[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 202 (Thursday, October 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64097-64099]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25663]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to the 2011 Final EIS 
for the Leasing and Underground Mining of the Greens Hollow Federal 
Coal Lease Tract (UTU-84102)

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The Manti-La Sal and Fishlake National Forests along with the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Price Field Office as joint lead 
agencies announce their intent to prepare a supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision to the 2011 Final EIS For 
the Leasing and Undeground Mining of the Greens Hollow Federal Coal 
Lease Tract UTU-84102. Supplemental analyses are required to correct 
deficiencies in the Final EIS.

DATES: Additional scoping will not be conducted in accordance with 40 
CFR 1502.9(c)(4). The draft supplemental EIS is expected in late 
December 2012 and the final supplemental EIS is expected in March 2013. 
There will be a 45-day comment period after the draft supplemental EIS 
is issued.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Allen Rowley, Forest Supervisor, 
115 East 900 North, Richfield, Utah 84701. Comments may also be sent 
via email to [email protected], or via facsimile to 
435-896-9347. Please reference Greens Hollow Supplemental EIS in the 
subject field.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marianne Orton, Forest Environmental 
Coordinator, Fishlake National Forest, 115 East 900 North, Richfield, 
Utah 84701 or phone 435-896-1090. Individuals who use telecommunication 
devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 
Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed Greens Hollow Federal Coal 
Lease Tract is located on the Manti-La Sal and Fishlake National 
Forests in Sanpete and Sevier counties, Utah. The surface and coal 
resources are both federally owned. The Forests administer the surface 
resources, while the BLM administers the subsurface coal resources. The 
tract is located on the Muddy Creek and North Fork Quitchupah Creek 
drainages approximately 10 air miles west of the town of Emery, Utah. 
The tract is estimated to contain about 56.6 million tons of 
recoverable coal reserves. The

[[Page 64098]]

tract is being considered for competitive coal leasing under BLM 
regulations at 43 CFR part 3400.
    Coal in the tract would be accessed and recovered using underground 
longwall mining methods, with foreseeable access from existing adjacent 
leases. The Forest Service and BLM have determined that data are 
available to meet the Data Adequacy Standards for Federal Coal Leasing, 
Uinta-Southwestern Utah Coal Region.
    The final coal lease tract, as amended by BLM's Tract Delineation 
Team, encompasses 6,175 acres of Federal coal estate. The proposed 
lease contains about 6,096 acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands 
administered by the Manti-La Sal National Forest and about 79 acres of 
NFS lands administered by the Fishlake National Forest.
    A Final EIS for the Leasing and Underground Mining of the Greens 
Hollow Federal Coal Lease Tract (UTU-84102) was released to the public 
along with the Record of Decision in December 2011. Subsequently, the 
decision was made to withdraw the Record of Decision and prepare a 
Supplemental EIS.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose for developing this Supplemental EIS is to clarify the 
decisions to be made and agency decision authority, analyze the 
environmental consequences of potential actions to be taken by each 
agency, make technical corrections, and address agency compliance 
actions and key resource concerns not previously analyzed in the 
original 2011 Final EIS. The Supplemental EIS will replace the Final 
EIS in its entirety. There is a need to comply with current direction 
regarding management of Inventoried Roadless Areas and unroaded/
undeveloped areas, address key resource concerns, and update analysis 
for aquatic management indicator species and sage-grouse.
    The Forest Service and the BLM have identified a need to respond to 
a federal coal lease-by-application, and assess whether or not to offer 
certain NFS lands for lease by competitive bid. The purpose of the 
federal agencies' actions is to facilitate continued development and 
recovery of federally managed coal resources in an environmentally 
sound manner. The Proposed Action responds to the federal government's 
overall policy to foster and encourage private enterprise in the 
development of economically sound and stable industries, and in the 
orderly and economic development of domestic resources to help assure 
satisfaction of industrial, security, and environmental needs.
    The BLM is considering the Proposed Action because it would be an 
integral part of the BLM's coal leasing program under authority of the 
Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as ammended by the Federal Coal Leasing 
Amendments Act of 1976 and supplemented in 1978, and by implementing 
regulations at 43 CFR 3425, Lease-On-Application. Coal developent is 
recognized as an appropriate use of public lands within the Wasatch 
Plateau Coal Field. The BLM will consider the approval of the Proposed 
Action in a manner that minimizes impacts on or to other resource 
values (including water and cultural resources), avoids or reduces 
impact on resources and activities, and prevents unnecessary or undue 
degradation of public lands.

