[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 69 (Monday, April 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16891-16892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8355]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLUT-92000-09-L13200000-EL0000-24-1A00, UTU-84102]


Notice of the Availability of the Greens Hollow, Federal Coal 
Lease Application Environmental Assessment and Notice of Public Hearing

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a public meeting 
on the proposed sale, adequacy of the Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS), Fair Market Value determination and Maximum Economic Recovery 
consideration for coal lease application UTU-84102. The BLM is in the 
process of completing the EIS that will address the environmental 
impacts of mining this tract. The lands included in the delineated 
Federal coal lease tract (``Greens Hollow'') are located in Sanpete and 
Sevier counties. The public is invited to the meeting to make public 
and/or written comments on the environmental implications of leasing 
the proposed tract, and also to submit comments on the Fair Market 
Value and the Maximum Economic Recovery of the tract.

DATES: The meeting will be held May 6, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium 
of North Sevier High School, 350 West 400 North, Salina, Utah.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Written comments on the Fair Market 
Value and Maximum Economic Recovery must be received by May 5, 2009 and 
should be addressed to Stan Perkes, 801-539-4036, Bureau of Land 
Management, Utah State Office, Division of Lands and Minerals, P.O. Box 
45155, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145 or e-mail to [email protected]. 
Information on the Decision Notice/Finding of No Significant Impact can 
be obtained by contacting Mr. Steve Rigby, 435-636-3604. Written 
comments concerning the environmental impact statement must be 
submitted by close of business on May 18, 2009 to the Price Field 
Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, Utah 84501.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The lands included in the delineated Federal 
coal lease tract (``Greens Hollow'') are located in Sanpete and Sevier 
Counties, Utah approximately ten and one-half air miles west of Emery 
Utah on Manti-LaSal and Fishlake National Forest-administered surface 
with federally-administered minerals and are described as follows:

T. 20 S., R. 4 E., SLM, Sevier County, Utah
    Sec. 36, lot 4, E\1/2\NE\1/4\, NE\1/4\SE\1/4\;
T. 21 S., R. 4 E., SLM, Sevier County, Utah
    Sec. 1, all;
    Sec. 2, SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 11, E\1/2\, E\1/2\W\1/2\;
    Sec. 12, NE\1/4\, W\1/2\, W\1/2\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 13, W\1/2\NE\1/4\, NW\1/4\;
    Sec. 14, NE\1/4\, E\1/2\NW\1/4\;
T. 20 S., R. 5 E., SLM, Sanpete and Sevier Counties, Utah
    Sec. 19, lots 5-8, E\1/2\SW\1/4\, SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 20, S\1/2\;
    Sec. 21, W\1/2\SW\1/4\;
    Sec. 28, W\1/2\;
    Sec. 29, all;
    Sec. 30, all;
    Sec. 31, all;
    Sec. 32, N\1/2\, N\1/2\S\1/2\;
    Sec. 33, NW\1/4\NW\1/4\;
T. 21 S., R. 5 E., SLM, Sevier County, Utah
    Sec. 6, all.

Approximately 6,175.39 acres.

    Ark Land Company submitted the application for the coal lease. The 
company plans to mine the coal as an extension from their existing 
SUFCO Mine, if the lease is obtained. The Greens Hollow coal tract has 
two minable coal beds; the Upper Hiawatha and the Lower Hiawatha seam 
beds. The minable portions of the coal beds in this area are around 
eleven feet in thickness. The tract contains approximately 109,700,000 
tons of coal reserve base of high-volatile C bituminous coal. The coal 
quality in the Upper Hiawatha coal bed on an ``as received basis'' is 
as follows: 11,565 Btu/lb., 7.46 percent moisture, 9.81 percent ash, 
36.55 percent volatile matter, 46.1 percent fixed carbon and 0.55 
percent sulfur. The coal quality in the Lower Hiawatha coal bed on an 
``as received basis'' is as follows: 11,538 Btu/lb., 7.21 percent

[[Page 16892]]

moisture, 9.69 percent ash, 38.88 percent volatile matter, 43.85 
percent fixed carbon and 1.26 percent sulfur.
    In accordance with Federal coal management regulations 43 CFR 3422 
and 3425, the public meeting is being held on the proposed sale to 
allow public comment on and discussion of the potential effects of 
mining and proposed lease. The meeting is being advertised in the 
Richfield Reaper located in Richfield, Utah and the Emery County 
Progress located in Castle Dale, Utah. 43 CFR 3422 states that, no less 
than 30 days prior to the publication of the notice of the sale, the 
Secretary shall submit public comments on the Fair Market Value 
appraisal and the Maximum Economic Recovery and on factors that may 
affect these two determinations.
    Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted to the BLM 
in response to this solicitation of public comments. Data so marked 
shall be treated in accordance with the laws and regulations governing 
confidentiality of such information. A copy of the comments submitted 
by the public on fair market value and maximum economic recovery, 
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, Utah 
State Office during regular business hours (8 a.m.-4 p.m.) Monday 
through Friday. Comments on the Fair Market Value and Maximum Economic 
Recovery should be sent to the Bureau of Land Management and should 
address, but not necessarily be limited to the following information:
    1. The quality of the coal resource;
    2. The mining methods or methods which would achieve maximum 
economic recovery of the coal, including specifications of seams to be 
mined and the most desirable timing and rate of production;
    3. Whether this tract is likely to be mined as part of an existing 
mine and therefore should be evaluated on a realistic incremental 
basis, in relation to the existing mine to which it has the greatest 
value;
    4. Whether the tract should be evaluated as part of a potential 
larger mining unit and revaluated as a portion of a new potential mine 
(i.e., a tract which does not in itself form a logical mining unit);
    5. Restrictions to mining that may affect coal recovery;
    6. The price that the mined coal would bring when sold;
    7. Costs, including mining and reclamation, of producing the coal 
and the time of production;
    8. The percentage rate at which anticipated income streams should 
be discounted, either with inflation or in the absence of inflation, in 
which case the anticipated rate of inflation should be given;
    9. Depreciation, depletion, amortization and other tax accounting 
factors;
    10. The value of any surface estate where held privately;
    11. Documented information on the terms and conditions of recent 
and similar coal land transactions in the lease sale area;
    12. Any comparable sales data of similar coal lands; and coal 
quantities and the Fair Market Value of the coal developed by BLM may 
or may not change as a result of comments received from the public and 
changes in the market conditions between now and when final economic 
evaluations are completed.

    Dated: April 6, 2009.
Selma Sierra,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E9-8355 Filed 4-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P