[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 96 (Friday, May 18, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28067-28068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9576]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT-070-07-1990-EX]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on 
a Plan of Operations for the Graymont Western U.S. proposed expansion 
of the Indian Creek Limestone Mine and To Initiate the Public Scoping 
Period, in Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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[[Page 28068]]

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and 43 CFR part 3809, the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) Butte Field Office will be directing the 
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by a third-party 
contractor on the potential impacts of a proposed Plan of Operations 
for a proposed expansion of limestone mining operations by Graymont 
Western U.S., Inc.

DATES: This Notice initiates the 30-day public scoping period. Within 
30 days of the publication of this Notice, public scoping meetings will 
be held in Townsend and Helena, Montana to familiarize the public with 
the project and to identify issues and concerns to be addressed in the 
EIS. The date, time, and location of each scoping meeting will be 
announced through the local news media, newsletters, and the BLM Web 
site at http://www.mt.blm.gov/Butte at least 15 days prior to the 
event. Any additional public meetings, if necessary, will be announced 
similarly. Comments on issues can also be submitted in writing to the 
address listed below for 30 days after publication of this Notice in 
the Federal Register. In addition to the initial public participation 
process, formal opportunities for public participation will be provided 
upon publication of the Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

--E-mail: [email protected], [email protected].
--Fax: (406) 533-7660 (BLM), (406) 444-4386 (Department of 
Environmental Quality).
--Mail: Send to the attention of the Graymont Mine Project Manager, BLM 
Butte Field Office, 106 North Parkmont, Butte, MT 59701 or Greg 
Hallsten, Director's Office, Montana Department of Environmental 
Quality, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901.

    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the above address of the BLM Butte 
Field Office during regular business hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays, and may be published as part of 
the EIS. Anonymous comments will not be considered. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. Before including your address, 
phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, be advised 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 from public 
review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that 
we will be able to do so. All submissions from organizations and 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
available for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Williams or Joan Gabelman, at 
the BLM Butte Field Office, 106 North Parkmont, Butte, Montana 59701, 
telephone: (406) 533-7600 or Greg Hallsten at the Director's Office, 
Montana Department of Environmental Quality, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 
59620-0901, telephone: (406) 444-3276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Graymont Western U.S., Inc. has submitted a 
proposal to expand limestone mining operations at its Indian Creek Mine 
and Plant located approximately four miles west of Townsend, Montana. 
The mine expansion would include portions of sections 27, 28, 29, 32, 
33, and 34, T. 7 N. R. 1 E. and portions of sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 16, 
17, 20, 21, 28, and 29, T 6 N., R. 1 E. The proposed expansion would be 
a continuation to the south of Graymont's existing permitted operations 
in the Limestone Hills. The mine expansion would include quarry areas, 
topsoil salvage areas, haul roads and waste rock placement areas, and 
concurrent reclamation. Approximately 2,060 acres of public land would 
be disturbed, of which 1,000 acres are represented by this proposed 
expansion. The remaining 1,060 acres have been previously permitted. 
Proposed mining operations would last for approximately 50 years.
    The issues expected to be analyzed in the EIS include potential 
impacts to the Montana National Guard's training range, including 
Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), which is present in the proposed expansion 
area wildlife and cultural resources, and cumulative impacts. In 
addition, the EIS will analyze the following: geology and minerals; 
Native American religious concerns; air quality; paleontology; lands 
and realty; fisheries and aquatic resources; range management; 
vegetation; soils; visual resources; recreation and wilderness; weeds; 
social and economic values; environmental justice; and threatened, 
endangered, candidate, and sensitive resources. A range of alternatives 
(including, but not limited to, alternative reclamation measures and 
the no-action alternative) will be developed to address the issues. 
Mitigating measures will be considered to minimize environmental 
impacts and to assure that the proposed action does not result in 
unnecessary or undue degradation of public lands. Federal, state, and 
local agencies and other individuals or organizations that may be 
interested in or affected by BLM's decision on Graymont's Plan of 
Operations are invited to participate in the scoping process with 
respect to this EIS.

    Authority: 43 CFR part 3809.

Richard M. Hotaling,
Field Manager.
 [FR Doc. E7-9576 Filed 5-17-07; 8:45 am]
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