[Federal Register: March 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 56)]
[Notices]
[Page 15189-15191]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21mr08-87]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Absaloka
Mine Crow Reservation South Extension Coal Lease Approval, Mine
Development Plan and Related Federal and State Permitting Actions, Big
Horn County, MT
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) as joint lead agencies, with the Crow Tribe of Indians, the
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, intend to file a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with the EPA for the proposed
extension of the existing Absaloka mine onto the Crow Indian
Reservation and for related Federal and state permitting actions; and
that the DEIS is now available for public review. The purpose of the
proposed action is to maximize the economic benefit from the coal trust
resource by continuing to provide benefits to the Crow Tribe, including
royalty, tax income and employment; as
[[Page 15190]]
well as allow Westmoreland Resources Inc. (WRI) to continue to access
coal resources, owned by the Crow Tribe, for the sale to customers
using it for electric power generation. This notice also announces a
public hearing to receive comments on the DEIS.
DATES: Written comments on the DEIS must arrive by May 5, 2008. The
public hearing will be held April 10, 2008, beginning at 7 p.m. and
continuing until all those who register to make statements have been
heard.
ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to George Gover,
Superintendent; Crow Agency, P.O. Box 69; Crow Agency Montana. You may
also comment via the Internet to: westmorelandeis@mt.gov. Please submit
Internet comments as an ASCII file, avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption. Please include your name and
return address in your Internet message. If you do not receive a
confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet
message, contact Greg Hallsten at 406-444-3276.
You may review the DEIS at BIA, Weaver Avenue, Building 2, Crow
Agency, Montana; BIA, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, 316 N. 26th
Street (Environmental, Cultural and Safety--Room 4433), Billings
Montana; BLM, Montana State Office (Solid Minerals section), 5001
Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana; EPA, 10 W. 15th Street Suite 3200,
Helena Montana; MDEQ, 1520 E. 6th Avenue, Helena, Montana; the Crow
Tribal Office, Crow Agency, Montana; Big Horn County Library, Hardin,
Montana; or Little Bighorn College Library, Crow Agency, Montana. The
document is available for review on the Internet at: deq.mt.gov.
Computer disk copies of the document may be obtained by contacting
George Gover, Superintendent, Crow Agency-BIA, at 406-638-2672.
The public hearing will be at the Big Horn County Courthouse, 121
3rd Street West, Hardin, Montana.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Stefanic, 406-247-7911.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The WRI has operated the Absaloka Mine on
the existing Tract III Crow Indian coal lease in the Crow Ceded Area
since 1974. The WRI proposes to advance surface coal mining operations
southward onto the Crow Reservation pursuant to the terms of an
agreement with the Crow Tribe under the Indian Mineral Development Act
(IMDA). The legal description for the acreage on the Reservation
involves coal basically within T.1S, R.37E., sections 1, 12, 13; and
T.1S., R.37E., sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 21;
Montana Principal Meridian. This area totals 3,660.23 acres in Big Horn
County, Montana. All of the minerals are owned by the Crow Tribe. The
surface estate is owned by the Crow Tribe (32%), allotted Indian owners
(14%), and non-Indian fee owners (54%).
The DEIS analyzes three alternatives, the Proposed Action,
Alternative One, and No Action. Under the Proposed Action, the MDEQ and
OSMRE would approve Absaloka Mine's proposed Tract III Revision. The
BIA would approve the IMDA lease for the South Extension, as well as
the surface use agreements between the allottee surface owners and WRI;
the OSMRE would approve the mining permit for the South Extension.
Under this alternative, approximately 76.6 million tons of additional
coal would be recovered and the mine life would be extended until about
2023.
Under Alternative One, WRI would not implement the South Extension
development plan on the Crow Indian Reservation if the BIA does not
approve the IMDA lease for the South Extension tract. Furthermore,
because the South Extension includes allotted trust lands, the South
Extension development plan would not be implemented if the BIA does not
approve all surface use agreements between the allottee surface owners
and WRI. The coal contained in the South Extension tract on the Crow
Indian Reservation would not be mined. The WRI would, however, receive
approval from MDEQ and OSMRE to revise Absaloka Mine's existing mine
and reclamation plan to include the Tract III Revision area. Under this
alternative, approximately 13 million tons of additional coal would be
mined and the mine life would be extended to about 2011.
Under the No Action Alternative, none of the proposed actions would
occur and WRI would not implement the South Extension development plan.
The remaining (already permitted) 14 million tons of in-place coal
reserves would be mined by approximately 2009 at the current 6.5 to 7.0
million-ton annual production rate.
In addition to the BIA's proposed action alternatives described
above, the DEIS analyzes the proposed action for the EPA to issue a
Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit for discharges of stormwater associated with the proposed mine
expansion onto the Crow Indian Reservation. The proposed stormwater
management alternative is for EPA Region 8 to issue an NPDES permit for
the use of 24 sediment traps to contain the 2-year, 24-hour runoff
event during the operational phase, which could be reduced in size to
small depressions as a best management practice during the reclamation
phase. The second alternative analyzed is to issue an NPDES permit for
the use of conventional sediment ponds to detain the 10-year, 24-hour
runoff event plus sediment storage, with pond size reduced to detain
the 2-year, 24-hour runoff event plus sediment storage during the
reclamation phase for all discharges to Sarpy Creek and to the Middle
Fork of Sarpy Creek. The third alternative is to issue an NPDES permit
for the use of a single large dam on the main stem of the Middle Fork
of Sarpy Creek downstream of mine operations. The No Action alternative
for the proposed stormwater management proposal corresponds with BIA
alternatives that do not involve expansion of the mine onto the Crow
Indian Reservation, in which case, the EPA would not issue an NPDES
stormwater permit.
The DEIS analyzes the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternatives on
geology, paleontology, minerals, climate, air quality, soil, surface
water and groundwater, land use, range resources, vegetation, wetlands,
noxious weeds, wildlife and fisheries, threatened and endangered
species, recreation, cultural resources, socioeconomics, environmental
justice, transportation, visual resources, health and safety, noise,
and fire management.
Public Comment Availability
Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be
available for public review at the BIA address shown in the ADDRESSES
section, during business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except holidays. Before including your address, telephone
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Authority
This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the
Council of Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR, Parts 1500
through 1508) implementing the procedural
[[Page 15191]]
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), Department of the Interior Manual
(516 DM 1-6), and is in the exercise of authority delegated to the
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, via 516 DM 6.3
B. and Environmental Statement Memorandum ESM04-12.6(e).
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. E8-5341 Filed 3-20-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P
