20420 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 79 / Friday, April 24, 1998 / Notices

possible environmental consequences

associated with each alternative.

DATES: A Record of Decision will be

prepared no earlier than 30 days after

the Notice of Receipt for the Final EIS

is published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final EIS will

be available from the Bureau of Land

Management, P.O. Box 3388, Butte,

Montana 59702, telephone 406–494–

5059; or the Montana Department of

Environmental Quality, P.O. Box

200901, Helena, Montana 50620–0901,

telephone 406–444–3276.

Public reading copies will be

available for review at the following

locations: (1) Bureau of Land

Management, Office of External Affairs,

Main Interior Building, Room 5600,

18th and C Streets NW., Washington,

DC; (2) Bureau of Land Management,

External Affairs Office, Montana State

Office, 222 North 32nd Street, Billings,

Montana; (3) Bureau of Land

Management, Butte District Office, 106

North Parkmont Street; and (4) State of

Montana, Department of Environmental

Quality, 1520 East Sixth Avenue,

Helena, Montana. Text of the Final EIS

will be posted at the Department of

Environmental Quality Web site:

www.deq.mt.gov/eis.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg

Hallsten, Team Leader, Montana

Department of Environmental Quality,

P.O. Box 200901, Helena, Montana

59620–0901, telephone 406–444–3276;

or David Williams, Team Leader,

Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box

3388, Butte, Montana 59702, telephone

406–494–5059.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Golden Sunlight Mine (GSM) began

large-scale operations to mine and

process gold-bearing ore in 1982

following completion of an

Environmental Impact Statement by the

Montana Department of State Lands

(DSL) in 1981. Several minor

amendments were processed by 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

variety 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 No. 2, a lined

tailings impoundment. Impoundment

No. 1 is an unlined facility which did

experience some leakage in the early

1980s. This was corrected through a

series of pumpback wells and the

impoundment 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.

Public participation has occurred

throughout the EIS process. 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 scoping

comments were accepted through

November 10, 1995. A public hearing on

the Draft EIS was held in Whitehall,

Montana, on January 5, 1998, and

written comments on the Draft EIS were

accepted until January 21, 1998. In

addition to 28 oral presentations at the

public hearing, approximately 289

written comments were received. All

comments, written and oral, were

reviewed and considered in preparation

of the Final EIS.

Dated: April 2, 1998.

Merle Good,

Headwaters Resource Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 98–10893 Filed 4–23–98; 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 Availability of the Final

Supplement to the 1992 Final

Environmental Impact Statement for a

TransColorado Gas Transmission

Project; Colorado and New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

USDI, and Forest Service, Department of

Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final

supplement to the Final 1992

Environmental Impact Statement

TransColorado Gas Transmission

Project; Colorado and New Mexico.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act, the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as

lead agency, and in cooperation with

the U. S. Forest Service (USFS) has

prepared a Final Supplement

(Supplement) to the 1992 Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

for the TransColorado Gas Transmission

(TransColorado) Project on federal lands

in Colorado and New Mexico.

TransColorado Gas Transmission

Company 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
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 79 / Friday, April 24, 1998 / Notices 20421

the USFS in the Uncompahgre and San

Juan National Forests, Colorado, are

crossed by the TransColorado pipeline

project. The Supplement addresses the

environmental impacts of the

construction, operation, maintenance,

and ultimate abandonment of known

proposed route changes and minor

realignments (less than 100 ft.) of 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

also addresses the impacts of the

construction of minor realignments and

the construction and use of relocated or

additional temporary work areas, in

unspecified locations. These

unspecified temporary work areas and

minor realignments are addressed to

accommodate conditions that might be

encountered during construction. Also

addressed in the Supplement are

proposed modifications to several

environmental protection measures

contained in the 1992 Right of Way

(ROW) grant and Record of Decision

(ROD).

The Supplement, and the 1992

TransColorado FEIS are available for

public review at the following BLM and

USFS offices: BLM Grand Junction

District, BLM Montrose District

(Montrose District Office, 2465 S.

