may use the EIS in considering issuance of National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System permits for any point source water
discharges on the Reservation. The purpose of this project is to extend
the operating life of the Absaloka Mine and continue to provide an
economic base for the Crow Tribe, while providing an energy source for
the generation of electricity at distant power plants. This notice also
announces a public scoping meeting to identify potential issues and
alternatives to be considered in the EIS.
DATES: Written comments concerning the scope and implementation of the
proposed action must arrive by December 26, 2006. The public scoping
meeting will be held Thursday, December 14, 2006, from 7 p.m. to 9
p.m., or until all those who wish to make statements have been heard.
ADDRESSES: You may mail, hand carry or telefax written comments to
either (1) Rick Stefanic, Supervisory Environmental Specialist, Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, 316 N. 26th St.,
Billings, Montana 59101, telefax (406) 247-7976; or (2) Edward Lone
Fight, Superintendent, Crow Agency, P.O. Box 69, Crow Agency, Montana
59022, telefax (406) 638-2380.
The public scoping meeting will be held in room 301 of the Big Horn
[[Page 68832]]
County Courthouse, 121 W. 3rd Street, Hardin, Montana.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Stefanic (BIA), (406) 247-7911;
or Greg Halsten (MDEQ), (406) 444-3276.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Absaloka Mine is a surface coal mine located
at Sarpy Creek in Big Horn County, Montana, about 32 miles east
northeast of Hardin, Montana. This location is in the Crow Ceded Area
north of and adjacent to the Crow Indian Reservation, on what is known
as the Tract 3 Coal Lease. The mine is owned by WRI, an 80 percent
subsidiary of Westmoreland Coal Company. The 20 percent minority owner
is Washington Group International, which is also the mining contractor.
The coal is held in trust by the United States for the Crow Tribe,
which receives substantial income on royalties and taxes on production
at the mine. A majority of mine employees are Crow tribal members.
Mining operations began in 1974 and have continued to the present. The
current production rate is 6 to 7 million tons per year.
All mining infrastructure is in place. No new roads (other than
haul roads), railroads, load out facilities, administration facilities
or power sources will be constructed. There would not, therefore, be
any foreseeable additional impacts from infrastructure development. All
mining and related disturbance to date has been within the Tract III
coal lease area and associated State of Montana section (Section 36, T.
1N, R. 37E.), hence has been within the scope of the original FES 76-64
(see reference below).
Remaining mineable and marketable coal reserves on Tract III are
limited, so without additional reserves, the mine would be forced to
close by 2011 at the latest. In 2004, WRI entered into an Exploration
and Option to Lease Agreement with the Crow Tribe for a coal reserve
area encompassing approximately 3,100 acres on the Crow Indian
Reservation south of and adjacent to the Tract 3 Coal Lease. The
mineral estate of the subject acreage is owned entirely by the Crow
Tribe. The surface estate is owned by non-Indian fee owners (57%),
allotted Indian owners (35%), and the Crow Tribe (8%). Exploration
drilling programs were conducted in 2004 and 2005, and tonnage and
quality of coal have been confirmed. The results of this exploration
indicate sufficient mineable reserves of coal in the Rosebud and McKay
seams are present to extend the mine life for an additional 9 to 10
years until approximately 2021. Based on these findings, WRI exercised
its lease option in June 2006, and expects to file a mine permit
application with the OSMRE in late 2006. Approximately 1,600 acres
would be mined on the Reservation, along with an additional 375 acres
on adjacent areas on Tract III.
Because the Absaloka Mine has operated for 32 years, impacts of
past and current operations are well documented through the leasing and
permitting processes, associated environmental documents and monitoring
studies. Documents that have been prepared in conjunction with coal
leasing and permit decisions at Absaloka Mine include the following:
USDI BIA FES 76-64; Crow Ceded Area Coal Lease Tracts II
and III Westmoreland Resources, December 15, 1976.
USDI U.S. Geological Survey FES 77-17; Proposed 20-year
Plan of Mining and Reclamation, Westmoreland Resources Tract III, Crow
Ceded Area, Montana; May 31, 1977.
USDI OSM-EIS-16; Westmoreland Resources; Absaloka Mine
Revised Plan, December, 1984.
MDEQ EA; Continued Mining and Relocation of Big Horn
County Road No. 55, January 31, 1994.
MDEQ EA; Vella Redding Life Estate Amendment, October 18,
2005.
MDEQ EA; Application No. 00170 Tract 3 South Extension,
June 16, 2006.
It is the intent of the BIA that this EIS will rely to the extent
possible on earlier documents for background information, and focus on
issues and impacts specific to the proposed mine extension. Although
Absaloka Mine has been the subject of these National Environmental
Policy Act and Montana Environmental Policy Act documents, an EIS
rather than an Environmental Assessment is warranted for BIA approval
of the lease and related actions for the following reasons:
The Crow Reservation South Extension area lies outside of
the area addressed in earlier federal and state actions, therefore has
not been analyzed in an earlier environmental document covering the
specific lease or mining activity.
The projected area to be mined is approximately 1,600
acres, which exceeds the threshold of 1,280 acres considered to
constitute a major action.
The projected annual production rate is 6 to 7 million
tons, which exceeds the threshold of 5 million tons considered to be a
major action.
In addition to the foregoing, the following significant changes in
circumstances relevant to analysis of environmental and socio-economic
impacts have occurred since 1976:
The projected production rate of 15 million tons per year
from Tract III has not materialized due to market limitations. The
highest annual production realized was just over 7 million tons in
1999. The current and projected production rate is 6 to 7 million tons
annually.
Tract II was not developed due to market limitations, and
was relinquished to the Crow Tribe in 1981.
The Crow Tribe successfully challenged application by the
State of Montana of its severance and gross proceeds taxes to
production of Indian coal, and as a consequence, equivalent production
taxes are now paid to the Crow Tribe.
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
(SMCRA) established uniform national standards for reclamation and
environmental protection from the adverse effects of surface coal
mining.
Although regulation of surface coal mining on Tract III is
regulated jointly by MDEQ and OSM under the terms of a Memorandum of
Understanding, 30 CFR part 750 establishes OSM as the regulatory
authority on the Crow Indian Reservation where the south extension will
take place.
More rigorous standards for identification and protection
of cultural resources were established under 30 CFR part 800 in 1986.
Environmental baseline studies including geology, hydrology, soils,
vegetation, wildlife, cultural resources and air quality are either
complete or well underway. These resources, and subcomponents thereof,
will be addressed in the EIS, as well as, but not limited to, socio-
economics, aesthetics, noise, paleontology, and environmental justice.
Public Comment Availability
Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be
available for public review at the BIA address shown in the ADDRESSES
section, during 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 the
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.
[[Page 68833]]
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.),
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: November 3, 2006.
Michael D. Olsen,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. E6-20152 Filed 11-27-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P