[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65389-65390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17683]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_WY_FRN_MO4500180137]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County, 
Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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) 
announces the availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County, WY.

DATES: To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments on the 
draft EIS, please ensure that the BLM receives your comments within 45 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in the 
Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. The 
BLM will hold a public meeting during the public comment period. The 
date, time, and location will be announced at least 15 days prior to 
the meeting, through public notices, news releases, social media, 
mailings and the BLM website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510.

ADDRESSES: The draft EIS is available for review on the BLM project 
website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510.
    Written comments related to the Dry Creek Trona Mine EIS may be 
submitted by any of the following methods:

 Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510
 Email: [email protected]
 Mail: Dry Creek Trona Mine EIS c/o BLM Kemmerer Field Office, 
430 North Highway 189, Kemmerer, WY 83101

    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510 and at 
the Kemmerer and Rock Springs Field Offices.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Lamborn, Project Manager, 
telephone: (307) 828-4505; address: 430 North Highway 189, Kemmerer, WY 
83101; email [email protected]. 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 for contacting Ms. Kelly Lamborn. 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: The draft EIS provides the analysis of 
environmental impacts for the proposed Dry Creek Trona Mine Project. 
Pacific Soda, LLC (Pacific Soda) owns rights to mine trona resources on 
private lands and leased BLM administered lands in the Kemmerer Field 
Office in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The proposed mine permit area 
includes two BLM leased sections and three private sections 
locatedsouth of I-80 and west of Wyoming State Highway 530, south of 
the town of Green River, Wyoming. The mine plan, if approved by the 
BLM, would allow Pacific Soda to construct mining facilities and employ 
solution mining technologies to develop their BLM leases by mining 
trona beds 2,300 feet below the surface and processing that trona for 
market. Pacific Soda estimates 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 9 to 10 
years, and that mined trona would be refined to produce approximately 
6.0 million metric tons of marketable soda ash per year and 440,900 
metric tons of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) per year. Key approving 
agencies are the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, the BLM, 
and the State of Wyoming Industrial Siting Commission.
    There are four alternatives under consideration. Approximately the 
same amount of trona would be mined under each action alternative 
(i.e., alternatives B, C, and D):
    Alternative A--No Action Alternative: The project would not be 
approved.
    Alternative B--Proposed Action: Company proposed action would 
include processing facilities at the mine location. This alternative 
includes 26.22 miles of water line and impacts nine acres of USFS 
managed lands near the Green River. Under the proposed action 
approximately 6,325 total acres could be impacted, of which about 327 
acres is identified as a priority habitat management area (PHMA) for 
sage grouse, with the remaining acreage a general habitat management 
area (GHMA).
    Alternative C--Modified proposed action: would collocate the 
transmission line, access road, and rail line and thereby reduce 
construction in undisturbed areas. The water line would remain the same 
as Alternative B. Under this alternative approximately 6,387 total 
acres would be impacted, of which about 324 acres are PHMA, with the 
remaining acreage being GHMA.
    Alternative D--BLM Preferred Alternative: Implementation of 
Alternative D would result in a larger total project footprint (7,015 
acres). Although development of the well field and mine production 
levels would be unchanged, the processing facilities would be moved 
from the mine site area to a site north of I-80, approximately 8 miles 
west of Green River, Wyoming, within a designated processing facilities 
boundary. The water supply pipeline

[[Page 65390]]

would be relocated to north of I-80, connecting the processing 
facilities to the water intake on the Green River, reducing the impacts 
from 24.66 miles to 6.4 miles, and eliminating the disturbance through 
the U.S. Forest Service Flaming Gorge Recreation Area and the Blacks 
Fork PHMA for Greater Sage-Grouse.
    The preparation of an EIS is intended to 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, there are no additional federal or Wyoming state-managed lands 
that 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 a connected action to the 
Proposed Action under NEPA.
    Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action: The BLM's purpose for the 
action is to respond to Pacific Soda's Plan of Operations to construct 
and operate trona mining facilities, including mine well fields, 
processing facilities, a co-generation plant, storage ponds, access 
roads, railroad spurs, and utility features. If approved by the BLM, 
this would allow Pacific 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) and FLPMA. Pacific 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 off lease 
facilities.
    The need for the action is established by the BLM's responsibility 
under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (as amended) and FLPMA. Under 
these statutes, the BLM is required to respond to the Proposed Action 
and review the proposed Mine Plan and associated SF-299 applications to 
ensure that proposed mining activities and construction of associated 
facilities do not cause unnecessary or undue degradation of public 
lands and are carried out 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.
    Schedule for the Decision-Making Process: The Proposed Final EIS is 
anticipated to be available for public review in December 2024, and the 
Record of Decision in March 2025. The BLM will continue to consult with 
Indian Tribal Nations 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. Consultation with interested Indian Tribal Nations is 
ongoing. A Programmatic Agreement for addressing cultural concerns is 
included in the EIS. Following a thorough NEPA analysis, the BLM's 
decision includes whether to approve the Plan of Operations and 
subsequent SF-299 applications (for transportation and utility 
features) and, if approved, to determine whether modifications and/or 
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.
    The BLM will hold a public meeting during the public comment 
period. The specific date, time, and location will be announced at 
least 15 days prior to the meeting, through public notices, news 
releases, social media, mailings, and the BLM website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510.
    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 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)

Franklin Keeler,
Acting District Manager, BLM High Desert District Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-17683 Filed 8-8-24; 8:45 am]
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