Townsend Avenue, Montrose, Colorado

81401), Montrose District, Grand Mesa,

Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National

Forests (2250 Highway 50, Delta,

Colorado 81416), San Juan National

Forest and BLM San Juan Resource Area

(Federal Building, Room 102, 701

Camino Del Rio, Durango, Colorado

81301), and BLM Farmington District

(1235 N. LaPlata Hwy., Suite A,

Farmington, New Mexico 87401). Public

reading copies are available at the

federal depository libraries in Colorado

and New Mexico and public libraries

within San Juan County, New Mexico,

and La Plata, Montezuma, Dolores, San

Miguel, Montrose, Delta, Mesa, Garfield

and Rio Blanco Counties, Colorado, and

at TransColorado Offices in Salt Lake

City and Montrose, CO.

DATES: The Final Supplement to the

1992 Final EIS will be available to the

public for 30-days starting April 24,

1998. After the 30-day availability

period, one Record of Decision (ROD)

will be issued for all federal lands.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill

Bottomly (970) 240–5337, Ilyse Auringer

(970) 385–1341, or Steve Hemphill (970)

874–6633.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After

preparing Draft and Final

Environmental Impact Statements, the

BLM and the USFS signed Records of

Decision on December 1, 1992 and

issued a ROW grant and 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),

BLM issued a 50 foot-wide ROW grant

on December 4, 1992, 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.

Public participation has occurred

throughout the preparation of the

Supplement. The Notice of Intent (NOI)

to prepare this Supplement to the FEIS

was published in the Federal Register

on November 21, 1997. ‘‘Open House’’

forums were held from October 21

through December 10, 1997 at Norwood,

Durango, Delta, Rangely, Dolores, and

Grand Junction, Colorado. Field trips to

locations on the San Juan National

Forest were offered on November 15 and

22, 1997. The Draft Supplement was

published on January 23, 1998, and was

available for public comments for a 60-

day period that closed on March 18,

1998. The BLM and USFS received 52

written comment letters and several oral

comments at the public meetings held

on February 17, 18, and 19, 1998 in

Durango, Dolores, and Grand Junction,

Colorado, respectively.

Dated: April 14, 1998.

Mark W. Stiles,

District Manager, Montrose District, Bureau

of Land Management.

Dated: April 14, 1998.

Dale E. Trenda,

Range, Fire, and Timber Staff Officer, Grand

Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National

Forests, Forest Service.

[FR Doc. 98–11007 Filed 4–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–JB–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

(AZ–917/AZ–060; AZA 28350)

Notice of Availability of the Decision

Record for the White Canyon Plan

Amendment/Environmental

Assessment for the Phoenix Resource

Management Plan, Pinal County, AZ

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The State Director has

approved that portion of the proposed

plan amendment for the designation and

management of the White Canyon Area

of Critical Environmental Concern

(ACEC). In compliance with the Federal

Land Policy and Management Act of

1976, as amended, and Section 102(2)(c)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, the plan amendment

revises designation and management

decisions made through the Phoenix

Resource Management Plan (RMP). The

proposed modification to land tenure

designations have been set aside and

will be integrated with an

environmental impact statement under

preparation for the proposed Ray Land

Exchange.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shela McFarlin, Project Manager,

Bureau of Land Management, Arizona

State Office, 222 North Central Avenue,

Phoenix, AZ 85004, or telephone (602)

417–9568.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Decision Record will amend the

Phoenix RMP to modify the White

Canyon ACEC designation as follows:

(1) 300 non-wilderness federal acres

will be retained as the White Canyon

ACEC (within T3S, R12E, Section 23,

NE 1⁄4 and Section 25, NW 1⁄4); (2) 1,620

wilderness acres formerly designated as

ACEC will continue to be managed as

wilderness under all appropriate

guidelines, but will cease to be

designated as ACEC; and, (3) BLM will

seek to acquire 480 acres in Section 24

(T3S, R12E) to be managed upon

acquisition as ACEC. Acquisition will

be from the state of Arizona or

subsequent land owners through

appropriate mechanisms such as

donation, friendly condemnation or

exchange. New ACEC management

prescriptions will replace the Phoenix

RMP management actions and a

coordinated resource management plan

will be completed. Motorized travel will

be limited to designated roads and

trails. Surface occupancy for oil and gas

leasing will be prohibited. The plan will