Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on the North Rochelle Tract coal lease application (originally named the North Roundup Tract) in the decertified Powder River Federal Coal Production Region, Wyoming

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[(WY-060-1320-01), WYW127221]

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on

the North Rochelle Tract coal lease application (originally named the

North Roundup Tract) in the decertified Powder River Federal Coal

Production Region, Wyoming

SUMMARY: SMC Mining Company has applied for a coal lease for

approximately 1,439 acres (approximately 140 million tons of coal) in

an area adjacent to the North Rochelle Mine in Campbell County,

Wyoming. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recommended that

approximately 81 additional acres containing approximately 9 million

tons of coal be included in the tract to avoid a potential bypass

situation in the future. The BLM has determined that an Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) must be prepared to evaluate the environmental

impacts of coal mining which would result from issuance of this lease.

The application will be processed according to the coal lease by

application (LBA) regulations at 43 CFR 3425.

DATES: As part of this process a public scoping meeting has been

scheduled on Tuesday, December 5, 1995, at 7 PM at the Tower West

Lodge, 109 North U.S. Highway 14-16, in Gillette, Wyoming. In order to

insure that comments will be considered in the draft EIS they should be

received by the BLM at the address below by December 31, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Questions, comments or concerns should be addressed to the

Casper District Office, Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Nancy Doelger,

1701 East E Street, Casper, Wyoming 82601.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Doelger or Mike Karbs, phone:

307-261-7600 or at the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SMC Mining Company filed a coal lease

application on July 22, 1992, with the BLM pursuant to the provisions

of 43 CFR 3425.1 as a maintenance tract LBA for the following lands,

which contain an estimated 140 million tons of coal:

T. 42 N., R. 70 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming

Sec. 4: Lots 5-16, 19, and 20;

Sec. 5: Lots 5-16;

Sec. 9: Lot 1;

T. 43 N., R. 70 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming

Sec. 32: Lots 9-11, 14-16;

Sec. 33: Lots 11-14.

Containing 1439.92 acres, more or less.

The BLM has recommended that the following additional lands

containing an additional estimated 9 million tons of coal reserves be

included in the application:

T. 43 N., R. 70 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming

Sec. 32: Lots 12 and 13.

Containing 81.16 acres, more or less.

The tract as amended by the BLM contains a total of 1521.08 acres

and approximately 149 million tons of coal. The lease application area

is west of and contiguous with SMC Mining Company's existing North

Rochelle Mine and Thunder Basin Coal Company's Black Thunder Mine. The

North Rochelle Mine began producing coal in 1990. There are currently

no mine facilities or rail facilities at the North Rochelle Mine. Coal

is produced by truck and shovel and the produced coal is hauled by

truck from the mine site to a contracted buyer. The company has applied

to lease the proposed North Rochelle Tract (initially called the North

Roundup Tract) as a maintenance tract for the North Rochelle Mine.

The North Rochelle Mine has an approved mining and reclamation plan

and an air quality permit allowing it to mine up to 8 million tons of

coal per year. The potential impacts of the North Rochelle Mine,

including construction of mine facilities and a rail loop, were

previously analyzed in an EIS completed in 1983 by the Office of

Surface Mining (OSM). The EIS to be prepared to evaluate the impacts of

the maintenance lease application will include an evaluation of the

impacts of starting up a full-scale mining operation at this time.

[[Page 58092]]

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will be a cooperating agency in the

preparation of the EIS because the surface of some of the lands

included in the tract is owned by the Federal government and

administered by the USFS as part of the Thunder Basin National

Grasslands. The OSM will also be a cooperating agency in the

preparation of the EIS, because it is the Federal agency that

administers surface coal mining operations under the Surface Mining

Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

The major issues, identified to date, revolve around air quality,

hydrology, reclamation, and socio-economics as they relate to

facilities and rail construction, and the start-up of a full-scale

mining operation. If other issues or concerns are known, please address

them in writing to the above individuals, or verbally at the public

scoping meeting scheduled on December 5 in Gillette, Wyoming. Written

comments will be accepted by the BLM at the address shown above from

the date of publication of this Notice in the Federal Register, through

December 31, 1995.

Pamela J. Lewis,

Chief, Leasable Minerals Section.

[FR Doc. 95-28654 Filed 11-22-95; 8:45 am]

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