[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 82 (Thursday, April 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25290-25292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09088]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWYD09000, L51010000.ER0000, LVRWK21K2200, WYW190759]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County, Wyoming

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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
Kemmerer Field Office intends to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the proposed Dry Creek Trona Mine project in 
Sweetwater County, Wyoming, and by this notice is announcing the 
beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and 
identify issues.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the EIS. 
The BLM

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requests comments concerning the scope of the analysis, potential 
alternatives, and identification of relevant information and studies. 
All comments must be received by May 31, 2022. The BLM will conduct a 
virtual public scoping meeting during the scoping period and will 
announce the meeting's date and other logistical information at least 
15 days in advance through local media, newspapers, and the BLM 
website, https://go.usa.gov/xehyU.https://go.usa.gov/xehyU. The BLM 
will provide additional opportunities for public participation upon 
publication of the Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Dry Creek Trona Mine 
EIS by any of the following methods:
     Website: https://go.usa.gov/xehyU.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: BLM Kemmerer Field Office, 430 North Highway 189, 
Kemmerer, WY 93101.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at 
https://go.usa.gov/xehyU and at the Kemmerer Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Lamborn, Project Manager, 
[email protected]; telephone: (307) 828-4505; 430 North Highway 189, 
Kemmerer, WY 93101. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 
(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. 
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services 
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In April 2020, Pacific Soda, LLC and 
Atlantic Soda, LLC (hereafter Pacific Soda and Atlantic Soda, 
respectively) submitted a project proposal to the BLM to construct 
mining facilities and employ solution mining technologies to mine trona 
beds 2,300 feet below the surface. The proposed project area is located 
south of Interstate 80 (I-80) and west of Wyoming State Highway 530, 
near the town of Green River, Wyoming, in the Known Sodium Leasing Area 
(KSLA). The KSLA is a geologic designation in the Green River Basin 
where developable trona deposits at least 4 feet thick are known to 
occur. Under the Proposed Action, facilities would include mine well 
fields, processing facilities, a co-generation plant, storage ponds, a 
landfill, transportation facilities, a water pipeline, and utility 
features.
    The processing facilities, co-generation plant, storage ponds, and 
landfill are proposed. Groundwater wells would be drilled to provide 
water for the early phases of construction until a water pipeline from 
the Green River is fully constructed.
    Pacific Soda and Atlantic Soda submitted an Application for 
Transportation and Utility Systems and Facilities on Federal Lands 
(Standard Form [SF] 299) to the BLM on November 5, 2020, for the 
project-related transportation and utility features, including a water 
supply pipeline, rail line, access road, and overhead powerline. 
Pacific Soda and Atlantic Soda submitted a second SF-299 application to 
the BLM on December 21, 2020, for a natural gas pipeline. These 
infrastructure features are proposed to cross a combination of private 
lands and BLM-managed lands. The SF-299 applications are included as 
part of the BLM's proposed action, and the impacts resulting from the 
associated linear features will be analyzed in the Draft EIS.
    Pacific Soda and Atlantic Soda estimate that approximately 23.5 
million tons of trona are in reserve on each section of land within the 
proposed project area, that mining would occur on each section for nine 
to ten years, and that mined trona would be refined to produce 
approximately 5.5 million metric tons of marketable soda ash per year. 
The proposed action (including all facilities, mining infrastructure, 
ancillary facilities, and transportation and utility features) would 
collectively impact approximately 3,330 acres of private land, 2,809 
acres of BLM-managed land, and five acres of land managed by the U.S. 
Forest Service.
    The BLM determined that the proposed action requires an EIS-level 
NEPA analysis. The preparation of an EIS will assist the BLM in the 
decision-making process through the identification, analysis, and 
public disclosure of potential impacts of the proposed action on the 
human environment, including (but not limited to) environmental, 
social, and economic impacts (40 CFR 1502.16). Aside from BLM and USFS 
managed lands, no federal or state managed lands would be disturbed by 
the proposed action. Additionally, the BLM is not aware of any other 
proposed activities in the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project area that would 
be considered, under NEPA, a connected action to the proposed action.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    The BLM's purpose for the action is to respond to proponents' 
proposed Plan of Operations to construct and operate trona mining 
facilities. If approved by the BLM, this would allow Pacific Soda and 
Atlantic Soda the opportunity to develop their valid existing leases on 
specific public lands within the proposed mining plan boundary as 
authorized by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (as amended) (MLA) and 
FLPMA. Pacific Soda and Atlantic Soda would construct the mining 
facilities and transportation and utility features specified in the 
Plan of Operations and SF-299 applications for rights-of-way for linear 
infrastructure. The objective of Pacific Soda and Atlantic Soda would 
be to use these facilities and employ solution mining technologies to 
mine trona beds 2,300 feet below the surface and produce an estimated 
5.5 million tons of marketable soda ash per year.
    The need for the action is established by the BLM's responsibility 
under the MLA and FLPMA. Under these statutes, the BLM is required to 
respond to the project proposal and review the proposed mine plan and 
associated SF-299s to ensure that mining activities and construction of 
associated facilities do not cause unnecessary or undue degradation of 
public lands and are consistent with leasing stipulations and other 
requirements mandated in the BLM Kemmerer and Green River Resource 
Management Plans (RMPs), as well as other applicable federal, state, 
and local statutes and regulations.

