[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 180 (Wednesday, September 16, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57881-57882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20033]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[20X LLUT920000 L13200000.EL0000]


Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for 
Williams Draw Coal Tract Lease-by-Application UTU-80043, Emery County, 
Utah, and Notice of Online Public Hearing and Request for Comments on 
the Environmental Assessment, Fair Market Value, and Maximum Economic 
Recovery AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior

ACTION: Notice of availability; and online public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah State Office 
announces the availability of the Williams Draw Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the Lease-By-Application (LBA) UTU-80043 for public 
review and comment. The BLM is also announcing an online public hearing 
to receive comments on the EA, Fair Market Value (FMV), and Maximum 
Economic Recovery (MER) of the coal resources contained in the proposed 
lease tract.

DATES: The online public hearing will be held on Sept. 30, 2020, from 7 
p.m. to 9 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time). Written comments for the EA 
should be received no later than Oct. 15, 2020. Written comments for 
the FMV and MER should be received no later than Oct. 30, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The online public hearing details, including the 
registration form link, meeting agenda, PowerPoint presentation, and 
transcript of the hearing, will be posted on the BLM'S ePlanning 
website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1502605/510.
    Registration is required for all participants. For participants who 
do not have online access or wish to participate via telephone, contact 
Andrea Johnson in the BLM Price Field Office at (435) 636-3600.
    Written comments for the EA may be submitted through the BLM's e-
planning site at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1502605/510, emailed to [email protected], or mailed to Bureau 
of Land Management, Price Field Office, Attention: Williams Draw EA, 
125 South 600 West, Price, Utah 84501.
    Written comments for the FMV and MER should be addressed to Stan 
Perkes, BLM Utah State Office, Division of Lands and Minerals, 440 West 
200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101, or emailed to 
[email protected]. A copy of the comments for FMV and MER, except those 
portions marked as ``CONFIDENTIAL,'' identified as proprietary by the 
author, and meeting one of the exemptions in the Freedom of Information 
Act, will be available for public review upon request at the Utah State 
Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Availability and information on the EA 
can be obtained by contacting Don Stephens at (435) 636-3608 or 
([email protected]). Persons who use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to 
leave a message or question for the above individual. The FRS is 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Replies are provided during 
normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 1, 2002, UtahAmerican Energy Inc. 
(UEI) submitted an application for the coal lease. If the lease is 
obtained, UEI plans to mine the coal as an extension of its existing 
Lila Canyon Mine. The EA analyzes and discloses the potential direct, 
indirect, and cumulative impacts of leasing and subsequent mining of 
the proposed LBA tract. The Williams Draw coal tract has one minable 
coalbed called the Lower Sunnyside bed with underground minable 
portions of the coalbed ranging from approximately 4.2 to 13.1 feet in 
thickness. The tract contains approximately 64.6 million tons of high-
volatile A bituminous coal in-place and, at an estimated 50 percent 
recovery, 32.3 million tons recoverable. The quality in the coal beds 
on an ``as received basis'' is as follows: 13,151 Btu/lb., 6.80 percent 
moisture, 9.85 percent ash, 40.50 percent volatile matter, 50.53 
percent fixed carbon and 1.2 percent sulfur.
    The tract is located in Emery County in the Book Cliffs coal field, 
approximately 125 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. The lands are 
described as follows:

Salt Lake Meridian, Utah

T. 16 S., R. 14 E.,
    sec. 25, S1/2;
    sec. 26, SE1/4 and SW1/4NE1/4;
    sec. 35, NE1/4.
T. 16 S., R. 15 E.,
    sec. 30, lots 3 and 4, and E1/2SW1/4;
    sec. 31.
T. 17 S., R. 14 E.,
    sec. 1, lots 1 thru 3, lots 6 thru 8, S1/2NE1/4, SE1/4NW1/4, E1/
2SW1/4 and SE1/4;
    sec. 12, NE1/4, E1/2NW1/4, NE1/4SW1/4, and N1/2SE1/4;
T. 17 S., R. 15 E.,
    sec. 5, lots 3 and 4, S1/2NW1/4 and SW1/4;
    secs. 6 and 7;

[[Page 57882]]

    sec. 8, W1/2.

    The area described contains 4,231.40 acres, according to the 
official plats of the surveys on file with the BLM.
    The BLM online public hearing will require public registration, 
which will commence upon publication of the Federal Register Notice. 
Notices announcing the public hearing will be published in the Emery 
County Progress and Carbon County Sun Advocate.
    The BLM will make every effort to accommodate speakers who 
register, although preference will be given to participants from the 
local area.
    Each commenter will have three minutes to provide oral testimony.
    Written statements and supporting information submitted during the 
comment period will be considered with the same weight as oral comments 
and supporting information presented at the online public hearing.
    Proprietary data must be marked ``CONFIDENTIAL'' and shall be 
treated in accordance with the laws and regulations governing 
confidentiality of such information. Comments on the FMV and MER may 
include, but need not be limited to, the following topics:
    1. The quality of the coal resource;
    2. The mining methods or methods which would achieve MER of the 
coal, including specifications of seams to be mined and the most 
desirable timing and rate of production, restriction of mining, and the 
inclusion of the tracts in an existing or proposed mining operation;
    3. Whether this tract is likely to be mined as part of an existing 
or a proposed mine and evaluated on a realistic incremental basis, in 
relation to the mine which has the greatest value;
    4. Whether the tract should be evaluated as part of an existing 
mine or as a portion of a new potential mine;
    5. Restrictions to mining that may affect coal recovery;
    6. The price the mined coal would bring when sold;
    7. Costs, including mining and reclamation, and the anticipated 
timing of production;
    8. 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;
    9. Depreciation, depletion, amortization and other tax accounting 
factors;
    10. Documented information on the terms and conditions of recent 
and similar coal land transactions in the lease sale area;
    11. The value of any privately held mineral or surface estate in 
the lease sale area; and
    12. Any potential or known competitive interest in the lease sale 
area.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, please 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 to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, the BLM cannot guarantee that it will 
be able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 43 CFR 3422.1, 3425.3, and 3425.4

Gregory Sheehan,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-20033 Filed 9-15-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P