[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 160 (Thursday, August 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42092-42094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20026]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWYP00000-L13200000-EL0000, LLWYP00000-L51100000-GA0000-LVEMK09CK330, 
LLWYP00000-L51100000-GA0000-LVEMK09CK360, LLWYP00000-L51100000-GA0000-
LVEMK09CK350; WYW161248, WYW172585, WYW172657, WYW173360]


Notice of Availability for the South Gillette Area Coal Final 
Environmental Impact Statement That Includes Four Federal Coal Lease by 
Applications, Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the South Gillette Area Coal 
project that contains four Federal Coal Lease By Applications (LBAs), 
and by this Notice announces the availability of the South Gillette 
Area final EIS for review.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the South Gillette Area Coal FEIS by September 16, 
2009, which is 30 days after August 17, 2009, the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency published the Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register [74 FR 41430].

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 307-261-7587.
     Mail: Wyoming High Plains District Office, Bureau of Land 
Management, Attn: Teresa Johnson, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper, 
Wyoming 82604.
    Copies of the FEIS are available at the following BLM office 
locations: BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, 
Wyoming 82009; and BLM Wyoming High Plains District Office, 2987 
Prospector Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82604. The FEIS is available 
electronically on the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/cfodocs/south_gillette.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Johnson or Mike Karbs at the 
above address, or telephone: 307-261-7600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS analyzes the potential impacts for 
Federal Coal LBAs serialized as WYW161248, WYW172585, WYW172657, and 
WYW173360 and referred to as the Belle Ayr North, West Coal Creek, 
Caballo West, and Maysdorf II tracts, in the decertified Powder River 
Federal Coal Production Region, Wyoming. The BLM is considering issuing 
these four coal leases as a result of four applications filed between 
July of 2004 and September of 2006 in accordance with 43 CFR part 3425.

Belle Ayr North Coal Tract

    The BLM is considering issuing a coal lease as a result of a July 
6, 2004, application made by RAG Wyoming Land Company (RAG) to lease 
the Federal coal in the Belle Ayr North coal tract (WYW161248). RAG 
subsequently

[[Page 42093]]

sold the Belle Ayr Mine and its associated interests to Foundation Coal 
Holdings, Inc. (Foundation). From this point forward, the applicant for 
the Belle Ayr North Tract will be referred to as Foundation. The Belle 
Ayr North LBA is located in Campbell County, Wyoming, east of Hwy 59 
and south of the Bishop Road/Hwy 59 intersection.
    Foundation applied for the tract to extend the life of the existing 
Belle Ayr Mine. The applicant estimated that the tract includes 
approximately 208.1 million tons of minable Federal coal underlying the 
following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming:

T. 48 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 18: Lots 17, 18, 19 (W\1/2\, SE\1/4\);
    Section 19: Lots 5 through 19;
    Section 20: Lots 3 (SW\1/4\), 4 (W\1/2\, SE\1/4\), 5, 6, 7 (S\1/
2\), 9 (S\1/2\), 10 through 16;
    Section 21: Lots 13, 14;
    Section 28: Lots 3 through 6;
    Section 29: Lots 1, 6;
T. 48 N., R. 72 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 24: Lots 1, 8.

    Containing 1,578.74 acres, more or less.

    The Belle Ayr Mine is adjacent to the LBA and has an approved 
mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality Division of the 
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and an approved air 
quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the Wyoming DEQ that 
allows them to mine up to 45 million tons of coal per year.

West Coal Creek Coal Tract

    The BLM is considering issuing a coal lease as a result of a 
February 10, 2006, application made by Ark Land Company (Ark) to lease 
the Federal coal in the West Coal Creek coal tract (WYW172585). The 
West Coal Creek LBA is located in Campbell County east of Hoadley Road 
approximately 12 miles northeast of the city of Wright, Wyoming.
    Ark applied for the tract to extend the life of the existing Coal 
Creek Mine. The applicant estimated that the tract includes 
approximately 63.3 million tons of minable Federal coal underlying the 
following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming:

T. 46 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 18: Lots 14 through 17;
    Section 19: Lots 7 through 10, 15 through 18;
    Section 30: Lots 5 through 20.

    Containing 1,151.26 acres, more or less.

    The Coal Creek Mine is adjacent to the LBA and has an approved 
mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality Division of the 
Wyoming DEQ and an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality 
Division of the Wyoming DEQ that allows them to mine up to 25 million 
tons of coal per year.

Caballo West Coal Tract

    The BLM is considering issuing a coal lease as a result of a March 
15, 2006, application made by Caballo Coal Company (Caballo) to lease 
the Federal coal in the Caballo West coal tract (WYW172657). The 
Caballo West LBA is located in Campbell County, Wyoming, east of the 
Hwy 59/Bishop Road intersection.
    Caballo applied for the tract to extend the life of the existing 
Caballo Mine. The applicant estimated that the tract includes 
approximately 87.5 million tons of mineable Federal coal underlying the 
following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming:

T. 48 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 7: Lots 12, 19;
    Section 8: Lot 10;
    Section 17: Lots 1 through 10, 11 (N\1/2\, SE\1/4\), 12 (NE\1/
4\), 15 (N\1/2\, SE\1/4\), 16;
    Section 18: Lot 5, 12 (NE\1/4\);
    Section 20: Lots 1, 2 (NE\1/4\), 8 (N\1/2\, SE\1/4\).

    Containing 777.485 acres, more or less.

