[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34402-34404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14180]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLES003420.L13200000.EL0000; WVES-50556; WVES-50560]


Notice of Availability of the Final Land Use Analysis and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for the East Lynn Lake Coal Lease by 
Applications WVES-50556 and WVES-50560, Wayne County, West Virginia

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with 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 Land Use 
Analysis (LUA) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to 
analyze the potential impacts of two Federal Coal Lease By Applications 
(LBA) WVES-50556 and WVES-50560, totaling 13,089.55 acres at the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) East Lynn Lake Project in Wayne 
County, West Virginia.

[[Page 34403]]


DATES: The BLM planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2 and 43 CFR 3420.1-
4) state that any person who meets the conditions as described in the 
regulations may protest the BLM's Proposed Land Use Analysis. A person 
who meets the conditions and files a protest must file the protest 
within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) publishes its notice in the Federal Register.
    The BLM will not issue a final decision on the proposal for a 
minimum of 30 days following the EPA's publication of its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) of this document in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the East Lynn Lake Project Final LUA/Final EIS 
have been sent to affected Federal, State, and local government 
agencies and to interested parties. Copies of the East Lynn lake Final 
LUA/Final EIS are available for public inspection at the following 
locations:
     Bureau of Land Management, Northeastern States Field 
Office, 626 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 200, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
53202
     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 502 Eight St., Huntington, 
West Virginia 25701
     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, East Lynn Lake Visitor 
Center, HC85, East Lynn, West Virginia 25512
     Wayne County Library, 325 Keyser St., Wayne, West Virginia 
25570
    Interested persons may also review the Final LUA/Final EIS on the 
following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/es/st/en/prog/east_lynn_lake_coal.html. All protests must be in writing and mailed to the following 
addresses:

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Regular Mail: Director (210),            Overnight Mail: Director (210),
 Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box     Attention: Brenda Williams, 20
 71383, Washington, DC 20024-1383..       M. Street SE., Room 2134LM,
                                          Washington, DC 20003.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt Wadzinski, BLM Project Manager, 
at 414-297-4408, ([email protected]), Bureau of Land Management, 626 
East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 200, Milwaukee, WI 53202. Persons who use 
a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above 
individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours 
a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above 
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM is considering issuing coal leases 
as a result of applications made by Argus Energy WV LLC (Argus) and 
Rockspring Development Inc. (Rockspring) to lease the Federal coal in 
the East Lynn Lake Project area in Wayne County, West Virginia. Argus 
submitted a coal LBA (WVES-50556) to BLM for 7,639.63 acres bordering a 
portion of the southern shore of East Lynn Lake. Rockspring also 
submitted a coal LBA (WVES-50560) to BLM for 5,449.92 acres that border 
a portion of the north shore of the lake. The two applicants are 
proposing to use private existing underground mines to access the 
adjacent Federal coal. No mining would occur directly beneath the lake 
itself and no surface mining would take place. East Lynn Lake is 
located approximately 25 miles south of Huntington, West Virginia, and 
is managed by the USACE for flood control, recreation, and wildlife. 
The Final LUA/Final EIS analyzes and discloses to the public direct, 
indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of issuing Federal coal 
leases in the East Lynn Lake Project area.
    The State of West Virginia does not use the Public Land Rectangular 
Survey system to legally describe land tracts within the State. The 
State of West Virginia uses Metes and Bounds property descriptions. 
Consequently, to avoid numerous pages of lengthy legal descriptions, 
the Federal coal reserves encompassed by the LBAs are described below 
by referencing the USACE mineral-tract number the reserves fall within. 
It should be pointed out that referencing a mineral-tract number in the 
listing below does not necessarily mean the entire mineral tract is 
under application. More detailed property descriptions are available in 
the case files located in the BLM Northeastern States Field Office, see 
ADDRESSES above.

Argus, LBA WVES-50556

    Mineral Tract Numbers: 77M-14; 177M-12; 177M-11; 177M-1; 745M; 
746M; 808; 840M; 843M; 846M; 1140M; 1140; 1301; 1313M; 1717M; 1718M; 
1810M; 1811M; 1813M; 2020M; 2321M; 2430M; 2431M; and 2737.
    Approximately 7,639.63 in Wayne County, West Virginia.

