[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 226 (Friday, November 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58091-58092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-28654]
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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]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P
