[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56491-56493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23412]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

[15XL LLIDI02000 L71220000.EO0000-LVTFDX508400 241A 4500080287]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Proposed Rasmussen Valley Mine, Caribou County, Idaho

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; United States Forest 
Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USFS), Caribou-Targhee 
National Forest (CTNF), have prepared a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the proposed Rasmussen Valley Mine, and by this 
Notice are announcing the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the Agencies must receive

[[Page 56492]]

written comments on the Rasmussen Valley Mine Draft EIS within 45 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes their 
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce 
any future public meetings and any other public involvement activities 
at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media news 
releases, or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 303-471-3472.
     Mail: Rasmussen Valley Mine EIS, ARCADIS U.S., Inc., 630 
Plaza Drive, Suite 100, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129.
    Please reference ``Rasmussen Valley Mine EIS'' on all 
correspondence. CD-ROM and print copies of the Rasmussen Valley Mine 
Draft EIS are available in the BLM Pocatello Field Office at the 
following address: 4350 Cliffs Drive, Pocatello, ID 83204. In addition, 
an electronic copy of the Draft EIS is available at either of the Web 
addresses listed below:
     BLM Land Use Planning and NEPA Register: http://on.doi.gov/1GpGxyW.
     Caribou-Targhee National Forest Current and Recent 
Projects: http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/ctnf/landmanagement/projects.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William (Bill) Volk, Bureau of Land 
Management, Pocatello Field Office, telephone 208-236-7503; address at 
4350 Cliffs Drive, Pocatello, ID 83204; email at [email protected]. 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 
for the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal 
business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Nu-West Industries, Inc., doing business as 
Agrium Conda Phosphate Operations (Agrium), has submitted a mine plan 
for the Rasmussen Valley Mine to exercise their existing contractual 
rights to recover phosphate ore reserves contained within Federal 
Phosphate Lease I-05975 (the Lease). They have also filed an 
application to modify this lease by increasing its size by 170 acres. 
The Proposed Action would include 440.4 acres of new disturbance and 
develop a new open pit phosphate mining operation on the Lease that 
would include mining the pit in panels, backfilling depleted panels 
with overburden, storing overburden in piles external to the pit, 
construction of a haul road, development of a water management plan, 
and construction of other ancillary facilities. Ore would be processed 
off site at Agrium's Conda Phosphate Operations (CPO) Fertilizer 
Manufacturing Plant northeast of Soda Springs. The mine would be 
located in Caribou County approximately 18 miles northeast of Soda 
Springs, Idaho, on the southwestern flank of Rasmussen Ridge and 
adjacent to portions of Rasmussen Valley near the headwaters of the 
Blackfoot River.
    The proposed Rasmussen Valley Mine would be developed on BLM-
managed lands within an existing Federal phosphate lease; on National 
Forest System lands within and outside of an existing Federal phosphate 
lease with surface administered by the Soda Springs Ranger District, on 
the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area within and outside of the 
Federal phosphate lease with the surface administered by the Idaho 
Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), and on split estate, private land 
with minerals administered by the BLM. The Lease grants the lessee, 
Agrium in this case, exclusive rights to mine and otherwise dispose of 
the federally-owned phosphate deposit. Under the proposed action a 
lease modification would increase the size of the lease by 170 acres. A 
portion of the proposed action would also be outside of the Federal 
phosphate lease on State land administered by the Idaho Department of 
Lands (IDL).
    As directed by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and in accordance 
with NEPA, the BLM will evaluate and respond to the mine plan and issue 
decisions related to the development of the phosphate lease, consider 
the no action alternative, and decide whether to approve the proposed 
mine plan. The USFS will make recommendations to the BLM concerning 
surface management and mitigation on leased lands within the CTNF, and 
will make separate decisions on special use authorizations for off-
lease activities within the CTNF. The BLM, as the Federal lease 
administrator, is the lead agency for the Draft EIS. The USFS is the 
joint-lead agency and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are cooperating agencies. The IDL, IDFG, 
Idaho Department of Water Resources, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
have also participated in the preparation of the Draft EIS. The Draft 
EIS provides the analysis upon which the BLM and other involved 
agencies can base decisions regarding the project.
    Under the Proposed Action, phosphate ore would be mined and hauled 
to Agrium's existing Wooley Valley Tipple, then by existing rail to 
Agrium's CPO Fertilizer Plant approximately 12 miles to the southwest. 
The Proposed Action would consist of using open pit mining methods to 
mine a pit in phases (panels), backfill and reclaim pits; construct 
permanent and temporary external overburden and ore piles, growth media 
stockpiles, haul roads; realign portions of the county roads; construct 
power lines, staging and fuel storage area, water supply wells, and 
runoff sediment control structures; leave high wall exposures in 
portions of the backfilled pit; and extend the pit and associated 
backfill beyond the Lease boundary in several locations requiring Lease 
modification.
    A Notice of Intent to prepare this EIS was published in the Federal 
Register (76 FR 11259) on March 1, 2011, initiating a public scoping 
period for the Proposed Action. During scoping, issues and concerns 
that were expressed included impacts to wetlands; impacts to surface 
water and groundwater potentially resulting from releases of selenium 
and other constituents of potential concern (COPC) from waste rock; 
physical stability of proposed external overburden piles; management of 
pit water; impacts to wildlife and associated wildlife habitat, 
especially on the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area; and maximum 
phosphate resource recovery.
    To address these issues, several alternatives were considered. Two 
of these alternatives, Alternative One--the Rasmussen Collaborative 
Alternative and the No Action Alternative, were carried forward for 
full analysis in the Draft EIS. Alternative One is the agency preferred 
alternative and would include 371.7 acres of new disturbance. Elements 
included in Alternative One are: Relocating the haul road to avoid 
wetlands; reducing the potential for selenium and other COPCs to impact 
surface water and groundwater by placing overburden originally 
scheduled for external overburden piles in an existing open pit at P4's 
nearby South Rasmussen Mine, resulting in the elimination of three 
external overburden piles and the associated concern for stability of 
the natural foundation under these piles and impacts to water resources 
by COPCs; limiting pit depth to reduce the concern for the management 
of pit water; shaping pit backfill and external overburden piles to 
reduce the risk of ponded water on or in the pit, and designing a cover 
to place over the backfill and overburden to reduce the risk of deep 
percolation of water; maximizing phosphate resource