    The Caballo Mine is adjacent to the LBA and has an approved mining 
and reclamation plan from the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming DEQ 
and an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the 
Wyoming DEQ that allows them to mine up to 50 million tons of coal per 
year.

Maysdorf II Coal Tract

    The BLM is considering issuing a coal lease as a result of a 
September 1, 2006, application made by Cordero Mining Company (Cordero) 
to lease the Federal coal in the Maysdorf II coal tract (WYW173360). 
The Maysdorf II LBA is located in Campbell County, Wyoming, on the east 
side of Hwy 59 starting approximately 5 miles south of the Bishop Road 
Hwy 59 intersection. The Maysdorf II LBA has two separate units. The 
larger of the two units is against the west edge of the Cordero-Rojo 
Mine. The other unit is to the south of the Cordero-Rojo mine and to 
the west of the Coal Creek Mine by approximately 1 mile.
    Cordero applied for the tract to extend the life of the existing 
Cordero-Rojo Mine. The applicant estimated that the tract includes 
approximately 499.7 million tons of minable Federal coal underlying the 
following lands in Campbell County, Wyoming:

T. 46 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 4: Lots 8, 9, 16, 17;
    Section 5: Lots 5, 12, 13, 20;
    Section 9: Lots 6 through 8;
    Section 10: Lots 7 through 10;
    Section 11: Lots 13 through 16;
    Section 14: Lots 1 through 4;
    Section 15: Lots 1 through 4;
T. 47 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 7: Lots 6 through 11, 14 through 19;
    Section 17: Lots 1 through 15, SW\1/4\NW\1/4\;
    Section 18: Lots 5 through 14, 19, 20;
    Section 20: Lots 1, 8, 9, 16;
    Section 21: Lots 4, 5, 12, 13;
    Section 28: Lots 4, 5, 12, 13;
    Section 29: Lots 1, 8, 9, 16;
    Section 32: Lots 1, 8, 9, 16;
    Section 33: Lots 4, 5, 12, 13;
T. 47 N., R. 72 W., 6th PM, Wyoming
    Section 12: Lots 1 through 16;
    Section 13: Lots 1 through 8.

    Containing 4,653.80 acres, more or less.

    The Cordero-Rojo Mine is adjacent to the LBA and has an approved 
mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality Division of the 
Wyoming DEQ and an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality 
Division of the Wyoming DEQ that allows them to mine up to 65 million 
tons of coal per year.
    The FEIS analyzes and discloses to the public direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts of issuing four Federal coal leases in 
the Wyoming portion of the Powder River Basin. A copy of the FEIS has 
been sent to affected Federal, State, and local government agencies; 
persons and entities identified as potentially being affected by a 
decision to lease the Federal coal in each of the tracts; and persons 
who indicated to the BLM that they wished to receive a copy of the 
FEIS.
    The Wyoming DEQ, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation are 
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the FEIS.
    On March 29, 2007, the BLM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to 
prepare an EIS for the South Gillette Area coal lease applications in 
the Federal Register. A notice announcing the availability of the Draft 
EIS was published in the Federal Register by the EPA on October 24, 
2008. A 60-day comment period on the Draft EIS commenced with 
publication of the EPA's notice of availability and ended on December 
24, 2008. The BLM published a Notice of Availability and Notice of 
Public Hearing in the Federal Register on October 17, 2008. The BLM's 
Federal Register notice announced the date and time of a public 
hearing, which was held on November 19, 2008, in Gillette, Wyoming. The 
purpose of the hearing was to solicit comments on the DEIS, on the fair 
market value, and on the maximum economic recovery of the Federal coal. 
During the DEIS comment period, the BLM received 18 written comments, 
which are included, with agency responses, in an appendix to the FEIS.

[[Page 42094]]

    The FEIS analyzes leasing all of the South Gillette Area coal 
tracts as a separate Proposed Action. Under the Proposed Action, a 
competitive sale would be held and a lease issued for Federal coal 
contained in the tracts as applied for by each of the applicants. As 
part of the coal leasing process, the BLM is evaluating adding or 
subtracting Federal coal to the tracts to avoid bypassing coal or to 
prompt competitive interest in unleased Federal coal in this area. The 
alternate tract configurations for each of the LBAs that BLM is 
evaluating are described and analyzed as separate alternatives in the 
FEIS. Under these alternatives, competitive sales would be held and 
leases issued for Federal coal lands included in tracts modified by the 
BLM. The FEIS also analyzes the alternative of rejecting the 
application(s) to lease Federal coal as the No Action Alternative. The 
Proposed Actions and alternatives for each of the LBAs being considered 
in the FEIS are in conformance with the Approved Resource Management 
Plan for Public Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land Management 
Buffalo Field Office (2001). A Record of Decision (ROD) will be 
prepared after the close of the 30-day review period for the FEIS. 
Comments received on the FEIS will be considered during preparation of 
the ROD.
    Requests to be included on the mailing list for this project and to 
request copies of the FEIS may be sent in writing, by facsimile, or 
electronically to the addresses previously stated at the beginning of 
this notice. The BLM asks that those submitting comments on the FEIS 
make them as specific as possible with reference to page numbers and 
chapters of the document. Comments that contain only opinions or 
preferences will not receive a formal response; however, they will be 
considered as part of the BLM decision-making process.
    Please note that comments and information submitted including 
names, street addresses, and e-mail addresses of respondents will be 
available for public review and disclosure at the above address during 
regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 
except holidays.
    Before including your address, phone 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.

Donald A. Simpson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E9-20026 Filed 8-19-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P