Phosphate Mine Expansion Dry Valley, Caribou County, ID

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Phosphate Mine Expansion Dry Valley, Caribou County, ID

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, USDI and Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM),

Pocatello Resource Area and the Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service (FS), Caribou National Forest, will jointly prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposal to expand FMC

Corporation's active Dry Valley Phosphate Mine. The Dry Valley Mine is

located about 17 air miles northeast of Soda Springs, Caribou County,

Idaho. The proposed mining and reclamation activities for the expansion

of the Dry Valley Mine would occur on existing Federal Phosphate Leases

I-014184, I-0678 and I-011866, State of Idaho Leases 3823R and 7961,

and private mineral rights. Surface ownership includes BLM, FS, State

of Idaho, and private lands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be a

cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS.

SCOPING PROCEDURE: The scoping procedure to be used for this EIS has

and will involve the following: a broad mailing asking for comments,

issues and concerns to interested and potentially affected individuals,

groups, Federal, State and local governments; news releases; and public

scoping meetings. An initial mailing was done in February 1998,

comments received by mid-March highlighted several issues associated

with this proposal. Another comprehensive mailing to individuals,

groups and agencies known to be interested will be conducted concurrent

with publication of this notice in the Federal Register.

DATES: Written comments concerning the scope of the analysis described

in this Notice should be received on or before May 26, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Bureau of Land Management,

Pocatello Resource Area, 1111 N. 8th Ave., Pocatello, Idaho 83201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the proposed

action and EIS should be directed to Jeff Cundick, Mining Engineer,

Pocatello Resource Area, 1111 N. 8th Ave., Pocatello, Idaho 83201,

phone: (208) 236-6860, or Jeff Jones, Geologist, Caribou National

Forest, Soda Springs Ranger District, 421 W. Second South, Soda

Springs, Idaho 83276, phone: (208) 547-4356.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has received a proposal from

FMC Corp. to expand its existing Dry Valley Phosphate Mine to the

south. The 1920 Mineral Leasing Act, as amended, gives the primary

responsibility for approval of mining and reclamation plans for solid

leasable minerals, like phosphate, to the BLM when the proposed action

is located on Federal leases, regardless of the surface owner or

manager. This proposal covers a mixture of surface and mineral estate

ownership, including Federal (FS and BLM), State and private.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When lands administered by the FS are

involved, the FS will develop and submit recommendations to the BLM for

those proposed on-lease activities, while activities off-lease will

require FS Special Use Permit authorization. The BLM and FS do not have

approval or recommendation authority where State surface and mineral

estate or private surface and mineral estate exist, as is the case for

portions of this project.

FMC Corp. has been mining at their Dry Valley Mine since 1992, and

the present proposal is for the expansion of that mine on existing

leases. Ancillary facilities including shop, office, railroad line with

loading facility, stockpile area, etc. are currently in place and

functioning for this mine. Those existing facilities would continue to

be utilized for the proposed expansion. The proposed expansion consists

of the mining of two pits, referred to as pits C and D. Pit A has

already been mined and reclaimed; pit B has been partially mined.

Reclamation and mining are concurrent in different parts of this pit

development. Mining in pit B is projected to be complete by early 2000.

The purpose of the mine expansion is to provide a continued supply of

ore to FMC's Pocatello, Idaho processing plant. Mining in Pits A and B

was approved in 1990.

FMC has completed extensive exploration drilling on pits C and D;

sufficient to develop a proposed mine and reclamation plan and two

alternatives. Under the proposed alternative, about 600 acres of

surface disturbance would occur, just over 200 of which are Federally

owned and almost entirely FS administered lands. As mining progresses,

waste rock is generally placed as backfill into mined-out pits.

However, external waste rock dumps will be required because the volume

of waste rock swells as consolidated materials are fractured during the

mining process. In the current proposal, about 166 acres are planned to

be covered with waste rock dumps, about 90 acres on the National Forest

and about 76 acres on FMC's private land. When mining is completed, the

last portion of the mine pit is proposed to be left open. Fifty-three

acres, all of which will be on NFS lands, would not be reclaimed or

filled with overburden.

Preliminary and informal public scoping for the FMC Corporation's

Dry Valley Mine expansion project was first conducted in 1998. During

the consideration of issues to be analyzed in depth, and in the

development of alternatives, the Pocatello Resource Area (BLM) and the

Caribou NF preliminarily identified these issues.

1. Water quality. Potential water quality and quantity effects.

Potential effects on water rights and possible mitigation measures.

2. Wetlands. Potential effects and mitigation for wetlands affected

by the proposal or alternatives.

3. Range. Potential effects on developments used to manage

livestock grazing currently occurring on the Federal lands involved.

4. Wildlife. Potential effects on wildlife and their habitats.

Four preliminary alternatives have been identified. Additional

alternatives may be developed from the analysis and further scoping.

The preliminary alternatives are:

Alternative 1--The proposed action.

Alternative 3--Do not mine the north portion of pit C to

protect wetlands.

Alternative 2--Reduce the size of the north end of pit C

to reduce impacts to wetlands.

Alternative 4--No Action.

[[Page 20423]]

Alternatives 2 and 3 address wetlands issues that occur primarily

on lands in private ownership. Environmental effects to these lands

will be addressed in the section 404, Clean Water Act permit issued by

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and as part of the cumulative impact

analysis in the EIS.

The EIS will describe the physical attributes of the area to be

affected by this proposal, with special attention to the environmental

factors that could be adversely affected.

The EIS will analyze the environmental effects of each alternative.

The direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of each alternative will

be analyzed and documented. In addition, potential mitigation measures

for each alternative will be identified and the effectiveness of these

mitigation measures will be disclosed.

The BLM and FS are seeking information and written comments from

Federal, State and local agencies as well as individuals and

organizations who may be interested in, or affected by, the proposed

action. To assist the BLM and FS in identifying and considering issues

and concerns related to the proposed action, comments for scoping, and

later for the draft EIS, should be as specific as possible. Referring

to specific pages or chapters of the draft EIS or the merits of the

alternatives formulated and discussed in the statement is most helpful.

The estimated date for the completion of the draft EIS is January

1999. The comment period for the draft EIS will be 45 days from the

date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of

Availability in the Federal Register.

The final EIS is expected to be released in July, 1999.

The BLM Pocatello Resource Area Manager, who is the responsible

official for the EIS, will then make a decision regarding this proposal

for Federal lands on-lease, considering: FS recommendations; scoping

comments; responses; anticipated environmental consequences discussed

in the final EIS; and applicable laws, regulations, and policies. The

Caribou National Forest Supervisor, who is the responsible official for

Caribou National Forest administered lands not on-lease, will make a

decision, based on the above, concerning the issuance of a FS Special

Use Permit. An application for a section 404, Clean Water Act permit

has been filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; a decision will

be rendered by the corps to issue that permit and how to mitigate the

impacts to affected wetlands.

The reasons for the decisions will be documented in a Record of

Decision(s).

Dated: April 17, 1998.

Terry L. Smith,

Acting Area Manager, Pocatello Resource Area.

Dated: April 17, 1998.

Harold W. Klein,

Acting Forest Supervisor, Caribou National Forest.

[FR Doc. 98-10894 Filed 4-23-98; 8:45 am]

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