[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 56 (Friday, March 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15189-15191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5341]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Absaloka 
Mine Crow Reservation South Extension Coal Lease Approval, Mine 
Development Plan and Related Federal and State Permitting Actions, 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 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, intend to file a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with the EPA for the proposed 
extension of the existing Absaloka mine onto the Crow Indian 
Reservation and for related Federal and state permitting actions; and 
that the DEIS is now available for public review. The purpose of the 
proposed action is to maximize the economic benefit from the coal trust 
resource by continuing to provide benefits to the Crow Tribe, including 
royalty, tax income and employment; as

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well as allow Westmoreland Resources Inc. (WRI) to continue to access 
coal resources, owned by the Crow Tribe, for the sale to customers 
using it for electric power generation. This notice also announces a 
public hearing to receive comments on the DEIS.

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS must arrive by May 5, 2008. The 
public hearing will be held April 10, 2008, beginning at 7 p.m. and 
continuing until all those who register to make statements have been 
heard.

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to George Gover, 
Superintendent; Crow Agency, P.O. Box 69; Crow Agency Montana. You may 
also comment via the Internet to: [email protected]. Please submit 
Internet comments as an ASCII file, avoiding the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. Please include your name and 
return address in your Internet message. If you do not receive a 
confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet 
message, contact Greg Hallsten at 406-444-3276.
    You may review the DEIS at BIA, Weaver Avenue, Building 2, Crow 
Agency, Montana; BIA, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, 316 N. 26th 
Street (Environmental, Cultural and Safety--Room 4433), Billings 
Montana; BLM, Montana State Office (Solid Minerals section), 5001 
Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana; EPA, 10 W. 15th Street Suite 3200, 
Helena Montana; MDEQ, 1520 E. 6th Avenue, Helena, Montana; the Crow 
Tribal Office, Crow Agency, Montana; Big Horn County Library, Hardin, 
Montana; or Little Bighorn College Library, Crow Agency, Montana. The 
document is available for review on the Internet at: deq.mt.gov. 
Computer disk copies of the document may be obtained by contacting 
George Gover, Superintendent, Crow Agency-BIA, at 406-638-2672.
    The public hearing will be at the Big Horn County Courthouse, 121 
3rd Street West, Hardin, Montana.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Stefanic, 406-247-7911.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The WRI has operated the Absaloka Mine on 
the existing Tract III Crow Indian coal lease in the Crow Ceded Area 
since 1974. The WRI proposes to advance surface coal mining operations 
southward onto the Crow Reservation pursuant to the terms of an 
agreement with the Crow Tribe under the Indian Mineral Development Act 
(IMDA). The legal description for the acreage on the Reservation 
involves coal basically within T.1S, R.37E., sections 1, 12, 13; and 
T.1S., R.37E., sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 21; 
Montana Principal Meridian. This area totals 3,660.23 acres in Big Horn 
County, Montana. All of the minerals are owned by the Crow Tribe. The 
surface estate is owned by the Crow Tribe (32%), allotted Indian owners 
(14%), and non-Indian fee owners (54%).
    The DEIS analyzes three alternatives, the Proposed Action, 
Alternative One, and No Action. Under the Proposed Action, the MDEQ and 
OSMRE would approve Absaloka Mine's proposed Tract III Revision. The 
BIA would approve the IMDA lease for the South Extension, as well as 
the surface use agreements between the allottee surface owners and WRI; 
the OSMRE would approve the mining permit for the South Extension. 
Under this alternative, approximately 76.6 million tons of additional 
coal would be recovered and the mine life would be extended until about 
2023.
    Under Alternative One, WRI would not implement the South Extension 
development plan on the Crow Indian Reservation if the BIA does not 
approve the IMDA lease for the South Extension tract. Furthermore, 
because the South Extension includes allotted trust lands, the South 
Extension development plan would not be implemented if the BIA does not 
approve all surface use agreements between the allottee surface owners 
and WRI. The coal contained in the South Extension tract on the Crow 
Indian Reservation would not be mined. The WRI would, however, receive 
approval from MDEQ and OSMRE to revise Absaloka Mine's existing mine 
and reclamation plan to include the Tract III Revision area. Under this 
alternative, approximately 13 million tons of additional coal would be 
mined and the mine life would be extended to about 2011.
    Under the No Action Alternative, none of the proposed actions would 
occur and WRI would not implement the South Extension development plan. 
The remaining (already permitted) 14 million tons of in-place coal 
reserves would be mined by approximately 2009 at the current 6.5 to 7.0 
million-ton annual production rate.
    In addition to the BIA's proposed action alternatives described 
above, the DEIS analyzes the proposed action for the EPA to issue a 
Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
permit for discharges of stormwater associated with the proposed mine 
expansion onto the Crow Indian Reservation. The proposed stormwater 
management alternative is for EPA Region 8 to issue an NPDES permit for 
the use of 24 sediment traps to contain the 2-year, 24-hour runoff 
event during the operational phase, which could be reduced in size to 
small depressions as a best management practice during the reclamation 
phase. The second alternative analyzed is to issue an NPDES permit for 
the use of conventional sediment ponds to detain the 10-year, 24-hour 
runoff event plus sediment storage, with pond size reduced to detain 
the 2-year, 24-hour runoff event plus sediment storage during the 
reclamation phase for all discharges to Sarpy Creek and to the Middle 
Fork of Sarpy Creek. The third alternative is to issue an NPDES permit 
for the use of a single large dam on the main stem of the Middle Fork 
of Sarpy Creek downstream of mine operations. The No Action alternative 
for the proposed stormwater management proposal corresponds with BIA 
alternatives that do not involve expansion of the mine onto the Crow 
Indian Reservation, in which case, the EPA would not issue an NPDES 
stormwater permit.
    The DEIS analyzes the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternatives on 
geology, paleontology, minerals, climate, air quality, soil, surface 
water and groundwater, land use, range resources, vegetation, wetlands, 
noxious weeds, wildlife and fisheries, threatened and endangered 
species, recreation, cultural resources, socioeconomics, environmental 
justice, transportation, visual resources, health and safety, noise, 
and fire management.

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. Before including your address, telephone 
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.

Authority

    This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the 
Council of Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR, Parts 1500 
through 1508) implementing the procedural

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requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), Department of the Interior Manual 
(516 DM 1-6), and is in the exercise of authority delegated to the 
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, via 516 DM 6.3 
B. and Environmental Statement Memorandum ESM04-12.6(e).

Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
 [FR Doc. E8-5341 Filed 3-20-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P