[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 70 (Thursday, April 12, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18488-18489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7013]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-060-1320-EL, WYW154432]


Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Maysdorf Coal Lease-By-
Application Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA) of a final environmental impact 
statement (FEIS) for coal lease by application (LBA) WYW154432 in the 
decertified Powder River Federal Coal Production Region, Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Maysdorf Coal Lease Application FEIS. The lease tract is being 
considered for sale as a result of a coal lease application received 
from Cordero Mining Company (CMC), operator of the adjacent Cordero 
Rojo Mine in Campbell County, Wyoming.

DATES: The FEIS will be available for a 30 calendar day review period 
effective the date that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes their NOA of the FEIS in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The FEIS is available on the internet at http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/cfodocs/maysdorf.html.
    Copies are available at the following BLM offices:
     BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, 
Wyoming 82009.
     BLM Casper Field Office, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, 
Wyoming 82604.
    Written comments may be submitted to: Bureau of Land Management, 
Casper Field Office, Attn: Nancy Doelger at the address listed above. 
The public may submit comments electronically to the attention of Nancy 
Doelger at [email protected] or fax comments to (307) 261-7587.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Doelger or Mike Karbs at the BLM 
Casper Field Office address above or telephone (307) 361-7600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS 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 BLM is considering issuing a coal lease as a result of a 
September 20, 2001, application submitted by CMC to lease Federal coal 
near the Cordero Rojo Mine, approximately 15 miles south-southeast of 
Gillette, Wyoming.
    CMC, 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 by Application 
regulations at 43 CFR 3425. This tract, case number WYW154432, is 
referred to as the Maysdorf Coal Tract.
    The following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming are included in the 
tract as applied for:

T. 46 N., R. 71 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming
    Section 4: Lots 5, 6, 7 (E\1/2\E\1/2\), 10 (E\1/2\E\1/2\), 11, 
12;
    Section 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\);
    Section 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
    Section 8: Lots 3 through 6, 11 through 13;
    Section 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;
    Section 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;
    Section 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;

    Containing 2,219.39 acres, more or less.

    CMC estimates that approximately 234.8 million tons of in-place 
Federal coal are included in the tract.
    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 FEIS. 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

[[Page 18489]]

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.
    On February 1, 2005, the BLM published its Notice of Intent (NOI) 
to prepare an EIS for the Maysdorf coal lease application in the 
Federal Register. A notice announcing the availability of the Draft EIS 
was published in the Federal Register by the EPA on May 26, 2006. A 60-
day comment period on the Draft EIS commenced with publication of the 
EPA's notice of availability and ended on July 25, 2006. The BLM 
published a Notice of Availability and Notice of Public Hearing in the 
Federal Register on May 26, 2006. The BLM's Federal Register notice 
announced the date and time of a public hearing, which was held on June 
13, 2006, in Gillette, Wyoming. The purpose of the hearing was to 
solicit comments on the DEIS, fair market value, and the maximum 
economic recovery of the Federal coal.
    During the review and comment period, the BLM received written 
comments from five entities, which are included, with agency responses, 
in an appendix to the FEIS. The FEIS analyzes leasing the above 
described tract as applied for 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 identified different tract configurations 
that would potentially avoid bypassing coal or 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 FEIS. 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 FEIS 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 FEIS are in conformance with the ``Approved Resource 
Management Plan for Public Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management Buffalo Field Office'' (April 2001). A Record of Decision 
(ROD) will be prepared after the close of the review period for the 
FEIS. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so. Comments received on the FEIS will be considered during 
preparation of the ROD.

    Dated: February 27, 2007.
Alan Rabinoff,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. E7-7013 Filed 4-11-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P