Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 69 / Thursday, April 10, 1997 / Notices 17631

Meridian, Josephine County, Oregon as

shown on a map available at the Medford

District, Bureau of Land Management Office.

The following persons, operating

within the scope of their official duties,

are exempt from the provisions of this

closure order: Bureau employees, state,

local and federal law enforcement and

fire protection personnel; and the

holders of BLM permits and/or

contracts. Vehicle access by additional

parties may be allowed, but must be

approved by the Authorized Officer of

the BLM.

The purpose of this closure is to

protect the trail surfacing for wheelchair

use and limit safety hazards of

incompatible uses.

Any person who fails to comply with

a closure order or rulemaking is subject

to arrest and fines of up to $1,000 and/

or imprisonment not to exceed 12

months.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Diane Chung, Area Manager, Bureau of

Land Management, Glendale Resource

Area, Medford District Office, 3040

Biddle Rd, Medford, OR 97504 or (541)

770–2279.

Dated: March 31, 1997.

Diane Chung,

Glendale Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–9211 Filed 4–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–33–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA–CACA 31137, DES 97–10]

Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Needles Resource Area.

ACTION: Notice of availability for the

Castle Mountain Mine Expansion

Project, Draft Environmental Impact

Statement/Environmental Impact

Report, and notice of comment period

and public meetings.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, as amended, and in

coordination with the County of San

Bernardino in its administration of the

California Environmental Quality Act,

as amended, notice is given that the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has

prepared, with the assistance of a thirdparty consultant, a Draft Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental

Impact Report (EIR), on the proposed

Castle Mountain Mine Expansion

Project, and has made copies available

for public and agency review. This

notice also announces public meetings

for the purpose of receiving comments

on the draft document.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft

EIS/EIR must be received no later than

4 p.m., May 28, 1997. Oral and/or

written comments may also be

presented at two public meetings. The

public meetings will be held at the

following times and locations: 7 p.m.,

Tuesday, April 29, 1997 at the Holiday

Inn, 1511 East Main Street, Barstow,

California; 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 30,

1997 at the Searchlight Community

Center, Parks and Recreation

Department, 200 Michael Wendall Way,

Searchlight, Nevada.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to: George R. Meckfessel,

U.S.D.I., Bureau of Land Management,

Needles Resource Area, 101 West Spikes

Road, Needles, California 92363.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: George R.

Meckfessel, Planning and

Environmental Coordinator, telephone

(619) 326–7000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Viceroy

Gold Corporation has proposed to mine

additional ore adjacent to deposits

currently being mined at the Castle

Mountain Mine, San Bernardino,

California, an open-pit, heap-leach gold

mine. Under the present operating

permits, mining, processing and

reclamation activities could continue

through December 31, 2010. Under the

proposed expansion, these activities

would continue through December 31,

2020. The Proposed Action consists of

expanding existing and planned open

pit areas, expanding the existing heap

leach pad, creating a new overburden

storage site and expanding growth

media storage areas on approximately

490 additional acres. The action would

also incorporate mine pit backfilling on

140 acres of open mine pits. The

proposed 10-year extension of the

mining and processing phases of the

mine would ultimately affect up to

1,380 acres of public and private lands,

as compared to the 890 acres presently

authorized.

The Draft EIS/EIR has examined

potentially significant impacts to

geology, water resources, including

groundwater quality and quantity,

vegetation, wildlife, air quality, visual

resources, cultural resources, land use,

and hazards.

Public participation has occurred

throughout the planning process. A

Notice of Intent was published in the

Federal Register on July 18 and August

29, 1995. Public scoping meetings were

held in August 1995.

Molly S. Brady,

Acting Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–9172 Filed 4–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–40–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY–060–01–1320–01; WYW127221]

Notice of Availability of the Final

Environmental Impact Statement

(FEIS) for the North Rochelle Coal

Lease Application Located in

Northeastern Wyoming’s Powder River

Basin

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

availability of a final Environmental

Impact Statement (FEIS) pursuant to 40

CFR 1500–1508 for the North Rochelle

Coal Lease Application (WYW127221)

in the Wyoming Powder River Basin.

The North Rochelle tract (originally

called the North Roundup tract) is being

considered for sale as a result of a

maintenance coal lease application filed

by Bluegrass Coal Development

Company (formerly SMC Mining

Company) for Federal coal located

adjacent to the North Rochelle Mine in

Campbell County, Wyoming. The FEIS

evaluates the impacts of holding a

competitive coal lease sale and issuing

a lease if there is a successful bidder.

The North Rochelle Mine is a producing

coal mine, which has met Federal

diligent development requirements on

its existing Federal lease. There are

currently no mining or rail facilities at

the mine, which is located

approximately 50 miles south of

Gillette, Wyoming.

DATES: The FEIS is scheduled to be

available to the public on April 11,

1997. In order to assure that comments

are considered in the Record of

Decision, they should be received no

later than close of business on May 12,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments, concerns, and

requests for copies of the FEIS (or an

Executive Summary of the FEIS) should

be addressed to Casper District Office,

Bureau of Land Management, Attn:

Nancy Doelger, 1701 East ‘‘E’’ Street,

Casper, Wyoming 82601. Comments can

also be faxed to 307–234–1525, Attn:

Nancy Doelger.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Nancy Doelger or Mike Karbs, at 307–

261–7600, or contact the fax or address

listed above.
17632 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 69 / Thursday, April 10, 1997 / Notices

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This coal

lease application was made to the BLM

pursuant to provisions of 43 CFR 3425.1

as a lease by application. On July 22,

1992, Bluegrass Coal Development

Company (formerly SMC Mining

Company) applied for a coal lease for

approximately 1,439 acres

(approximately 144 million tons of coal)

in an area adjacent to the North

Rochelle Mine in Campbell County,

Wyoming. The Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) has recommended

that approximately 81 additional acres

containing approximately 9 million tons

of coal be included in the tract to avoid

a potential bypass situation in the

future, and that approximately 39 acres

containing approximately 4 million tons

of coal be excluded from the tract to

enhance the value of the remaining

unleased coal in the area. The

application was for the following lands:

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

Sec. 4: Lots 5 thru 16, 19, and 20;

Sec. 5: Lots 5 thru 16;

Sec. 9: Lot 1;

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

Sec. 32: Lots 9 thru 11, 14 thru 16;

Sec. 33: Lots 11 thru 14;

Containing 1439.92 acres, more or less.

