[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3413-3415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00851]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVW00000.L7122000.EX0000. LVTFF1906890.19X.MO#4500141833]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement and Resource Management Plan Amendment, for the Lithium 
Nevada Corp., Thacker Pass Project Proposed Plan of Operations and 
Reclamation Plan Permit Application, Humboldt County, Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Humboldt

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River Field Office, Winnemucca, Nevada intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and Land Use Plan Amendment to 
the current Resource Management Plan (RMP), to analyze the potential 
impacts of approving the Lithium Nevada Corp. (LNC), Thacker Pass 
Project Proposed Plan of Operations and Reclamation Plan Permit 
Application (Project) in Humboldt County, Nevada. This notice announces 
the beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and 
identify issues to be considered in the EIS, and serves to initiate 
public consultation, as required under the National Historic 
Preservation Act (NHPA).

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the EIS. 
Comments on issues to be considered in the EIS may be submitted in 
writing until February 20, 2020. The dates and locations of two scoping 
meetings, one in Orovada and the other in Winnemucca, Nevada, will be 
announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, newspapers 
and the BLM website at: https://www.blm.gov/office/winnemucca-district-office. In order to be included in the Draft EIS, all comments must be 
received prior to the close of the 30-day scoping period or 15 days 
after the last public meeting, whichever is later. We will provide 
additional opportunities for public participation upon publication of 
the Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Project by any of the 
following methods:
     Website: https://bit.ly/2S7rRRt.
     Email: [email protected], Include Thacker Pass Project EIS 
Comments in the subject line.
     Fax: (775) 623-1503.
     Mail: 5100 E Winnemucca Boulevard, Winnemucca, NV 89445.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about the proposed 
Project contact Mr. Ken Loda, telephone: (775) 623-1500, address: 5100 
East Winnemucca Boulevard, Winnemucca, NV 89445. Contact Mr. Loda to 
have your name added to our mailing list. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay 
Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during 
normal business hours. The FRS 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 applicant, LNC, proposes to construct, 
operate, reclaim, and eventually close an open pit lithium mine, 
processing operation, and continued exploration activities (the 
Project) on public lands in northern Humboldt County, Nevada.
    LNC has submitted two Plans of Operations (PoO), each of which 
includes an associated reclamation plan, to develop the Project and to 
provide BLM with a description of the proposed lithium mining, 
processing, and exploration operations. The PoOs include measures to be 
implemented to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of public lands 
by operations authorized under the mining laws.
    LNC currently has two approved PoOs, one for exploration and one 
for a specialty clay mine, approved within the area proposed for the 
new lithium mine. There are 75 acres of exploration disturbance 
approved under LNCs existing exploration PoO, and 140 acres of existing 
disturbance approved under their clay mine PoO. The operations proposed 
under the two new PoOs would involve a project area of about 18,000 
acres, with an ultimate disturbance footprint of approximately 5,700 
acres. The proposed lithium mine PoO boundary overlaps the existing PoO 
boundaries.
    LNC proposes to develop the Project in two phases (Phase 1 and 
Phase 2) over the estimated 41-year mine life. Pending LNC receiving 
the required authorizations and permits for Phase 1 of the Project, 
pre-stripping would commence in early 2021 and construction in the 
first quarter of 2021, with mining production and ore processing 
estimated to commence in late 2022. LNC estimates that it would 
complete mining, processing and concurrent reclamation activities in 
2061, after which reclamation, site closure activities, and post-
closure monitoring would occur for a minimum of five years.
    The Project would provide employment to approximately 300 workers 
during the operational phase. The proposed activities and facilities 
associated with the Project include development of an open pit mine, 
construction and operation of lithium processing and production 
facilities, mine facilities to support mining operations, two waste 
rock storage facilities, a run-of-mine stockpile, a clay tailings 
filter stack, water supply facilities, two power transmission lines and 
substations, and various ancillary facilities. Pit dewatering is not 
expected to be required as part of the Project until 2055, and 
concurrent backfill of the open pit would occur after sufficient volume 
has been excavated to initiate direct placement of waste rock. 
Continued exploration would be conducted under both PoOs. The project 
would produce lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide monohydrate, lithium 
sulfide, lithium metal, and solid-state lithium batteries.
    The Project also would include the construction of natural 
landforms and other design features to mitigate potential impacts to 
visual resources within the Project area. A Land Use Plan Amendment 
addressing visual resources would be included with the Project and 
analyzed in the EIS if visual resource issues cannot be mitigated 
during the exploration, construction, and operation of the Project to 
conform with the visual resource management class-2 designation in the 
current RMP, approved in 2015.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to identify relevant 
issues that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis, 
including alternatives, and guide the process for developing the EIS. 
The BLM has identified some preliminary issues associated with the 
Project: (a) Dewatering during mining and the formation of a pit lake 
after completion of mining activities; (b) Potential impacts to streams 
occupied by Lahontan cutthroat trout, a threatened species under the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended; (c) Potential impacts to 
visual resources; (d) Potential impacts to wildlife habitat; and (e) 
Potential impacts to cultural resources eligible under the National 
Register of Historic Places.
    The BLM will use and coordinate the NEPA scoping process to help 
fulfill the public involvement process under the NHPA as provided in 42 
CFR 800.2(d)(3). The information about historic and cultural resources 
within the area potentially affected by the proposed project will 
assist the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources 
in the context of both NEPA and the NHPA.
    The BLM will consult with Native American tribes on a government-
to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other 
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and 
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due 
consideration.
    Federal, State, and local agencies, along with tribes and other 
stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
project that the BLM is evaluating, are invited to participate in the 
scoping process and, if eligible, may request or be requested by the 
BLM to participate in the development of the EIS as a cooperating 
agency. Comments and materials we receive, as well as

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supporting documentation we use in preparing the EIS, will be available 
for public inspection during normal business hours at the Winnemucca 
District Office (see ADDRESSES section, above).
    Before including your address, 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 may 
request in your comment that your personal identifying information be 
withheld from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able 
to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.

David Kampwerth,
Field Manager, Humboldt River Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-00851 Filed 1-17-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P