Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2000 / Notices 2979

category may be included in other

categories of excluded actions.

1. Center for Information Technology.

2. Center for Scientific Review.

3. Fogarty International Center.

4. Office of Administration.

5. Office of Communications.

6. Office of Equal Opportunity.

7. Office of Education.

8. Office of Community Liaison.

9. Office of Loan Repayment and

Scholarship.

10. Office of Human Resources

Management.

11. Office of Financial Management.

12. Office of Technology Transfer.

13. Office of Program Coordination.

14. National Library of Medicine.

D. Extraordinary Circumstances

Consistent with CEQ’s regulations,

environmental review is required for all

NIH actions involving extraordinary

circumstances. Following are examples

of extraordinary circumstances that may

apply to specific NIH actions.

1. Greater scope or size than other

actions included within a category.

2. A threatened violation of a Federal,

State, or local law established for

protection of the environment or for

public health and safety.

3. Potential effects of the action are

unique or highly uncertain.

4. Potential effect on a protected or

ecologically sensitive area of land, like

a wetland or floodplain.

5. Possible impact on property that is

listed or eligible for listing on the

National Register of Historic Places or

that is otherwise of scientific, cultural,

or historic importance or interest.

6. Possible impact on endangered or

threatened species.

7. Use of especially hazardous

substances or processes for which

adequate and accepted controls and

safeguards are unknown or not

available.

8. Substantial and reasonable

controversy exists about the

environment effects of the action.

Dated: January 10, 2000.

Ruth L. Kirschstein,

Acting Director, National Institutes of Health.

[FR Doc. 00–1128 Filed 1–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Endangered and Threatened Species

Permit Applications; Notice of

Extension of Comment Period

The Fish and Wildlife Service gives

notice that the comment period is

extended on the notice of receipt of

applications for two applications

submitted by International Animal

Consulting Group, Inc. The applications

were submitted to satisfy requirements

of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of

1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et

seq.) and the regulations governing

marine mammals (50 CFR part 18). The

applications, 018196 and 018197, are for

conducting certain activities with

marine mammals, specifically taking

northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris

lutris) from the wild in Alaska for export

and public display at two Japanese

aquariums. The extension will allow all

interested parties to submit written

comments. The Fish and Wildlife

Service published a notice of receipt of

the applications on Friday, December

17, 1999. The current comment period

closes on January 16, 2000. Written

comments may now be submitted until

January 26, 2000, and should be

submitted to the Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Office of Management

Authority, 4401 North Fairfax Drive,

Room 700, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

Dated: January 14, 2000.

Kristen Nelson,

Chief, Branch of Permits (Domestic), Office

of Management Authority.

[FR Doc. 00–1328 Filed 1–14–00; 2:08 pm]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY–920–1620–00–EL, WYW146744]

Intent To Prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement on a Lease

Application Received From Jacobs

Ranch Coal Company

AGENCY: Department of the Interior,

Wyoming.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement on a

lease application received from Jacobs

Ranch Coal Company for Federal coal in

the decertified Powder River Federal

Coal Production Region, Wyoming.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) received a

competitive coal lease application from

Jacobs Ranch Coal Company (JRCC) on

October 2, 1998, for a tract containing

approximately 519 million tons of

Federal coal and including

approximately 4,821 acres in an area

adjacent to the company’s Jacobs Ranch

Mine. This tract, which was assigned

case number WYW146744, is called the

North Jacobs Ranch tract. JRCC is a

subsidiary of Kennecott Energy and Coal

Company. The Jacobs Ranch Mine and

North Jacobs Ranch tract are located in

southern Campbell County, Wyoming.

The tract was applied for as a

maintenance tract lease-by-application

(LBA) under the provisions of 43 CFR

3425.1. The Powder River Regional Coal

Team (RCT) reviewed this lease

application at public meetings held on

February 23, 1999, in Billings, MT, and

October 27, 1999, in Gillette, WY. The

RCT recommended that the lease

application be processed, pending

resolution of the conflicts between

proposed coal mining and existing and

proposed oil and gas development

(including coal bed methane) on the

tract. BLM has determined that the

requirements of NEPA would be best

served by preparing an environmental

impact statement (EIS) for this lease

application.

