62344 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notices

amendments were processed by the DSL

and BLM between 1983 and 1990.

In 1988 GSM applied for a major

expansion of operations (Amendment

008). Following completion of a

mitigated Environmental Assessment in

1990, GSM was authorized to proceed

with the expansion. Amendment 008

included 31 stipulations attached to the

Decision Record for the EA. These

stipulations were designed to address a

varity of environmental issues

developed in the EA. This decision was

appealed to the Interior Board of Land

Appeals (IBLA) by several

environmental groups in 1990. In 1993

the IBLA ruled largely in favor of the

agencies. In 1992 these same groups

appealed the approval of Amendment

008 in Montana State court. On

September 1, 1994, the District Court

Judge ruled that DSL must prepare an

EIS for the impacts associated with

Amendment 008. Following the court

ruling the plaintiffs, GSM, and DSL

negotiated a Settlement Agreement that

allowed mining to continue until the

completion of an EIS.

In compliance with the District Court

Decision, the agencies began

preparation of an EIS in 1995.

Total disturbance is approximately

2,336 acres at this time. Under the

proposed action the mine’s permitted

disturbance would expand to include an

additional 517 acres of GSM land, 75

acres of BLM-administered land, and 35

acres of school trust (state) land.

Operations would continue until

approximately 2006.

The Golden Sunlight mine is a

conventional truck-and-shovel open-pit

mine. Approximately 60,000 to 70,000

tons of rock are excavated per day,

totaling approximately 22 million tons

per year. Only 2.5 million tons of this

total are ore, the remainder being waste

rock. Approximately 320 million tons of

waste have been placed in waste rock

dumps. The ore is processed in a vat

cyanide process. Gold-bearing cyanide

solutions are treated by carbon

adsorption to recover the gold. The

recovered gold is ultimately returned to

solution for electrowinning onto steel

wool, which is then smelted down to

recover gold as dore ́. Following

processing, the mill stream is piped as

a slurry to Impoundment II, a lined

tailings impoundment. Impoundment I,

an unlined facility which did

experience some leakage in the early

1980s and corrected through a series of

pumpback wells, is currently

undergoing the early stages of

reclamation.

Proposed reclamation of the waste

rock dumps includes a mix of 2h:1v and

3h:1v slopes. Because the waste rock at

GSM has high potential for ‘‘acid rock

drainage’’ or low pH runoff/effluent,

effective reclamation of these wastes is

crucial to limiting the reactions that

produce acid rock drainage. The

reclamation plan calls for a cover

system that includes approximately 24

inches of neutral waste rock and 19 to

24 inches of cover soil. Extensive

monitoring of several slopes reclaimed

since 1990 to 1992 has helped the mine

and the agencies determine what

reclamation practices have been most

effective. Surface water management is

another critical factor in reclamation

success and is an important part of the

reclamation plan. Long-term water

treatment is an integral part of the mine

plan. GSM has posted a total bond of

approximately 38 million dollars to

cover reclamation costs.

A Notice of Intent was published in

the Federal Register on October 25,

1995. A public scoping meeting was

conducted on October 17, 1995, to

solicit comments for the scope of the

EIS. Written comments were accepted

through November 10, 1995.

Dated: November 5, 1997.

Merle Good,

Headwaters Resource Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–30133 Filed 11–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

[CO–030–5101–00–YCKD; COC–51280]

Notice of Intent To Prepare a

Supplement to a Final Environmental

Impact Statement; Colorado and New

Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

USDI, and Forest Service, Department of

Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice; Intent to prepare a

supplement to a Final Environmental

Impact Statement; Notice of scoping

with a public comment period.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act,

notice is hereby given that the Bureau

of Land Management (BLM) in

cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service

(USFS) is initiating the preparation of a

Supplement (supplement) to the Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

for the TransColorado Gas Transmission

Company (TransColorado) pipeline

project on federal lands in Colorado and

New Mexico. TransColorado is the

proponent. Lands managed by the BLM

in the Montrose, Craig, and Grand

Junction Districts in Colorado, and the

Farmington District in New Mexico, and

the USFS in the Uncompahgre and San

Juan National Forests, Colorado, are

crossed by the TransColorado pipeline

project. The supplement will address

the environmental impacts of the

construction, operation, maintenance,

and ultimate abandonment of known

proposed route changes and minor

realignments (less than 100 ft.) of

portions the approved pipeline and

right-of-way (ROW) grant COC–51280,

and the impacts of the proposed

construction and use of known

additional temporary work areas

adjacent to the approved ROW or,

proposed ROW route changes or minor

realignments. The supplement will also

address the impacts of the construction,

operation, maintenance and ultimate

abandonment of several ROW route

changes or realignments, and the

construction and use of several

alternative temporary work areas in

unspecified locations. These

unspecified temporary work areas and

ROW route changes or minor

realignments will be addressed in the

supplement to accommodate conditions

that might be encountered during

construction. Cumulative affects of

potential future gas supply facilities,

such as gas supply pipeline laterals will

be addressed. The FEIS is not being reopened nor re-analyzed, nor are the

decisions in the FEIS being

reconsidered. Any comments addressing

issues analyzed in the FEIS will not be

considered. Please focus any comments

on the proposed action of the

supplement to the FEIS.

DATES: Written comments on the

proposed action will be accepted until

December 15, 1997. The comment

period on the draft supplement to the

FEIS will be 45 days from the notice of

availability, published in the Federal

Register.

