Environmental Assessment

for 

School Creek Lease WYW172413 Modification

Prepared by

Teresa Johnson, Environmental Protection Specialist

Bureau of Land Management

Wyoming High Plains District Office

Casper, Wyoming

DOI-BLM-WY-P0702012-063-EA
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1.0 INTRODUCTION

a) Proposed Action Title: 

School Creek Lease WYW 172413 Modification

b) Environmental Assessment (EA) Number: 

DOI-BLM-WY-P060-2012-063-EA

c) Type of Project: 

Lease Modification: This is an addition of a 40.80-acre parcel located at T. 42 N., 

R. 70 W., 6th PM, Sec. 13, lot 12 that surrounds approximately 1.25 acres

containing about 135,876 tons of coal located between the School Creek Mine’s 

current lease WYW 172413 acquired in 1960 and the Wyodak-Anderson coal 

burn crop line in order to avoid coal bypass.

d) Name and location of preparing office:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Wyoming High Plains District Office, 

Casper WY

e) Serial Number:

WYW172413

f) Applicant Name:

School Creek Coal Resources, LLC

Peabody School Creek Mining, LLC

School Creek Mine

g) Location of Proposed Action:

The Proposed Action is located in Campbell County, approximately 16 miles 

southeast of Wright, Wyoming, as described below.

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

Sec. 13: Lot 12 

1.1 Background

The applicant is School Creek Coal Resources, LLC, Peabody School Creek Mining, 

LLC, and the School Creek Mine. The mine owns the private land in the project area. 

The minerals under the private land are federal administered by the BLM, Buffalo Field
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Office. School Creek Coal Resources, LLC and West Roundup Resources, LLC both 

subsidiaries of Peabody Energy Corporation, own all surrounding existing leases. The

only adjacent coal mine is the School Creek mine which is in operation by the applicant. 

The proposed project area is within the existing School Creek Mine permit area and is 

located between existing lease WYW172413 and the coal outcrop burn line. The 

acreage that is included in the modification application area, which is not underlain by 

federal coal, is included because BLM cannot lease areas less than one lot in size. 

Other land use, as allowed by the School Creek Mine permit, is livestock grazing. This 

EA analyzes the proposed action and what effects, if any, it may have on the 

environment.

1.2 Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

The purpose of the proposed action is to evaluate modifying lease number WYW 

172413 to include approximately 1.25 acres containing about 135,876 tons of coal 

located against the Wyodak-Anderson coal outcrop to avoid coal bypass. Leasing the 

40.80 acres surrounding the 1.25 acres of coal is required because the lot is the 

smallest area that BLM can lease. This would allow the applicant to remove coal from

between its existing lease boundary up to the coal outcrop line within the current coal 

mine permit boundary. 

The action is needed because according to the requirement under the Mineral Leasing 

Act of 1920, as amended, federal coal on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land 

Management is not to be bypassed if at all possible. Pursuant to the 43 CFR 3432.2, 

the authorized officer may modify a lease to include all or part of the lands applied for if 

the said officer determines that: 

(1) the modification serves the interests of the United States;

(2) there is no competitive interest in the lands or deposits; and

(3) the additional lands or deposits cannot be developed as part of another potential or 

existing independent operation.

Decision to be made: The BLM will decide whether or not to issue the proposed lease 

modification, and if so, will identify any stipulations and mitigation measures needed.

1.3 Relationship to Statutes, Regulations, Plans, or Other Environmental 

Analyses

1.3.1 Relationship to Statutes and Regulations

The proposed action is authorized under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, 

and is in conformance with 43 CFR 3432, which was discussed earlier in this document. 

The BLM and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) have 

completed the compliance work required under section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act in relation to the existing lease and mine plan. The entire area of the 

proposed action (40.80 acres) surrounding the 1.25 acres containing approximately 
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135,876 tons of coal has been inventoried. No historic properties were located; thus, 

there will be no impact to historic properties by the proposed project. Following the 

Wyoming State Protocol Section VI(A)(1) the BLM electronically notified the Wyoming 

State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) on January 20, 2012 that no historic 

properties exist within the area of potential effects.

1.3.2 Other Environmental Analysis

The 40.80 acres included in the Proposed Action was analyzed in the Final 

Environmental Assessment for the School Creek Mine Mining Plan Approval prepared 

by Environmental Solutions, Inc. Gillette, WY under the direction of the U.S. Department 

of the Interior, OSM, Denver, Colorado, in October of 2009.