BLM conducted scoping on the North

Jacobs Ranch lease application, and on

the pending Belle Ayr Federal coal lease

application, in October 1999. A public

scoping meeting was held at the Tower

West Lodge in Gillette, WY, on October

19, 1999, at 7 p.m. During the scoping

period, BLM received seven written

comment letters. At the scoping

meeting, presentations were made by

the applicants for the North Jacobs

Ranch and Belle Ayr Federal coal tracts

and oral comments were received from

six speakers.

DATES: The scoping period for this

Federal coal lease application was held

during October 1999, however, the

public still has an opportunity to submit

written comments on concerns or issues

that the BLM should address in

processing the North Jacobs Ranch lease

application. Comments should be

submitted by February 15, 2000, in

order to be considered in the draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Please address questions,

comments or concerns to the BLM,

Casper District Office, Attn: Nancy

Doelger, 1701 East E Street, Casper, WY

82601, fax to 307–234–1525, or send email comments to

casper wymail@blm.gov., attn: Nancy

Doelger.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Nancy Doelger or Mike Karbs at the

above address or phone 307–261–7600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 2, 1998, JRCC filed coal lease

application WYW146744, for the

following lands in Campbell and

County, Wyoming:

T. 44 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming

Section 26: Lots 9, 10;

Section 27: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 28: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 29: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 30: Lots 5 thru 20;

Section 31: Lots 5 thru 20;

2980 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2000 / Notices

Section 32: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 33: Lots 4, 5, 12, 13;

T. 44 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming

Section 25: Lots 1 thru 16.

The tract as applied for, which is

referred to as the North Jacobs Ranch

Tract, includes 4,821.19 acres, more or

less, with an estimated 519 million tons

of coal in place. As part of the coal

leasing process, BLM will evaluate the

tract configuration, and may decide to

add or subtract Federal coal to avoid

bypassing coal or to increase estimated

fair market value.

The Jacobs Ranch Mine, which is

adjacent to the lease application area,

has an approved mining and

reclamation plan from the Land Quality

Division of the Wyoming Department of

Environmental Quality. The mine has

an approved air quality permit from the

Air Quality Division of the Wyoming

Department of Environmental Quality to

mine up to 35 million tons of coal per

year, and they have applied for an air

quality permit to mine up to 55 million

tons per year. According to the

application filed for the North Jacobs

Ranch LBA Tract, the maintenance tract

would be mined to extend the life of the

existing mine.

Using the LBA process, JRCC

previously acquired maintenance coal

lease WYW117924, containing

approximately 1,709 acres and 147

million tons of minable coal adjacent to

the Jacobs Ranch Mine, effective

October 1, 1992.

The Office of Surface Mining

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM)

will be a cooperating agency in the

preparation of the EIS. If the North

Jacobs Ranch LBA tract is leased to the

applicant, the new lease must be

incorporated into the existing mining

plans for the adjacent mine and the

Secretary of the Interior must approve

the revised mining plan before the

Federal coal in the tract can be mined.

OSM is the Federal agency that would

be responsible for recommending

approval, approval with conditions, or

disapproval of the revised mining plan

to the Secretary if the tract is leased.

Several issues related to this lease

application were identified during the

scoping held during the month of

October 1999. The primary issue raised

in both written and oral comments is

the need for resolution of the conflicts

between existing and proposed oil and

gas development and proposed coal

mining on the North Jacobs Ranch LBA

tract. Other issues identified during the

scoping process included the potential

impacts to big game herds and hunting,

the potential impacts to sage grouse, the

size of the tract as applied for, the need

for considering the cumulative impacts

of this leasing decision, the validity and

currency of the resource data to be used

in analyzing the impacts, the impact on

existing land uses, the potential impacts

to sensitive and endangered species

including prairie dogs and mountain

plover, and the potential impacts on air

and water quality. If you have specific

concerns about these issues, or have

other concerns or issues that BLM

should consider in processing this

application, please address them in

writing to the above address. Written

comments should be received by

February 15, 2000, in order to be fully

considered in the draft EIS.