ADDRESSES: Any comments relative to

the proposed action described in this

notice should be sent to Bill Bottomly,

TransColorado Project Manager, Bureau

of Land Management, Montrose District

Office, 2465 South Townsend Avenue,

Montrose, CO 81401.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bill Bottomly (970) 240–5337, Ilyse

Auringer (970) 385–1341, or Steve

Hemphill (970) 874–6633.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After

preparing a Draft and Final

Environmental Impact Statement in

1992, the BLM and the USFS issued

Records of Decision on December 1,

1992, approving the authorization of a
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 225 / Friday, November 21, 1997 / Notices 62345

ROW grant and an adjacent Temporary

Use Permit (TUP) for subsequent

construction, operation and

maintenance of the 292 mile-long

TransColorado Gas Transmission

pipeline from Meeker, Colorado to

Bloomfield, New Mexico. Under the

authority of the Mineral Leasing Act of

1920 (30 U.S.C. 185), as amended by the

Act of November 16, 1973 (37 Stat. 567),

the BLM issued a 50 foot-wide ROW

grant on December 4, 1997,

accompanied by a 25 foot-wide TUP,

excepting 1.7 miles near Grand

Junction, Colorado. The FERC issued

TransColorado a Certificate of Public

Convenience and Necessity on June 3,

1994. TransColorado completed the 22.5

mile Phase I of the project in December,

1996. The proponent is now prepared to

construct the remainder of the pipeline

during 1998. TransColorado is

requesting approval of additional

temporary work areas to construct the

pipeline, and is requesting that the

existing ROW be amended to

accommodate the proposed route

changes and minor realignments (less

than 100 ft). Public meetings or open

houses may be conducted during the

comment period to gather comments

from the public prior to preparation of

the supplement. Public notice of

locations, dates, and times of any

meetings to be held will be provided.

Maps and plats of the project are

available for public review at the

following offices of the BLM and USFS:

the Grand Junction District Office, the

Montrose District Office, the Grand

Mesa/Uncompahgre/Gunnison National

Forest Office, the San Juan National

Forest/San Juan Resource Area office,

and the Farmington District Office. The

level of public interest in the issues of

the supplement to the FEIS will

determine if additional meetings will be

held.

Dated: November 7, 1997.

Phillip W. Dwyer,

Assistant District Manager, Montrose District.

Dated: November 17, 1997.

Gloria Manning,

Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest

System.

[FR Doc. 97–30663 Filed 11–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–JB–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR–050–1220–00: GP8–0036]

Prineville District; John Day River, OR:

Special Recreation Permits

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), Department of the Interior (DOI),

Prineville District.

ACTION: Notice is hereby given that the

existing moratorium on the issuance of

new commercial floatboating permits for

the John Day River will be extended

until completion of the John Day Wild

and Scenic River Management Plan and

Environmental Impact Statement.

The current moratorium on the

issuance of new Special Recreation

Permits for commercial boating use of

the John Day Wild and Scenic River has

been extended by Administrative

Decision (dated November 12, 1997).

The moratorium will remain in effect

until the completion of the John Day

Wild and Scenic River Management

Plan and Environmental Impact

Statement.

The BLM is currently in the process

of completing the John Day Wild and

Scenic River Management Plan and

Environmental Impact Statement. This

plan addresses management issues

within the Wild and Scenic corridor,

including the desired use level of

commercial floatboating. To allow the

desired use level of to be determined by

the planning process, application for

new commercial boating permits will

not be accepted until further notice.

Decisions made by the plan will

direct the future availability of

commercial floatboating permits for the

John Day Wild and Scenic River.

The authority for this decision comes

from 43 CFR 8372.0–3: Authority,

8372.1–1: Public lands, general, and

8372.3 Issuance of permits.

A more specific location of public

lands covered by this notice may be

obtained at the BLM Prineville District

Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Heidi Mottl, Recreation Planner, BLM

Prineville District Office, P.O. Box 550,

Prineville, Oregon 97754, telephone

number (541) 416–6700.

Dated: November 12, 1997.

Donald L. Smith,

Acting District Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–30590 Filed 11–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–84–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Concession Contract Negotiations:

Gateway National Recreation Area;

Staten Island, Fort Wadsworth

SUMMARY: Public notice is hereby given

that the National Park Service proposes

to award a concession contract

authorizing food service, and conference

center facilities and services for the

public at Fort Wadsworth within the

Staten Island Unit of Gateway National

Recreation Area for a period of ten (10)

years from date of contract execution.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should

contact National Park Service, Boston

Support Office, Concession

Management Program, 15 State Street,

Boston, MA 02109–3572 ATTN: Lynne

Koser, Telephone (617) 223–5209, to

obtain a copy of the prospectus

describing the requirements of the

proposed contract.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

contract has been determined to be

categorically excluded from the

procedural provisions of the National

Environmental Policy Act and no

environmental document will be

prepared.

There is no existing concessioner. The

Secretary will consider and evaluate all

proposals received as a result of this

notice. Any proposal must be received

by the National Park Service, Boston

Support Office, Concession

Management Program, 15 State Street,

Boston, Massachusetts 02109–3572, not

later than the sixtieth (60th) day

following publication of this notice to

be considered and evaluated.

Dated: November 3, 1997.

Chrysandra L. Walter,

Acting Field Director, Northeast Field Area.

[FR Doc. 97–30647 Filed 11–20–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Draft Environmental Impact Statement/

General Management Plan Amendment

for Backcountry and Wilderness

Management Plan, Joshua Tree

National Park, San Bernardino County,

CA; Notice of Availability

SUMMARY: Pursuant to § 102(2)(c) of the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (Pub. L. 81–190 as amended), the

National Park Service, Department of

the Interior, has prepared a draft

environmental impact statement (DEIS)