Summary of Expected Impacts

    Preliminary expected impacts include potential impacts to sage 
grouse priority habitat, crucial big game habitat for antelope, 
cultural sites and areas of interest to Tribes, and ground water, as 
well as potential subsidence issues.

Anticipated Permits and Authorizations

    Agencies that could require permits for this project, in addition 
to the BLM, include the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers; State of Wyoming 
Department of Environmental Quality; Wyoming State Engineer's Office; 
Wyoming Department of Transportation; Wyoming Game and Fish Department; 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; and Sweetwater 
County.

Public Scoping Process

    The purpose of public scoping is to identify relevant issues that 
will influence the scope of the environmental analysis, including 
alternatives, and guide the process for

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developing an EIS. The BLM plans to hold one virtual meeting during the 
scoping period. The specific date and details of the scoping meeting 
will be announced at least 15 days in advance through the BLM website 
at https://go.usa.gov/xehyU.

Request for Identification of Potential Issues, Alternatives, 
Information, and Analyses Relevant to the Proposed Action

    The BLM requests assistance with identifying potential alternatives 
to the proposed action to be considered. As alternatives should resolve 
a problem with the proposed action, please indicate the purpose of the 
suggested alternative. The BLM also requests the identification of 
potential impacts that should be analyzed. Impacts should be a result 
of the action; therefore, please identify the activity and the 
potential resulting impact that should be analyzed. Information have 
that would assist in the development of alternatives or analysis of 
resource issues is also helpful.

Lead and Cooperating Agencies

    The BLM is the lead agency for this analysis. Cooperating agencies 
include: U.S. Forest Service; U. S. Army Corps of Engineers; Wyoming 
Department of Agriculture; Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality; 
Wyoming Game and Fish Department; Wyoming Governor's Office; Wyoming 
Office of Outdoor Recreation; Wyoming Office of State Lands and 
Investments; Wyoming State Engineer's Office; Wyoming State Historic 
Preservation Office; Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails; 
Wyoming Industrial Siting Commission; Lincoln County Commissioners; 
Lincoln County Conservation District; Sweetwater County Commissioners; 
Sweetwater County Conservation District; Uinta County Commissioners; 
Uinta County Conservation District; Town of Granger; and Town of Green 
River. Consulting parties include: Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind 
River Reservation; Northern Arapaho Tribe; Ute Tribe of the Uintah and 
Ouray Reservation; and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall 
Reservation.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    Following a thorough NEPA analysis, the BLM's decision will include 
whether to approve the Plan of Operations and SF-299 applications (for 
transportation and utility features) and, if approved, whether 
modifications and any additional mitigation measures are required to 
comply with the FLPMA mandate to prevent unnecessary or undue 
degradation and conform to leasing stipulations specified in the BLM 
Kemmerer and Green River RMPs.

Additional Information

    The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider mitigation to address 
the reasonably foreseeable impacts to resources from the proposed 
action and all reasonable alternatives and, in accordance with 40 CFR 
1502.14(f), include appropriate mitigation measures not already 
included in the proposed action or alternatives. Mitigation may include 
avoidance, minimization, rectification, reduction or elimination over 
time, and compensation; and may be considered at multiple scales, 
including the landscape scale.
    The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA process to help 
support procedural requirements under the Endangered Species Act (16 
U.S.C. 1536) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 
(54 U.S.C. 306108) as provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3), including public 
involvement requirements of Section 106. The information about historic 
and cultural resources and threatened and endangered species within the 
area potentially affected by the proposed plan will assist the BLM in 
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources.
    The BLM will consult with Indian Tribes on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175, BLM MS 1780, 
and other Departmental 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 environmental analysis as a cooperating agency.
    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, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.)


Melissa Towers,
Acting District Manager, BLM High Desert District Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-09088 Filed 4-27-22; 8:45 am]
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