The BLM has recommended that the

following lands containing

approximately 4 million tons of coal

reserves be excluded from the

application:

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

Sec. 9: Lot 1;

Containing 39.15 acres, more or less.

The BLM has recommended that the

following additional lands containing

an additional estimated 9 million tons

of coal reserves be included in the

application:

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

Sec. 32: Lots 12 and 13.

Containing 81.16 acres, more or less.

The tract as amended by the BLM

contains a total of approximately

1481.93 acres and approximately 149

million tons of coal reserves, and

includes the following lands:

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

Sec. 4: Lots 5 thru 16, 19, and 20;

Sec. 5: Lots 5 thru 16;

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

Sec. 32: Lots 9 thru 16;

Sec. 33: Lots 11 thru 14;

The lease application area is west of

and contiguous with Bluegrass’ existing

North Rochelle Mine and with Thunder

Basin Coal Company’s Black Thunder

Mine. The North Rochelle Mine began

producing coal in 1990 from a Federal

lease (WYW71692) issued in 1982. Coal

production from the existing Federal

lease met the diligence requirements of

Section 2(a)(2)(A) of the Mineral Leasing

Act in November 1996. Bluegrass has

applied to lease the proposed North

Rochelle Tract (initially called the North

Roundup Tract) as a maintenance tract

for the North Rochelle Mine.

There are no existing mine facilities

or rail facilities at the North Rochelle

Mine. Construction is scheduled to

begin on the North Rochelle rail and

mine facilities in mid-1997. In addition,

Encoal Corporation is proposing to

begin construction of a coal

enhancement facility and power plant

inside the rail loop at the North

Rochelle Mine starting in 1997, and

North American Power Group of

Englewood, Colorado is proposing to

construct a power plant near the

adjacent Black Thunder Mine, starting

in late 1997.

The FEIS analyzes three alternatives.

The proposed action is to lease the tract

as applied for to the successful bidder.

Alternative A is to lease the tract as

modified by the BLM to the successful

bidder. This is the Preferred Alternative

of the BLM. The third alternative is the

No Action Alternative, which assumes

that the lease is not issued.

The North Rochelle tract would be

logically mined as a maintenance lease

by either the existing North Rochelle

Mine or the existing Black Thunder

Mine, but it does not include enough

coal to make opening a new mine

economical. The North Rochelle tract

includes part of the Roundup tract, a

Federal coal tract which was delineated

in the early 1980s but which was never

offered for sale.

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is a

cooperating agency in the preparation of

the FEIS because the surface of some of

the lands included in the tract is owned

by the Federal Government and

administered by the USFS as part of the

Thunder Basin National Grasslands. The

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation

and Enforcement is also a cooperating

agency in the preparation of the FEIS,

because it is the Federal agency that

administers surface coal mining

operations under the Surface Mining

Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

The Draft Environmental Impact

Statement was made available to the

public on November 8, 1996, and the

comment period extended through

January 10, 1997. Eleven written

comment letters were received on the

draft documents. They are included,

with responses, as Appendix G of the

FEIS.

A public hearing was held at 7 p.m.

on December 12, 1997, at the Holiday

Inn, 2009 S. Douglas Highway, Gillette,

Wyoming. The purpose of the hearing

was to receive comments on the Draft

Environmental Impact Statement, and

on the fair market value, the maximum

economic recovery, and the proposed

competitive sale of coal from the North

Rochelle tract (originally called the

North Roundup tract). An open house

was held prior to the hearing from 4

p.m. to 6 p.m. on December 12, 1996, at

the Gillette Holiday Inn to answer

questions about the North Rochelle coal

lease application, as well as other

pending coal lease applications, other

mineral development issues in the

Powder River Basin, the coal leasing

process, and the coal unsuitability

screening process.

Dated: April 3, 1997.

Alan R. Pierson,

State Director.

[FR Doc. 97–9163 Filed 4–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO–010–07–1020–00–241A]

Northwest Colorado Resource

Advisory Council Meetings

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

the next meetings of the Northwest

Colorado Resource Advisory Council

will be held on Thursday, May 15, 1997,

in Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and

Friday, July 11, 1997, in Craig,

Colorado.

DATES: Meetings are scheduled for

Thursday, May 15, 1997, and Friday,

July 11, 1997.

ADDRESSES: For further information,

contact Joann Graham, Bureau of Land

Management (BLM), Grand Junction

District Office, 2815 H Road, Grand

Junction, Colorado 81506; Telephone

(970) 244–3037.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Thursday,

May 15, 1997, 9:30 a.m. This meeting

will be held at the Yampa Valley Rural

Electricication Association building, 32

Tenth Street, Steamboat Springs,

Colorado. Agenda items include:

subcommittee reports, council

recommendations regarding motorized

travel in the Bang’s Canyon planning

area, conservationists’ wilderness

proposal, and new business.

Friday, July 11, 1997, 9 a.m.: This

meeting will be held at the BLM District