Proposed Action

    The action proposed to meet the purpose and need is for the Forest 
Service to consent to the BLM offering the Greens Hollow Federal Coal 
Lease Tract (UTU-84102) for competitive bid. The Forest Service consent 
decision would include special coal lease stipulations for use and 
protection of non-mineral interests, and the BLM decision would include 
stipulations related to the mineral resource.

Lead and Cooperating Agencies

    The Bureau of Land Management, Price Field Office, and the Forest 
Service, Manti-La Sal and Fishlake National Forests, are joint lead 
agencies for this project. The USDI Office of Surface Mining (OSM) will 
participate as a cooperating agency.

Responsible Official

    The Responsible Official for the Forest Service is Allen Rowley, 
Manti-La Sal Acting Forest Supervisor and Fishlake Forest Supervisor, 
115 East 900 North, Richfield, Utah 84701. The responsible official for 
the BLM is William Stringer, Green River District Manager, 170 South 
500 East, Vernal Utah 84078.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    In accordance with the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975, 
which amended the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, and enacting regulations 
at 43 CFR 3400, the Forest Supervisor for the Manti-La Sal and Fishlake 
National Forests, will decide whether or not to consent to BLM leasing 
the subject federal coal lease tract. As part of its consent decision, 
the Forest Service will identify special coal lease stipulations needed 
to protect non-mineral resources.
    In accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, and 
contingent on consent of the surface managing agency, the Green River 
District Manager of the BLM will decide whether or not to offer the 
tract for competitive leasing and under what terms, conditions, and 
special stipulations.

Preliminary Issues

    This Supplemental EIS will analyze issues relating to the potential 
for underground mining and associated subsidence and foreseeable 
surface uses to affect: Geologic resources (including mining-induced 
subsidence and seismicity); existing and reasonably forseeable surface 
structures and facilities; surface and ground water resources, 
including water quantity and water quality; terrestrial and aquatic 
wildlife resources (including Threatened, Endangered, and special 
status species); vegetation resources (including Threatened, 
Endangered, and special status species); heritage resources; 
paleontological resources; socioeconomics; recreation; visual quality; 
range; roadless characteristics; and air quality.

Permits or Licenses Required

    Should a lease be issued and before any mining activity could 
commence, the lessee must obtain a coal mining and reclamation permit 
from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining consistent with the 
requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
(SMCRA) as codified in 30 CFR 700 to end, and the Utah Coal Rules. 
Other Federal and State permits would also be required.

Scoping Process

    Scoping for this Supplemental EIS was completed in preparation of 
the previous EIS. The original Notice of Intent (NOI) for the Greens 
Hollow Coal Lease Tract was printed in the Federal Register (Vol. 73, 
No. 29, pp. 8060-8062) on February 12, 2008. The NOI designated a 45-
day comment period ending March 28, 2008, when comments would be most 
useful. A public notice was also distributed to interested individuals 
on the BLM, Price Field Office and Manti-La Sal and Fishlake National 
Forests mailing lists. A legal notice was also sent to local newspapers 
to notify the general public.
    A content analysis of the comments received on the Draft EIS was 
prepared. A summary of the issues and concerns, grouped by discipline 
or resource, identified during the scoping process

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were analyzed in the EIS, while a more detailed record of responses 
received were compiled into a scoping report for the project.

Other Public Involvement

    The Draft EIS for the Greens Hollow Coal Lease Tract was released 
and distributed on March 26, 2009. The EPA Notice of Availability (NOA) 
was published in the Federal Register on April 3, 2009, initiating the 
formal 45-day coment period on the Draft EIS. The BLM NOA appeared in 
the Federal Register on April 6, 2009. The Forest Service Legal Notice 
of Proposed Action appeared in the local newsapers on April 14 and 15, 
2009. The NOA was also posted on the BLM's Environmental Notification 
Bulletin Board on April 3, 2009. An electronic copy of the Draft EIS 
was also made available on the BLM's Web site and hard copies were 
mailed to the project mailing list. Responses to comments on the Draft 
EIS were included in the Final EIS, Appendix C.
    The Final EIS was released to the public on December 14, 2011. The 
EPA NOA was published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2011. On 
February 13, 2012, an appeal was filed with the Region 4, Regional 
Forester. Following the appeal, the decision was made to withdraw the 
Record of Decision and conduct additional analysis.

    Dated: October 11, 2012.
Allen Rowley,
Forest Supervisor, Fishlake and Manti LaSal National Forests.
[FR Doc. 2012-25663 Filed 10-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P