Rockspring, LBA WVES-50560

    Mineral Tract Numbers: 174M; 177M-2p; 177M-1; 184M; 376ME-2; 375M; 
376ME-1; 377M; 378M; 380M; 381M; 382M; 384M; 386M; 390ME-1; 395M; 427M; 
430M; 517A; 517B; 545M; 547M; 548M; 550M; 553M; 554M; 556M; 745M; 847M; 
1450M; 1451M; 1452M; 1453M; 1717M and 1718M.
    Approximately 5,449.92 in Wayne County, West Virginia.
    Argus proposes to mine the Federal coal in the lease application 
area by underground methods extending from two of their existing 
underground mines located on private land to the south of the 
application area. Rockspring would similarly access their application 
area from their existing underground mine located on private lands 
north of their application area. The existing mines for Argus and 
Rockspring have approved mining and reclamation plans from the West 
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and an approved air 
quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the West Virginia DEQ.
    It is reasonable to expect that Rockspring may wish to conduct 
exploratory drilling on their area of interest. It is also reasonable 
to expect that both companies may need to drill additional holes for 
mine plan purposes if leases were to be issued and mine plans approved.
    The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), the 
USACE, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) are 
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the Final LUA/Final EIS. The 
BLM is authorized to lease Federal coal under the Mineral Leasing Act 
as defined under 43 CFR 3480.0-5(a)(25) for federally owned coal at 
East Lynn Lake. The OSM, in cooperation with the State of West 
Virginia, issues mine permits under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act.
    The Final LUA/Final EIS analyzes leasing of the East Lynn Lake 
Federal coal tracts as the Proposed Action, and it is the agency's 
Preferred Alternative. Under the Proposed Action, a competitive sale 
would be held and two leases issued for Federal coal in the tracts as 
applied for by Argus and Rockspring. The Final LUA/Final EIS also 
analyzes the rejection of the applications to lease Federal coal as the 
No Action Alternative. These alternatives were developed through

[[Page 34404]]

issue identification during the scoping process. Such issues include: 
direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts, protection of 
the East Lynn Lake including surface and groundwater water quality, 
integrity of the dam, cultural, social science, and economic impacts 
associated with commercial leasing of the Federal coal.
    The Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a LUA/EIS for Federal coal 
leasing administered by the BLM in Wayne County, West Virginia was 
published in the Federal Register on July 14, 2005 (70 FR 40723). As 
originally stated in the NOI, the LUA/EIS is to evaluate the potential 
impacts associated with the commercial leasing of Federal coal in the 
East Lynn Lake Project area. A notice announcing the availability of 
the Draft LUA and Draft EIS and Notice of Public Hearing was published 
in the Federal Register by the EPA on June 27, 2008. A 90-day comment 
period on the Draft LUA/Draft EIS commenced with publication of the 
EPA's notice of availability, which would have ended on September 24, 
2008. On September 9, 2008, a Notice of Extension was published in the 
Federal Register to extend the comment period an additional 45 days and 
this period ended on November 10, 2008. The BLM's Federal Register 
notice announced the date and time of the public hearing, which was 
held on July 31, 2008, in Wayne, West Virginia. The purpose of the 
hearing was to solicit comments on the Draft LUA/Draft EIS, the fair 
market value, and the maximum economic recovery of the Federal coal. 
Seven statements were given as testimony at the public hearing; they 
are summarized in an appendix in the Final LUA/Final EIS. During the 
Draft LUA/Draft EIS comment period, the BLM received 48 comment 
letters, included in an appendix to the Final LUA/Final EIS with BLM's 
responses to the comments. Comments on the Draft LUA/Draft EIS received 
from the public and internal BLM review were considered and 
incorporated as appropriate into the document. Public comments resulted 
in the addition of clarification text, but did not significantly change 
the Final LUA/Final EIS.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Final LUA/Final EIS may be found in the Dear Reader 
Letter of the East Lynn Lake Project Final LUA/Final EIS and at 43 CFR 
1610.5-2. Emailed and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid 
protests unless the protesting party also provides the original letter 
by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close of the 
protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the 
emailed or faxed protest as an advance copy and the comment will 
receive full consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such 
advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of 
the BLM protest coordinator at (202) 912-7212, and emails to 
[email protected].
    All protests, including the follow-up letter (if emailing or 
faxing) must be in writing and mailed to the appropriate address, as 
set forth in the ADDRESSES section above.
    Before including your phone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Mike Pool,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-14180 Filed 6-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-GJ-P