45678 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 167 / Thursday, August 28, 1997 / Notices

ADDRESSES: The lease sale will be held

in the 1st Floor Conference Room (Room

107) of the Wyoming State Office, 5353

Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming

82009. Sealed bids clearly marked

‘‘Sealed Bid for North Rochelle Tract,

WYW127221—Not to be opened before

1 p.m., on Thursday, September 25,

1997’’, must be submitted to the

Cashier, Wyoming State Office, at the

address given above or P.O. Box 1828,

Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003–1828.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Laura Steele, Land Law Examiner, or

Melvin Schlagel, Coal Coordinator, at

307–775–6200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This coal

lease sale is being held in response to

a lease by application filed by Bluegrass

Coal Development Company (formerly,

SMC Mining Company), a subsidiary of

Zeigler Coal Holding Company of

Evansville, Indiana. The coal resources

to be reoffered consist of all reserves

recoverable by surface mining methods

in the following described lands located

approximately 46 miles south-southeast

of the City of Gillette, Wyoming, and

about 13 miles southeast of Reno

Junction just north of the Reno County

Road:

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

Sec. 4: Lots 5–16, 19 and 20;

Sec. 5: Lots 5–16;

T. 43 N., R. 70 W., 6th P.M., Wyoming

Sec. 32: Lots 9–16;

Sec. 33: Lots 11–14.

Containing 1,481.930 acres.

All of the acreage reoffered has been

determined to be suitable for mining.

The surface estate of the tract is

controlled by Arco Coal Company,

Powder River Coal Company, and the

U.S. Forest Service.

The North Rochelle Tract, located in

Campbell County, Wyoming, is adjacent

to the existing North Rochelle and Black

Thunder Mines and contains surface

minable coal reserves in the Wyodak

seam currently being recovered in the

existing mines. The Wyodak seam

averages about 57 feet thick with an

additional minable rider seam above the

main seam that averages about 7 feet

thick. There are no coal outcrops on the

tract.

The overburden above the rider seam

ranges from 100–200 feet thick while

the overburden above the main Wyodak

seam where no rider seam exists ranges

from 175–250 feet thick. The total inplace stripping ratio (BCY/ton) of the

coal seams is 2.91:1.

The tract contains an estimated

157,610,000 tons of minable coal in the

Wyodak and rider seams. This estimate

of minable reserves does not include

any tonnage from localized seams or

splits containing less than 5 feet of coal.

The coal is ranked as subbituminous

C. The overall average quality is 8680

BTU/lb, 4.91 percent ash, 27.72 percent

moisture, and .23 percent sulfur. These

quality averages place the coal reserves

near the low end of coal quality

currently being mined in the far

southern Powder River Basin south of

Wright, Wyoming. The tract in this lease

offering contains split estate lands. The

surface is not held by a qualified surface

owner as defined in the regulations, 43

CFR 3400.0–5.

The tract will be leased to the

qualified bidder of the highest cash

amount provided that the high bid

equals or exceeds the fair market value

of the tract. The minimum bid for the

tract is $100 per acre or fraction thereof.

No bid that is less than $100 per acre,

or fraction thereof, will be considered.

The bid should be sent by ‘‘Certified

Mail, Return Receipt Requested’’, or be

hand delivered. The Cashier will issue

a receipt for each hand-delivered bid.

Bids received after 11 a.m., Thursday,

September 25, 1997, will not be

considered. The minimum bid is not

intended to represent fair market value.

The fair market value of the tract will

be determined by the Authorized Officer

after the sale.

If identical high bids are received, the

tying high bidders will be requested to

submit follow-up sealed bids until a

high bid is received. All tie-breaking

sealed bids must be submitted within 15

minutes following the Sale Official’s

announcement at the sale that identical

high bids have been received.

The lease issued as a result of this

offering will provide for payment of an

annual advance rental of $3.00 per acre,

or fraction thereof, and of a royalty

payment to the United States of 121⁄2

percent of the value of coal produced by

strip or augur mining methods and 8

percent of the value of the coal

produced by underground mining

methods. The value of the coal will be

determined in accordance with 30 CFR

203.250(f).

Bidding instructions for the tract

reoffered and the terms and conditions

of the proposed coal lease are available

from the Wyoming State Office at the

addresses above. The case file,

WYW127221, is available for inspection

at the Wyoming State Office.

Dated: August 23, 1997.

Alan R. Pierson,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 97–22899 Filed 8–27–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AZ–933–1990–00]

Notice of Availability of the

Programmatic Environmental

Assessment for Selected Actions

Taken for Mining Claim Use and

Occupancy in Arizona, and the

Preliminary Finding of No Significant

Impact

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (NEPA), and Use and Occupancy

Under the Mining Laws regulations (43

CFR 3715), the Bureau of Land

Management has prepared an

environmental assessment (EA) that

evaluates the impacts of typical mining

claim and/or millsite occupancies. This

EA describes and analyzes the proposed

action, consisting of seven typical

occupancy scenarios, and the no action

option. The actions analyzed in this EA

involve operations that disturb 5 acres

or less. This notice is intended to invite

the public to comment on the analysis

of impacts presented in the EA and the

performance measures developed for the

proposed action.

DATES: Written comments will be

accepted on or before September 29,

1997. Any comments received by the

close of the comment period will be

evaluated and those letters that identify

issues, where clarification or discussion

is required, will be addressed in the

final EA. Copies of the EA and the

preliminary Finding of No Significant

Impact (FONSI) will be provided to any

person or agency commenting, or to

other interested parties, upon written

request.

Comments on the EA and FONSI

should be sent to the Arizona State

Office at the address listed below.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the EA

to: Bureau of Land Management,

Arizona State Office, AZ–933, 222 North

Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004–

2203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ralph Costa, Mining Engineer, Arizona

State Office. Telephone: (602) 417–9349.

Dated: August 20, 1997.

Denise P. Meridith,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 97–22610 Filed 8–27–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–32–P