[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 103 (Friday, May 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30055-30056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12789]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLMTB07200-L51100000.GN0000 LVEMCE070000 252X; MTM78300]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Graymont Western U.S., Inc. Proposed Mine Expansion, 
Broadwater County, MT

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 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, a Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

[[Page 30056]]

has been prepared for the Graymont Western U.S., Inc. Proposed Mine 
Expansion. The mine permit is administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) Butte Field Office and the Montana Department of 
Environmental Quality (DEQ). Operations on public lands in the permit 
area are on mining claims located in accordance with the General Mining 
Law of 1872, as amended.

DATES: The Final EIS will be available for review for 30 days following 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. A Record of Decision will be 
prepared following the 30-day public availability period.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final EIS have been sent to affected Federal, 
State, and local government agencies and to interested parties. Copies 
of the Final EIS are available for public inspection at the Montana 
Department of Environmental Quality, 1520 East 6th Avenue, Helena, MT 
59620-0901 and the Bureau of Land Management, Butte Field Office, 106 
N. Parkmont, Butte, MT 59701. Interested parties may also review the 
Final EIS on the internet at http://www.deq.mt.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Hallsten, Montana Department of 
Environmental Quality, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901, or David 
Williams, Bureau of Land Management, Butte Field Office, 106 N. 
Parkmont, Butte, MT 59701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Graymont Western U.S., Inc. submitted a Plan 
of Operations on February 22, 2006, to the BLM and the DEQ to expand 
its existing limestone quarry operation, which is located on unpatented 
mining claims on public lands west of Townsend, Montana. This proposal 
is a continuation of mining along a prominent limestone ridge which 
forms the crest of the ``Limestone Hills.'' The Notice of Intent to 
prepare the EIS was published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2007, 
and the Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS was announced in the 
Federal Register on December 19, 2008. Mining was originally permitted 
in the area beginning in 1981 and has continued since that time. The 
principal concern, developed through public meetings and agency review, 
was potential loss of mule deer and bighorn sheep habitat and winter-
browse vegetation, principally mountain mahogany. The Final EIS 
evaluated three alternatives: No Action, the Proposed Action, and 
Alternative A, Modified Pit Backfill. The No Action Alternative would 
limit mine disturbance to the currently permitted 735 acres of 
disturbance, and the mine would continue to operate until it reached 
the permitted limits, probably in 7 to 12 years. The Proposed Action 
Alternative would allow for an additional 1,313 acres of disturbance 
and allow operations to continue for 35 to 50 years. The Modified Pit 
Backfill Alternative modifies reclamation at the site to provide for 
more diverse topography and soils that favor winter-browse species but 
does not change the proposed disturbance acreage or years of future 
operations.

Richard M. Hotaling,
Butte Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 2010-12789 Filed 5-27-10; 8:45 am]
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