In addition, the proposed action conforms with the Record of Decision for the Resource 

Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Buffalo Resource Area 

(1985), as updated (2001) and amended (2003, 2011). The document, in accordance 

with 43 CFR 1610.5-3, provides management direction and allocation of resources and 

uses including the leasing of public coal lands administered by the Wyoming High 

Plains District Office and the Buffalo Field Office.

1.4 Scoping, Public Involvement and Issues

This project was internally scoped through the appropriate BLM specialists. Public 

involvement was not needed as this area is adjacent to active mines and pits operated 

by the applicant and is near the Black Thunder mine and pits operated by Arch Coal Inc.

and because the applied for area is within the current mining permit boundary, and the 

previously approved mining plan disturbance area.

2.0PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES

2.1 Alternative I – Proposed Action 

The proposed action is to modify lease WYW172413 in order to mine an additional 1.25

acres containing about 135,876 tons of coal located between the existing WYW 172413

lease and the coal outcrop line within the existing approved permit area of the School 

Creek Mine. The additional area would be subject to all lease conditions currently in 

place on the existing WYW172413 lease.

This action also complies with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and 43CFR3432.2 

because (1) the Proposed Action is in the interests of the public; (2) there is no 

competitive interest in the lands or deposits; and, (3) the additional lands or coal cannot 

be developed as part of another potential or existing mine.

2.2 Alternative II – No Action Alternative
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Under the No Action Alternative, modification of the lease would not be approved by the 

BLM. School Creek Coal Resources, LLP would continue to mine and sell the coal 

under the current lease. Rejection of the modification would not alter the currently 

permitted mining activities in the School Creek Mine. The BLM’s Competitive Coal 

Leasing Manual (BLM Manual 3420-1) requires BLM to evaluate modifying the 

configuration of federal coal tracts based on providing for maximum economic recovery 

of the coal resource, maintaining or increasing the potential for competition, and 

avoiding future bypass or captive tract situations. If the Proposed Action were not 

approved, about 135,876 tons of coal would be lost. The No Action alternative would 

not comply with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and 43CFR3432.2 as discussed above 

in section 1.2. 

3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT

The area in the proposed lease modification is best described as the coal outcrop where 

the coal burn line is exposed on the surface, with grass and limited sagebrush in the 

remaining acreage. All mining operations would be conducted in a manner that is 

consistent with the current lease and mining requirements. A map of the proposed 

lease modification is included at the end of this document.

The area included in the Proposed Action was analyzed in the environmental effects 

section of the Final Environmental Assessment for the School Creek Mine Mining Plan 

Approval prepared by Environmental Solutions, Inc. of Gillette, WY, under the Direction 

of the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining, Denver, Colorado, in 

October of 2009.

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 

The proposed lease modification area has already been permitted for mining by the 

School Creek Mine by appropriate state and federal agencies, and thus is destined to 

be disturbed regardless of future decisions associated with the School Creek Mine

Lease Modification. The 40.80 acres that surround the 1.25 acres containing about 

135,876 tons of coal would still be disturbed because it lies entirely within the current 

mine disturbance permit boundary.

4.1 Cumulative Effects

Cumulative impacts result from the incremental impacts of an action added to other 

past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions, regardless of who is 

responsible for such actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor, but 

collectively significant, actions occurring over time.

The Final Environmental Assessment for the School Creek Mine’s Mining Plan Approval 

addresses cumulative effects for the area of the proposed WYW172413 lease 

modification, which is fully within the current mine disturbance permit boundary. 

Furthermore, Task 3 of the Powder River Basin (PRB) Coal Review provides a thorough 

evaluation of the cumulative effects of the past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
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development in the region up to and including the year 2020. The School Creek Mine is 

included in the PRB Coal Review analysis. The PRB Coal Review can be found online 

at 

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/energy/Coal_Resources/PRB_Coal/prbdocs.html 

or from the BLM Wyoming State Office located at 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, 

Wyoming, 82009 or at the Wyoming High Plains District Office, 2987 Prospector Drive

in Casper, Wyoming, 82604.

5.0 LIST OF PREPARERS AND INDIVIDUALS CONSULTED

Teresa Johnson Project Coordinator, Environmental Protection Specialist, BLM 

Wyoming High Plains District Office

Don Brewer Wildlife Biologist BLM Buffalo Field Office

Mike Brogan Geologist, BLM Wyoming High Plains District Office

Buck Damone Archaeologist BLM Buffalo Field Office

Patricia Karbs Writer-Editor, BLM Casper Field Office

Mavis Love Land Law Examiner, BLM Wyoming State Office
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7.0 ATTACHMENT: As noted in 3.0: