Environmental Impact Statement; Notice of Intent

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-030-1620-01; WYW139975]

Environmental Impact Statement; Notice of Intent

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Conduct a Planning Review and Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Carbon Basin Tract coal

lease application, WYW 139975, and call for coal resource and other

resource information 43 CFR 3420.1-2.

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SUMMARY: Ark Land Company has filed an application with the Bureau of

Land Management (BLM) to obtain a Federal coal lease on 4145.15 acres

of Federal coal lands located in Carbon County, Wyoming. The BLM has

determined that an EIS must be prepared to evaluate the environmental

impacts of coal mining which could result from the issuance of this

lease. The application will be processed according to the coal lease-

by-application (LBA) regulations at 43 CFR 3425. The Carbon Basin coal

tract has not been identified in the Great Divide Resource Management

Plan (RMP)(1990) as an area available for further coal leasing

consideration. As a result, a planning review of the proposed coal

lease project area will be conducted concurrently with the preparation

of the coal lease EIS.

The Federal Coal Management Program established four major steps,

collectively called ``the coal screening/planning process'' (43 CFR

3420.1-4), to be used in the identification of Federal coal areas that

are acceptable for further leasing consideration. During the planning

review, the coal screening process, including application of the coal

unsuitability criteria (43 CFR 3461), will be conducted on the proposed

project area. If the area is found acceptable for further consideration

for coal leasing, it will result in an amendment to the Great Divide

RMP.

In accordance with 43 CFR 3420.1-2, this notice also serves to

fulfill the required call for coal and other resource information. This

request for resource information is to formally solicit indications of

interest and information on coal resource development potential and on

other resources which may be affected by coal development for lands in

the planning review/proposed project area. Industry, State and local

governments, and the general public may submit information on lands

that should or should not be considered for coal leasing, including

statements describing why the lands should or should not be considered

for leasing.

DATES: As part of this process, three public scoping meetings have been

scheduled. On December 3, 1996, at 6:30 p.m., a meeting will be held at

the Town of Hanna Administration Office, 301 S. Adams, Hanna, Wyoming.

The second scoping meeting will take place in Laramie, Wyoming, at 6:30

p.m., December 4, 1996, at the Albany County Library, 310 S. Eighth

Street. The final scoping meeting is scheduled for December 10, 1996,

6:30 p.m., at the Jeffrey Memorial Community Center, Third and Spruce,

Rawlins, Wyoming.

ADDRESSES: Questions, comments, or concerns should be addressed in

writing to the Great Divide Resource Area, Bureau of Land Management,

Attn: Karla Swanson, Area Manager, 1300 North Third Street, Rawlins,

Wyoming 82301. In order to insure that comments will be considered in

the draft EIS, they should be received by the BLM at the above address

by January 3, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Interested parties may obtain further

information or request to be placed on the Rawlins BLM District mailing

list by contacting Brenda Vosika Neuman or John Spehar, (307-328-4200)

or write to the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ark Land Company, St. Louis, Missouri, filed

a coal lease application on September 20, 1996, with the BLM, pursuant

to provisions of 43 CFR 3425.1 for the following lands in Carbon

County, Wyoming:

Sixth Principal Meridian, Wyoming

T. 20 N., R. 79 W.

Sec. 6, lot 5.

T. 20 N., R. 80 W.

Sec. 4, lots 1, 2, 3;

Sec. 6, lots 1, 2, and SE\1/4\;

Sec 12, N\1/2\NW\1/4\, NW\1/4\NE\1/4\.

T. 21 N., R. 79 W.

Sec. 20, N\1/2\, SW\1/4\;

Sec. 28, NW\1/4\;

Sec. 30, lots 1, 2, 3, 4, E\1/2\, E\1/2\W\1/2\;

Sec. 32, NW\1/4\.

T. 21 N., R. 80 W.

Sec. 26, all;

Sec. 28, W\1/2\, SE\1/4\;

Sec. 32, E\1/2\, SE\1/4\SW\1/4\;

Sec. 34, all.

The area described contains approximately 4145.15 acres.

The coal lease application area is located in the Carbon Basin,

approximately 40 miles east of the town of Rawlins, 5 miles northwest

of the town of Elk Mountain, 13 miles southwest of the town of Medicine

Bow, and 12 miles southeast of the town of Hanna, all located in Carbon

County, Wyoming. If successful in obtaining a Federal coal lease for

the proposed project area, the coal mining would be conducted by Arch

of Wyoming, Inc., an affiliate of Ark Land Company. Arch of Wyoming has

operated coal mines in the Hanna Basin Region of Carbon County, Wyoming

since 1972.

The primary coal mining operation would utilize conventional

dragline, surface or strip mining methods to expose the coal resource,

including the drilling and blasting of overburden material and coal.

Once the stripping operation reaches its economic cutoff, coal exposed

in the final highwall

[[Page 59458]]

would be extracted using a continuous highwall mining machine.

Mined coal would be transported by haul trucks approximately 14

miles to a loadout facility at Arch of Wyoming's Seminoe No. 2 Mine, 2

miles north of Hanna. Existing facilities at the Seminoe No. 2 Mine

would be used to crush, store, and ship coal produced from the proposed

Carbon Basin Mine.

Mining is proposed to begin in the year 2000. The anticipated rate

of production is about 2,000,000 tons of coal per year. It is predicted

that surface minable reserves could be depleted in 8 to 10 years.

Potential for underground mining exists, but will not be evaluated

until after the completion of surface mining.

Upon completion of mining activities, disturbed lands within the

project area would be reclaimed and recontoured to approximate original

contours and would be revegetated to accommodate pre-mining uses.

The Office of Surface Mining will be a cooperating agency in the

preparation of the EIS because it is the Federal agency that

administers surface coal mining under the Surface Mining Control and

Reclamation Act of 1977.

Land and resource management issues and concerns specific to

surface coal mining, development, operation, and reclamation in the

proposed project area, adjacent State and private lands within the

project area, and the transporting of mined coal to a remote facility

that will be analyzed in the EIS include: air quality, hydrology,

soils, vegetation, agriculture, transportation and public safety,

conflicts with oil and gas lessees, Native American concerns,

threatened and endangered species, impacts to raptor/sage grouse

breeding and nesting areas, visual resources, recreation, social and

economic effects on local communities, and cumulative impacts. Integral

to the consideration and analyses of these issues and concerns and the

preparation of the EIS, will be conducting the four steps of the coal

screening/planning process (i.e., identifying the occurrence and

development potential of coal resources in the project area, applying

the coal unsuitability criteria, identifying other multiple use

conflicts and impacts associated with the proposed coal mining, and

surface owner consultation).

Dated: November 18, 1996.

Bill G. Daniels,

Acting State Director.

[FR Doc. 96-29869 Filed 11-21-96; 8:45 am]

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