[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 150 (Monday, August 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52205-52206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16846]



[[Page 52205]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

[S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 234S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 
23XS501520]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
Signal Peak Energy, LLC's Federal Mine Plan for Federal Lease MTM-
97988; Bull Mountains Mine Amendment 3 and 5 EIS

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Regions 
5, 7-11, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 
(OSMRE) is publishing this notice to announce that it will prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) for Signal Peak Energy, LLC's 
(Signal Peak) proposed Federal Mining Plan modification for Federal 
Lease MTM-97988 (the Project). OSMRE is preparing this EIS to address 
deficiencies in OSMRE's earlier analysis of environmental impacts 
related to a mining plan modification that the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals identified in a 2022 decision. 350 Mont. v. Haaland, 29 F.4th 
1158 (9th Cir. 2022), amended by 50 F.4th 1254 (9th Cir. 2022). With 
this notice, OSMRE is also providing notification to the public that it 
will hold a public scoping meeting and provide for a 30-day public 
scoping period to receive comments on the environmental issues, 
alternatives, and information that OSMRE should analyze in this EIS.

DATES: OSMRE requests comments concerning the scope of the analysis in 
the EIS, alternatives, and identification of relevant information, 
studies, and analyses. All comments must be received by September 6, 
2023. The public scoping meeting will be held at the Roundup Community 
Center in Roundup, Montana from 3:00-6:00 p.m. MDT on Wednesday, August 
30, 2023.
    OSMRE anticipates publishing the draft EIS in Spring 2024 and the 
final EIS in Fall 2024 with the Record of Decision expected to be 
published in early 2025.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Project by any of the 
following methods:
     Email: [email protected] Be sure to send emails 
with the subject line: ATTN: Bull Mountains Mine Amd 3 EIS.
     Mail: ATTN: Bull Mtns Amd3 EIS, C/O: Roberta 
Mart[iacute]nez Hern[aacute]ndez, OSMRE Western Regions 5, 7-11, P.O. 
Box 25065, Lakewood, CO 80225-0065.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roberta Mart[iacute]nez 
Hern[aacute]ndez, NEPA Project Manager; telephone (303) 236-4705; 
email: [email protected] or at the address provided in the 
ADDRESSES section.
    Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OSMRE Regions 5 and 7 through 11 will 
prepare an EIS for the Bull Mountains Mine Mining Plan modification to 
address a 2022 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision related to the 
2018 mining plan modification that OSMRE prepared for Federal Coal 
Lease MTM 97988. 350 Mont., 29 F.4th 1158. Mining of Federal coal was 
allowed to continue during the litigation challenging OSMRE's 
environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), but the mining plan modification approval was ultimately 
vacated by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana on 
February 10, 2023, requiring Signal Peak to immediately stop mining any 
remaining Federal coal authorized under the vacated mining plan. 350 
Mont. v. Haaland, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23219 (D. Mont. Feb. 10, 2023), 
motion for clarification denied, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33516 (D. Mont. 
Feb. 28, 2023). In accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 
(MLA), the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management (ASLM) 
must approve, disapprove, or approve the Project with conditions 
because the Project contains lands with leased Federal coal associated 
with MTM 97988. The Bull Mountains Mine is operated by Signal Peak 
under Permit C1993017, issued by Montana Department of Environmental 
Quality (MDEQ), in accordance with its state mine permit.
    OSMRE will complete a corrective NEPA analysis by preparing an EIS 
to analyze the potential environmental effects of the Project, 
including potential effects on climate from project-related greenhouse 
gas emissions. The EIS will analyze the potential environmental effects 
of mining all of the Federal coal under the originally proposed mining 
plan modification, including the mining that already occurred under the 
now-vacated ASLM approval and the mining of the remaining Federal coal. 
The EIS will also consider an additional amendment currently pending 
with MDEQ which would add 7.1 million tons (Mt) of Federal coal to the 
mining plan, and any new information available when analyzing potential 
impacts to other resources in the environment that could result if 
mining of the Federal coal is approved.
    The Bull Mountains Mine is located approximately 30 miles north of 
Billings, Montana. The Project as proposed in 2015 allowed for 475 
acres of additional surface disturbance and 37.5 Mt of recoverable 
Federal coal, extending the life of mine (LOM) by 11.5 years. Following 
the 2023 vacatur of the mining plan approval, mining of Federal coal at 
this site is currently stopped unless and until ASLM approves a new 
mining plan. As proposed, this mining plan modification, including the 
additional 7.1 Mt of Federal coal from lease MTM-97988 (Amendment 5), 
would allow for 249 acres of additional surface disturbance and 
recovery of an additional 30.6 Mt of Federal coal, extending the LOM by 
approximately 8 to 10 years, depending on production rates. The annual 
production rate used to calculate the environmental impacts resulting 
from the Project is approximately 8 to 10 million tons per year (Mtpy), 
which is below the maximum permitted production rate of 15 Mtpy set by 
MDEQ-Air Quality Division Air Quality Permit MAQP #3179-12. If the Bull 
Mountains Mine maintains an annual production rate of approximately 8 
to 10 Mtpy, the Project could extend production until 2032, but this 
date could vary depending on annual production rates. As with other 
areas of the Bull Mountains Mine, coal would be primarily sold, 
exported, and combusted in South Korea and Japan, with approximately 4 
percent being sent to domestic customers across the USA. If the Project 
is not approved, the Bull Mountains Mine would be expected to continue 
producing coal for approximately 1 to 2 years, ending in 2024 to 2025, 
depending on production rates. The surface of the permit area is a mix 
of private, State, and Federally owned land, and current surface land 
uses in the Project area include grazing and wildlife habitat.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    On October 14, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that 
OSMRE failed to adequately examine the impacts of greenhouse gas 
emissions resulting from the 2015 Federal mining plan modification in 
OSMRE's 2018 Environmental Assessment and remanded the case to the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Montana. On February 10, 2023, the 
District Court

