Receipt of a Petition to Designate Lands Unsuitable for Mining and To Prepare a Petition Evaluation Document and Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

30 CFR Parts 764 and 942

Receipt of a Petition to Designate Lands Unsuitable for Mining

and To Prepare a Petition Evaluation Document and Environmental Impact

Statement

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a combined petition evaluation

document/environmental impact statement, and notice of scoping meeting

and scoping comment period for the petition.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) intends to prepare a combined

petition evaluation document/environmental impact statement (PED/EIS)

for the decision on a petition to designate certain lands within the

Little Yellow Creek (Fern Lake) watershed in Claiborne County,

Tennessee, as unsuitable for surface coal mining and reclamation

operations in accordance with section 522 of the Surface Mining Control

and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977. OSM has identified four

alternatives that the combined PED/EIS would evaluate as described in

the supplementary information of this notice. OSM requests that other

agencies and the public submit written comments or statements on the

need for an EIS on the petition and the scope of the issues which

should be analyzed in the combined document.

DATES: Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. (EDT), May 18, 1994.

Oral comments may be presented at the scoping meeting to be held at the

Middlesboro City Hall at 7 p.m. (EDT) on April 18, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Written comments must be mailed or hand delivered to the

Office of Surface Mining, Branch of Technical Assistance, Attn: Willis

Gainer, 530 Gay Street, SW., suite 500, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902.

Copies of the petition are available upon request from the Office of

Surface Mining at the given address. The public record on the petition

is available for review during normal working hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:40

p.m.) at the OSM office listed. Public hearing: Middlesboro City Hall,

Kentucky.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Willis L. Gainer, at the OSM office listed [see ADDRESSES] (telephone:

615-545-4065).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 14, 1994, the City of

Middlesborough, Kentucky and the National Parks and Conservation

Association petitioned the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and

Enforcement (OSM) of the United States Department of the Interior, to

designate an area located in the Little Yellow Creek (Fern Lake)

watershed in Claiborne County, Tennessee, as unsuitable for surface

coal mining operations pursuant to the Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977 (Pub. L. 95-87). The petition was amended on

February 22, 1994, and deemed administratively complete and accepted

for processing on March 15, 1994. A subsequent amendment with exhibits

was received on March 16, 1994. The petition as accepted is a 26 page

document with 100 pages of exhibits and an amendment. An additional 18

pages were received as part of a second amendment after the

determination of completeness. The Federal Program for Tennessee, as

administered by OSM, applies to all surface coal mining operations in

Tennessee including the processing of lands unsuitable for mining

petitions (49 FR 38874, October 1, 1984).

The petition area occupies approximately 3,780 acres of the Little

Yellow Creek watershed in Claiborne County, from the headwaters to the

Tennessee State line and includes portions of Fern Lake. The petition

boundary runs essentially from the Tennessee State line at Kentucky

Corner on Cumberland Mountain in a southwest direction along the crest

of Cumberland Mountain to a point at the watershed divide between

Tackett Creek and Little Yellow Creek. The petition boundary then

crosses from Cumberland Mountain to the crest of Mingo Mountain across

this watershed divide and proceeds in a northeasterly direction until

it intercepts the Kentucky/Tennessee State line. The boundary follows

the State line to the east back to Kentucky Corner.

The major allegations of the petition can be summarized as follows:

1. Surface coal mining operations will affect fragile lands in

which the surface coal mining operations could result in significant

damage to important scientific or aesthetic values or natural

systems.

2. Surface coal mining operations will affect land in which the

surface coal mining operations could result in a substantial loss or

reduction in the long-range availability of water supplies.

3. Surface coal mining operations would be incompatible with

local land use plans of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.

4. Surface coal mining operations will affect natural hazard

lands in which the surface coal mining could increase flooding

potential in an already flood-prone area.

OSM has identified four possible alternatives that the combined

PED/EIS would evaluate:

Alternative 1--Designate the entire petition area as unsuitable

for surface coal mining operations.

Alternative 2--Not designate any of the area as unsuitable for

surface coal mining operations.

Alternative 3--Designate parts of the petition area as

unsuitable for all surface coal mining operations:

A. Designate as unsuitable for all or certain types of surface

coal mining operations, including the designation of selected

reserves, those parts of the petition area in which such operations

would affect fragile lands and result in significant damage to

important aesthetic values and natural systems.

B. Designate as unsuitable for all or certain types of surface

coal mining operations, including the designation of selected

reserves, those parts of the petition area in which such operations

would result in a substantial loss or a reduction of long-range

productivity of water supply.

C. Designate as unsuitable for all or certain types of surface

coal mining operations, including the designation of selected

reserves, those parts of the petition area in which such operations

would be incompatible with existing local land use plans and

programs.

D. Designate as unsuitable for all or certain types of surface

coal mining operations, including the designation of selected

reserves, those parts of the petition area in which such operations

would affect natural hazard lands.

Alternative 4--Designate the entire petition area as unsuitable

for surface coal mining but allow underground mining with or without

certain restrictions.

A scoping comment period is intended to raise the relevant issues

to be addressed by the combined document. OSM seeks public comments in

relation to the scope of issues to be addressed by the impact

evaluation, including impacts and alternatives that should be

addressed. Written comments should be specific and confined to issues

pertinent to the petition. The public comments received during the

scoping period will assist OSM in making decisions on the petition

evaluation and in preparing the PED/EIS. OSM believes that the proposed

action is a major Federal action that may significantly affect the

quality of the human environment and may require the preparation of an

EIS. OSM additionally gives notice here that should information or

analyses show that the proposed action does not require an EIS, it will

terminate the environmental impact statement process through an

appropriate notice in the Federal Register, prepare an environmental

assessment, and continue processing of the petition under 30 CFR part

764 and 942.

Dated: March 30, 1994.

Brent Wahlquist,

Assistant Director, Reclamation and Regulatory Policy.

[FR Doc. 94-8158 Filed 4-5-94; 8:45 am]

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