Comments, including names and

street addresses of respondents, will be

available for public review at the

address listed above during regular

business hours, 7:45 a.m.–4:30 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, except

holidays. Individual respondents may

request confidentiality. If you wish to

withhold your name or street address

from public review or from disclosure

under the Freedom of Information Act,

you must state this prominently at the

beginning of your written comment.

Such requests will be honored to the

extent allowed by law. All submissions

from organizations or businesses, and

from individuals identifying themselves

as representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, will be

made available for public inspection in

their entirety.

Dated: January 11, 2000.

Alan R. Pierson,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 00–1158 Filed 1–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT–062–1430–ET; UTU–75392]

Notice of Proposed Withdrawal and

Notice of Public Meetings; Utah

(Amendment)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice amends previous

notice from Volume 64, Number 241,

page 70279–70282, dated December 16,

1999. In the previous notice the Bureau

of Land Management proposed to

withdraw 131,340 acres of public land

to protect the scenic and recreational

values of portions of the Colorado,

Dolores, and Green river corridors in

Southeastern Utah. The previous notice

segregated the lands for up to 2 years

from location and entry under the

United States mining laws. This

amendment deletes approximately 4,000

acres from the proposed withdrawal

area. The subject 4,000 acres are located

on the west side of the Green River in

Desolation Canyon, Carbon County, and

lie within an area already withdrawn as

Naval Oil Shale Reserve 2. The public

meeting in Moab will be held in the

Grand County Courthouse, 125 E. Center

Street, Moab, instead of the BLM Field

Office.

DATES: Effective date is January 19,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent

to the Moab Field Office Manager, 82

East Dogwood Avenue, Moab, Utah

84532.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mary von Koch, Realty Specialist, Moab

Field Office, 82 East Dogwood Avenue,

Moab, Utah 84532, (435) 259–2128.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

following described lands are deleted

from the list of lands previously

identified for withdrawal consideration.

Salt Lake Meridian

T. 12 S., R. 18 E.,

sec. 3, lots 3, 4, and 8, and SW1⁄4SW1⁄4;

sec. 4, lots 1 to 4, inclusive, and S1⁄2;

sec. 5, lots 1 to 8, inclusive, and 12, and

W1⁄2SW1⁄4;

sec. 6, E1⁄2SE1⁄4;

sec. 7, E1⁄2 E1⁄2, SW1⁄4 NE1⁄4, and W1⁄2SE1⁄4;

sec. 8, lots 1, 4, 5, 9, and 12 to 14,

inclusive, W1⁄2 W1⁄2, and SE1⁄4SW1⁄4;

sec. 9, lots 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8, N1⁄2NE1⁄4, and

NW1⁄4;

sec. 10, lots 1 to 4, and 7 to 10, inclusive,

and SE1⁄4NE1⁄4;

sec. 11, lots 2, 3, and 6;

sec. 17, lots 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9, NW1⁄4,

N1⁄2SW1⁄4, and SW1⁄4SW1⁄4;

sec. 18, E1⁄2E1⁄2;

sec. 19, lots 3 and 4, E1⁄2, and E1⁄2SW1⁄4;

sec. 20, lots 2, 3, 6, and 7, and W1⁄2W1⁄2;

sec. 29, lots 2 and 3;

sec. 30, lots 1, 3 to 6, and 10 to 12,

inclusive;

sec. 31, lot 5.

T. 13 S., R. 18 E.

sec. 6, lot 4.

Aggregates approximately 3,875.43 acres in

Carbon County.

Dated: January 10, 2000.

William Stringer,

Acting Moab Field Office Manager.

[FR Doc. 00–1199 Filed 1–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–P