[[Page 52206]]

determined that vacatur of the approved Federal mining plan was 
necessary while OSMRE prepared the updated NEPA analysis. 350 Mont., 
2023 U.S. Dist. Lexis 23219.
    The purpose of this EIS is to complete a corrective NEPA analysis 
to analyze the potential environmental effects of the Project, 
including potential effects on climate from project-related greenhouse 
gas emissions. The EIS will consider any new information available in 
analyzing potential impacts to other resources in the environment that 
could result if mining of the Federal coal is approved, and will also 
consider the potential effects of proposed Amendment 5, which is 
pending before MDEQ.
    In accordance with the MLA, the Department of the Interior's ASLM 
must approve, disapprove, or approve the Project with conditions 
because the Project contains lands with leased Federal coal. This EIS 
will assist OSMRE in preparing a recommendation to ASLM to approve, 
disapprove, or approve with conditions the Federal mining plan 
modification. Signal Peak, the current mine operator, must obtain 
approval from ASLM to access and recover the Federal coal reserves in 
Federal Coal Lease MTM 97988.

Preliminary Proposed Project and Alternatives

    The Project as proposed in 2015 allowed for 475 acres of additional 
surface disturbance and recovery of an additional 37.5 Mt of 
recoverable Federal coal, extending the LOM by 11.5 years. If approved 
by ASLM, the proposed mining plan modification under review in this EIS 
would allow for an additional 249 acres of additional surface 
disturbance, recovery of an additional 30.6 Mt of Federal coal, and 
extend the LOM by approximately 8 to 10 years. Signal Peak started 
operation in 1991 and could continue to operate until approximately 
2032 under the proposed Federal mining plan modification, depending on 
production rates. The EIS will evaluate the proposed action 
alternative, a no-action alternative, and at least one additional 
alternative that would result in lower greenhouse gas emissions than 
the proposed action.

Summary of Expected Impacts

    OSMRE has completed internal scoping and identified preliminary 
analysis issues that will be evaluated in the EIS. Reasonably 
foreseeable effects of mining Federal coal will be evaluated for the 
following resources:

 Air Quality, including air pollutants and related values such 
as visibility (haze) and atmospheric deposition
 Combustion of greenhouse gases as it relates to climate change
 Surface water and groundwater quality and quantity (including 
impacts to wetlands)
 Socioeconomics
 Environmental Justice
 Federally listed threatened/endangered species
 Geology
 Soils
 Cultural Resources
 Visual Resources
 Wildlife
 Transportation and Electrical Transmission
 Land Use and Realty
 Topography and Physiography
 Solid and Hazardous Materials
 Human Health
 Vegetation (including noxious weeds and invasive species)
 Noise and Vibration

Anticipated Permits and Authorizations

    ASLM action on the Federal mining plan modification.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    OSMRE anticipates signing the Record of Decision in early 2025, and 
that ASLM will make a decision on the Federal mining plan modification 
in Spring 2025.

Public Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides 
the development of the EIS. In addition to this notice and the project 
web page on OSMRE's website at https://www.osmre.gov/laws-and-regulations/nepa/projects, interested stakeholders, agencies, and 
Tribes will be notified of the 30-day comment period via mailed 
letters. All public scoping comments must be submitted by email or by 
hard copy mail to the addresses listed under ADDRESSES. 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 public at any time. While you may request in your comment to 
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, 
OSMRE cannot guarantee that this will occur.
    The project web page includes the description of the Project as 
submitted by Signal Peak, a map of the proposed mining area, and 
information about how to submit comments on issues or concerns related 
to the Project that may need to be analyzed in the EIS.
    OSMRE will review public scoping comments and prepare a scoping 
summary report. The scoping summary report will be used by OSMRE to 
identify issues for further analysis, resources and issues that can be 
dismissed from detailed analysis because they are not present or not 
affected, and potential alternatives to be analyzed. The scoping 
summary report will be made available to the public as an appendix to 
the draft EIS.

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

    In addition to comments concerning the scope of the EIS analysis, 
commenters are encouraged to identify relevant information, studies, 
and analyses that would assist the Department in making its decision 
and identifying potential alternatives to the Project.

Lead and Cooperating Agencies

    OSMRE is the lead agency for this EIS, and the Bureau of Land 
Management is a cooperating agency. MDEQ has been invited to be a 
cooperating agency on this EIS. Other Federal agencies, State, Tribal, 
and local governments with jurisdiction by law or special expertise 
that are interested in participating in the preparation of this EIS 
should contact the above mentioned NEPA Project Manager.

Decision Maker

    Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    Informed, in part, by the EIS analysis, OSMRE will make a 
recommendation to ASLM about the Federal mining plan modification 
associated with the Federal coal tracts included in Federal Coal Lease 
MTM 97988. ASLM will consider OSMRE's recommendation and decide whether 
the mining plan modification will be approved, disapproved, or approved 
with conditions. OSMRE's recommendation to ASLM is based, at a minimum, 
on the documentation specified at 30 CFR 746.13.

David Berry,
Regional Director, Unified Regions 5, 7-11.
[FR Doc. 2023-16846 Filed 8-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P