[[Page 56493]]

recovery by extending the pit north; reducing the size of the BLM lease 
modification contained in the Proposed Action to 100 acres while still 
accommodating extension of the mine pit, external overburden piles, 
temporary growth media stockpiles, and ancillary mine features beyond 
the current Lease boundaries. If the mine is extended, USFS Special Use 
Authorizations and State of Idaho Temporary Use Authorizations will 
also be needed.
    Under the No Action Alternative, the Rasmussen Valley Mine Plan 
would not be approved for mining, and no associated development would 
occur on the existing lease. Similarly, associated requests such as the 
lease modification application would not be approved. The No Action 
Alternative would not provide ore for the CPO and would leave the 
mineral resource unmined. The resources would not be developed under 
the 2011 Proposed Action. However, the No Action Alternative does not 
preclude application and approval of future Mine and Reclamation Plans 
for the site because of pre-existing mining rights granted in the 
existing Lease.
    To facilitate understanding and comments on the Draft EIS, public 
meetings are planned to be held in Soda Springs and Pocatello, Idaho. 
Meetings will be open-house style, with displays explaining the project 
and a forum for commenting on the draft EIS. The BLM will announce 
dates, times, and locations of the public scoping meetings in mailings 
and news releases.
    Written and electronic comments regarding the Draft EIS should be 
submitted within 45 days of the date of publication of the 
Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability in the Federal 
Register. To assist the BLM and the USFS in identifying issues and 
concerns related to this project, comments should be as specific as 
possible. The portion of the proposed project related to special use 
authorizations for off-lease activities is subject to the USFS's 
objection process pursuant to 36 CFR 218 Subparts A and B. Only those 
who provide comment concerning the off-lease activities during this 
comment period or who have previously submitted specific written 
comments on the off-lease activities, either during scoping or other 
designated opportunity for public comment, will be eligible as 
objectors to the off-lease activities (36 CFR 218.5). BLM appeal 
procedures found in 43 CFR 4 apply to the portion of the project 
related to activities proposed on the Federal mineral lease(s).
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of respondents 
will be available for public review and disclosure at the above BLM 
address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your phone number, email 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.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ; 40 CFR parts 1500-1508; 43 
CFR part 46; 43 U.S.C. 1701; 43 CFR part 3510; and 43 CFR part 3590.

Jeremy Casterson,
Acting District Manager, Idaho Falls District, Bureau of Land 
Management.
Robert Mickelsen,
Forest Supervisor, Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
[FR Doc. 2015-23412 Filed 9-17-15; 8:45 am]
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