[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 69 (Monday, April 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 16886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8353]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[LLMT921 09 L51100000.GD0000 LVEMCE280000; NDM 97633]


Notice of the Availability of the BNI Coal, Ltd., Federal Coal 
Lease Application Environmental Assessment and Notice of Public Hearing

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability and notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal coal management regulations at 
43 CFR 3422 and 3425, the BNI Coal Lease by Application Environmental 
Assessment (EA) is available for public review and comment. A public 
hearing will be held to receive comments on the EA and associated 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), Fair Market Value (FMV), and 
Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) of the coal resources for BNI Coal, 
Ltd.'s (BNI) Federal Coal Lease Application NDM 97633.

DATES: The public hearing will be held at 9 a.m. on April 30, 2009. 
Written comments must be received on or before 4:30 p.m. on May 13, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held at the BLM North Dakota 
Field Office Conference Room, 99 23rd Avenue West, Dickinson, North 
Dakota. Written comments on the FMV and MER should be sent to the 
Bureau of Land Management, Montana State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, 
Billings, MT 59101-4669. Written comments or questions on the EA should 
be sent to Angela Wetz, Natural Resource Specialist, North Dakota Field 
Office, Bureau of Land Management, 99 23rd Avenue West, Dickinson, ND 
58601. Copies of the EA are available at the North Dakota Field Office 
at the above address. The EA is also available on the Internet at 
http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/north_dakota_field.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The land included in Coal Lease Application 
NDM 97633 contains an estimated 4.1 million tons of recoverable coal 
reserves. It is described as follows:

T. 142 N., R. 84 W., 5th P.M
    Sec. 32: N2NW, SWNW, NWSW; 160.00 acres.

    The land is adjacent to BNI's Center Mine, located in Oliver 
County, North Dakota.

    The EA addresses the cultural, socioeconomic, environmental and 
cumulative impacts that would likely result from leasing these coal 
lands. Two alternatives are addressed in the EA:
    Alternative 1: (Proposed Action) The tract would be leased, as 
applied for.
    Alternative 2: (No Action) The application would be rejected or 
denied. The Federal coal reserves would be bypassed.
    Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted to the 
Bureau of Land Management in response to this solicitation of public 
comments. Data so marked shall be treated in accordance with the laws 
and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information. A 
copy of the comments submitted by the public on FMV and MER, except 
those portions identified as proprietary by the author and meeting 
exemptions stated in the Freedom of Information Act, will be available 
for public inspection at the Bureau of Land Management, 5001 Southgate 
Drive, Billings, Montana 59101-4669, during regular business hours (9 
a.m. to 4 p.m.) Monday through Friday. Other comments will be available 
for public inspection at the Bureau of Land Management, North Dakota 
Field Office, 99 23rd Avenue West, Dickinson, ND 58601 (9 a.m. to 4 
p.m.) Monday through Friday.
    Written comments on the FMV and MER should address, but not 
necessarily be limited to, the following:
    1. The quality and quantity of the coal resources;
    2. The mining method or methods which would achieve MER of the coal 
including specifications of the seams to be mined, timing and rate of 
production, restriction to mining, and the inclusion of the tract in an 
existing mining operation;
    3. The FMV appraisal including but not limited to the evaluation of 
the tract as an incremental unit of an existing mine, selling price of 
the coal, mining and reclamation costs, net present value discount 
factors, depreciation and other tax accounting factors, value of the 
surface estate, and any comparable sales data on similar coal lands. 
The values given above may or may not change as a result of comments 
received from the public and changes in market conditions between now 
and when final economic evaluations are completed.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, please be aware 
that your entire comment, including your personal identifying 
information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 
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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ed Hughes, Supervisory Industry 
Economist, (406-896-5057), Bureau of Land Management, Montana State 
Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana 59101.

Phillip C. Perlewitz,
Chief, Branch of Solid Minerals.
[FR Doc. E9-8353 Filed 4-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P