[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26985-26986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09613]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[19X.LLMTC03200.L51100000.GA0000. LVEME19CE830 MO #4500133387]
Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for Coyote
Creek Mining Company's Lease-by-Application NDM 110277, Mercer County,
ND, Notice of Public Hearing, and Request for Comment on Environmental
Assessment, Maximum Economic Recovery, and Fair Market Value
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), North Dakota Field Office
(NDFO) is publishing this notice to announce that an Environmental
Assessment (EA) for Coyote Creek Mining Company's (CCMC) Federal Coal
Lease-by-Application (LBA), serial number NDM 110277, is available for
public review and comment. The BLM is also announcing that it will hold
a public hearing by teleconference to receive comments on the EA, Fair
Market Value (FMV), and Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) of the coal
resources contained in the proposed CCMC LBA lease tracts. The Office
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is also accepting
comments on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis
regarding the potential Federal mine plan decision.
DATES: The public hearing by teleconference will be held from 3:00 p.m.
to 5:00 p.m. (Central time zone) on May 20, 2020. Written or electronic
comments should be submitted to the NDFO or postmarked no later than
May 29, 2020.
ADDRESSES: A public hearing by teleconference will be held by calling
1-800-369-1853 and entering passcode 3787572 when prompted. The
teleconference will convene on May 20, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. (Central time
zone) and will conclude at 5:00 p.m. (Central time zone). Please note
that any details and updates made to any aspect of the hearing will be
posted on the BLM ePlanning web page (https://go.usa.gov/xVyfF). While
the BLM expects the hearing to go forward as set forth above, please
monitor the ePlanning website or contact the person listed in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to determine if there are any
updates. In addition, copies of the EA are available on ePlanning, at
the NDFO, and may be
[[Page 26986]]
requested by mail, email or phone using the contacts provided in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. You may submit comments
related to the CCMC EA, FMV and MER by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected];
Mail: Bureau of Land Management North Dakota Field Office,
Attention: Joel Hartmann, Project Lead, 99 23rd Avenue West, Suite A,
Dickinson, ND 58601.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel Hartmann, Geologist; telephone:
406-896-5159; or at the address and email provided in the ADDRESSES
section. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD)
may call the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 to contact Mr.
Hartmann during normal business hours. The Service is available 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question for Mr.
Hartmann. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. If you
have questions regarding the potential Federal mine plan decision,
please contact Michelle Fishburne at telephone: 202-208-2982, email:
[email protected]. If you have questions regarding attending the
hearing by teleconference, please contact Al Nash at telephone: 406-
896-5260; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 13, 2017, CCMC submitted an
application to lease two 160-acre Federal coal lease tracts comprising
320 acres, located in Mercer County, North Dakota. As project co-leads,
the BLM and OSMRE developed the issue-based EA, which analyzed and
disclosed potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of leasing
and subsequent mining of the proposed lease tracts. The tracts are
located at the Coyote Creek Mine and contain about 5.23 million tons of
in-place Federal coal resources. The tracts underlie private surface
and are described as follows:
Fifth Principal Meridian, North Dakota
T. 143 N., R. 89 W.,
Sec. 24, SW1/4;
Sec. 26, SE1/4.
The areas described aggregate 320.00 acres.
Through this notice, the BLM is inviting the public to provide
comments regarding the potential environmental impacts related to the
proposed action, and to submit comments on the FMV and the MER for the
proposed LBA tract. The BLM usually holds a public hearing in the local
community where the tracts are located. However, due to the COVID-19
National Emergency and the uncertainty of Federal, State, and local
social distancing guidelines, the BLM and OSRME are holding the public
hearing by teleconference to ensure staff and interested community
members are able to participate safely. A stenographer will record the
presentation and comments received during the teleconference. All
public comments, whether written or oral, will receive consideration
prior to the BLM's decision regarding the leasing of the Federal coal
contained in the tracts.
Public comments on the EA should address the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed action. Public comments on the
FMV and MER for the proposed lease tracts may address, but do not
necessarily have to be limited to, the following:
1. The quantity and quality of the Federal coal resource;
2. The mining method to be employed to obtain the MER of the coal
resource, including the name of the coal bed(s) to be mined, timing and
rate of production, restriction of mining, and the inclusion of the
lease tracts into the existing mining operation;
3. The price that the mined coal would bring when sold;
4. Costs, including mining and reclamation, and the anticipated
timing of production;
5. The percentage rate at which anticipated income streams should
be discounted, either with inflation, or in the absence of inflation,
in which case the anticipated rate of inflation should be given;
6. Depreciation, depletion, amortization and other tax accounting
factors;
7. The value of privately held mineral or surface estate in the
Coyote Creek Mine area.
Any proprietary information or data that you submit to the BLM must
be marked as confidential to ensure the data will be treated in
accordance with the applicable laws and regulations governing the
confidentiality of such information or data. A copy of the comments
submitted by the public on the EA, FMV, and MER for the tracts, except
those portions identified as proprietary and that meet one of the
exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act, will be available for
public inspection at the BLM, NDFO, 99 23rd Avenue West, Suite A,
Dickinson, North Dakota, during regular business hours (8:00 a.m.-4:30
p.m. Central time zone), Monday through Friday.
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 can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, the BLM cannot guarantee that we will
be able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 43 CFR 3422.1, 3425.3 and 3425.4)
John J. Mehlhoff,
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Director, Billings, Montana.
[FR Doc. 2020-09613 Filed 5-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DN-P