[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 117 (Friday, June 19, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29236-29237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14409]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLUT-92000-09-L13200000-EL0000-24-1A00, UTU-85539]


Adequacy of the Environmental Assessment and Fair Market Value 
Public Meeting for the Dry Canyon Coal Tract, Carbon County, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting and Call for Public Written Comment on 
the Proposed Sale, Adequacy of the Environmental Assessment, Fair 
Market Value determination and Maximum Economic Recovery consideration 
for Coal Lease Application UTU-85539. Note all comments must be 
submitted in written form to be considered.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a public meeting 
on August 13, 2009, at 7 p.m. at the Bureau of Land Management, Price 
Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, Utah, for the proposed 
competitive sale of the Dry Canyon coal tract. BLM requests public 
written comment on the fair market value and environmental effects of 
mining of this tract. The lands included in the delineated Federal coal 
lease tract (``Dry Canyon'') are located in Carbon County, Utah 
approximately three miles northeast of Helper, Utah on both private and 
BLM surface with federally administered minerals and are described as 
follows:

T. 12 S., R.10 E., SLM, Carbon County, Utah
    Sec. 25, N\1/2\;
    Sec. 26, N\1/2\;
    Sec. 27, N\1/2\;
    Sec. 28, NE\1/4\, E\1/2\NW\1/4\, SW\1/4\NW\1/4\, S\1/2\;
    Sec. 29, E\1/2\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 33, all.

T. 13 S., R.10 E., SLM, Carbon County, Utah
    Sec. 3, all;
    Sec. 4, lots 1-4, S\1/2\N\1/2\, N\1/2\S\1/2\;
    Sec. 8, lot 4;
    Sec. 10, N\1/2\, W\1/2\SW\1/4\;
    Sec. 11, N\1/2\, SE\1/4\.

    Containing approximately 4,325.01 acres.

    UtahAmerican Energy, Inc. submitted the application for the coal 
lease. The company plans to mine the coal as an extension from their 
existing Aberdeen Mine, if the lease is obtained. The Dry Canyon coal 
tract has three minable coal beds--the Aberdeen, the Kennilworth and 
the D seam bed. The minable portions of the coal beds in this area are 
around ten feet in thickness for the Aberdeen; around eight feet in 
thickness for the Kennilworth and around six feet in thickness for the 
D seam. The tract contains around 42.2 million tons of recoverable 
high-volatile A/B bituminous coal. The coal quality in the coal beds on 
an ``as received basis'' is as follows: (1) Aberdeen: 13,414 Btu/lb., 
2.35 percent moisture, 5.57 percent ash, 41.86 percent volatile matter, 
49.83 percent fixed carbon and 0.49 percent sulfur; (2) Kennilworth: 
13,287 Btu/lb., 2.06 percent moisture, 6.91 percent ash, 42.88 percent 
volatile matter, 48.26 percent fixed carbon and 0.72 percent sulfur; 
(3) D: 12,470 Btu/lb., 6.00 percent moisture, 8.00 percent ash, 39.00 
percent volatile matter, 47.00 percent fixed carbon and 0.50 percent 
sulfur. The public is invited to the meeting to make written comments 
on the environmental implications of leasing the proposed tract, and 
also to submit written comments on the Fair Market Value and the 
Maximum Economic Recovery of the tract.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with Federal coal management 
regulations 43 CFR 3422 and 3425, the public meeting is being held on 
the proposed sale to allow written comment on and discussion of the 
potential effects of mining and proposed lease. The meeting is being 
advertised in the Sun Advocate located in Price, Utah. 43 CFR 3422 
states that, no less than 30 days prior to the publication of the 
notice of the sale, the Secretary shall solicit 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 Bureau of Land 
Management in response to this solicitation of public comments. Data so 
marked shall be treated in accordance with the laws and

[[Page 29237]]

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 market conditions between now and when final economic 
evaluations are completed.

DATES: The public meeting is being held on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 
the Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, Utah, starting at 7 
p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Written comments on the Fair Market 
Value and Maximum Economic Recovery must be received by August 12, 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 review of this action should be 
directed to the Price Field Office, 125 South 600 West, Price, Utah 
84501.

    Dated: June 12, 2009.
Selma Sierra,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E9-14409 Filed 6-18-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P