Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 2018 / Notices 393 

States military and Federal, State, and 

local law enforcement; Federal, State 

and local officers and employees in the 

performance of their official duties; 

King of the Hammers event officials and 

race participants; vendors with a valid 

BLM SRP; and registered event 

spectators. 

Enforcement: Any person who 

violates the temporary closure order 

may be tried before a United States 

Magistrate and fined in accordance with 

18 U.S.C. 3571, imprisoned no more 

than 12 months under 43 U.S.C. 1733(a) 

and 43 CFR 8360.0–7, or both. In 

accordance with 43 CFR 8365.1–7, State 

or local officials may also impose 

penalties for violations of California 

law. 

Authority: 43 CFR 8360.0–7 and 8364.1 

Beth Ransel, 

California Desert District Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2017–28393 Filed 1–2–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–40–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 

and Enforcement 

[S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 

189S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 

SX064A000 18XS501520] 

Notice of Availability of the Western 

Energy Company’s Rosebud Mine Area 

F Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement 

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement, U.S. 

Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Office 

of Surface Mining Reclamation and 

Enforcement (OSMRE) has prepared a 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) for the Western Energy Company’s 

Rosebud Mine Area F (Project) in 

southeastern Montana and by this notice 

is announcing the opening of the 

comment period. The Montana 

Department of Environmental Quality 

(DEQ) is a co-lead on this EIS process. 

DATES: To ensure comments will be 

considered, OSMRE will accept 

electronic or written comments on or 

before 45 days from the date that the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the Notice of Availability for 

the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. 

OSMRE will publish in the Federal 

Register and/or local newspapers the 

date, time, and location of the public 

meeting on the Draft EIS. If you are a 

disabled individual who needs 

reasonable accommodation to attend the 

public meeting, please contact the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT after we publish 

the notice of the specific meeting 

location and date. 

ADDRESSES: The Draft EIS is available 

for review at: https://

www.wrcc.osmre.gov/initiatives/ 

westernEnergy/documentLibrary.shtm. 

Paper and computer compact disk (CD) 

copies of the Draft EIS are available for 

review at the OSMRE Western Region 

Office, 1999 Broadway Street, Suite 

3320, Denver, Colorado 80202. In 

addition, a paper and CD copy of the 

Draft EIS is available for review at each 

of the following locations: 

Rosebud County Library, 201 North 

9th Avenue, Forsyth, MT 59327. 

Between the hours of 11:00 a.m. 

and 7:00 p.m. Monday through 

Thursday; 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Saturday (Closed Sunday) 

Montana DEQ Headquarters (Lee 

Metcalf Building), 1520 East 6th 

Avenue, Helena, MT 59620. 

Between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 

5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday 

(Closed Saturday and Sunday) 

BLM Miles City Field Office, 111 

Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT 

59301. Between the hours of 7:45 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through 

Friday (Closed Saturday and 

Sunday) 

BLM State Office, Billings, MT, 5001 

Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 

59101. Between the hours of 8:00 

a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through 

Friday (Closed Saturday and 

Sunday) 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Logan Sholar, OSMRE Project 

Coordinator; Telephone: 303–293–5036; 

Address: 1999 Broadway Street, Suite 

3320, Denver, Colorado 80202–3050; 

email: lsholar@osmre.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Project Purpose 

II. Background on the Rosebud Mine 

III. Background on the Project 

IV. Alternative 

I. Project Purpose 

The purpose of the Project is to 

consider continued operations at the 

Rosebud Mine by permitting and 

developing a new surface mine permit 

area, known as permit Area F. Western 

Energy submitted a permit application 

to DEQ for the proposed 6,746-acre 

permit Area F (also referred to as the 

project area) at the Rosebud Mine, 

which is an existing 25,455-acre surface 

coal mine annually producing 8.0 to 

10.25 million tons of low-sulfur 

subbituminous coal. If DEQ approves 

the permit and a Federal mining plan 

for the Project is approved as proposed, 

at the current rate of production, the 

operational life of the Rosebud Mine 

would be extended by 8 years. Mining 

operations in the project area, which 

would commence after all permits and 

approvals have been secured and a 

reclamation and performance bond has 

been posted, would last 19 years. 

Western Energy estimates that 70.8 

million tons of recoverable coal reserves 

exist in the project area and would be 

removed during the 19-year operations 

period. As with other permit areas of the 

Rosebud Mine, all coal would be 

combusted locally at the Colstrip and 

Rosebud Power Plants. 

Western Energy is required to obtain 

a surface coal mine operating permit 

(pursuant to the Montana Strip and 

Underground Mine Reclamation Act 

(MSUMRA), Section 82–4–221 et seq., 

Montana Code Annotated) and approval 

of a Federal surface mining plan (30 

CFR 746) for proposed permit Area F. 

OSMRE’s purpose for the Project is to 

review and make a recommendation to 

the Assistant Secretary for Land and 

Minerals Management (ASLM) in the 

form of a Mining Plan Decision 

Document to approve, disapprove, or 

approve with conditions, the proposed 

Federal surface mining plan for the 

Project. The ASLM will decide whether 

the mining plan is approved, 

disapproved, or approved with 

conditions. 

DEQ’s purpose for the Project is to 

review and make a decision on Western 

Energy’s surface mine operating permit 

application under MSUMRA and to 

review and make decisions on the 

following related permits: (1) An 

application for a new Montana Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) 

permit, and (2) an application to modify 

Montana Air Quality Permit #1570*07 

to include the project area. The Bureau 

of Land Management (BLM) is a 

cooperating agency on the Draft EIS. 

The Draft EIS evaluates the direct, 

indirect, and cumulative effects of the 

Proposed Action and alternatives on the 

environment. 

OSMRE is complying with Section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA Section 106)(16 

U.S.C. 470f), as provided in 36 CFR 

800.2(d)(3), concurrently with the NEPA 

process, including public involvement 

requirements and consultation with the 

State Historic Preservation Officer and 

Historic Preservation Officers with 

Tribal nations. Native American Tribal 

consultations are ongoing and have been 

conducted in accordance with 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
394 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 2018 / Notices 

applicable laws, regulations, and U.S. 

Department of the Interior (DOI) policy. 

Federal, Tribal, State, and local 

agencies, along with other stakeholders 

that may be interested in or affected by 

the Federal agencies’ decisions on the 

Project, are invited to submit comments 

on the Draft EIS. 

As part of its consideration of the 

proposed Project’s impacts on 

threatened and endangered species, 

OSMRE conducted informal 

consultation as well as streamlined 

consultation per the final 4(d) rule for 

the northern long-eared bat with the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant 

to Section 7 of the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA)(16 U.S.C. 1536), and its 

implementing regulations, as provided 

in 50 CFR 400. The Section 7 

consultation considered direct and 

indirect impacts from the proposed 

Project, including mining and related 

operations in the project area and 

continued operation of the Colstrip and 

Rosebud Power Plants. 

In addition to compliance with NEPA, 

NHSA Section 106, and ESA Section 7, 

all Federal actions will be in 

compliance with applicable 

requirements of the Surface Mining 

Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

(30 U.S.C. 1021–1328), the Clean Water 

Act (33 U.S.C. 1251–1387), the Clean 

Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401–7671q), and 

Executive Orders relating to 

environmental justice, Tribal 

consultation, and other applicable laws 

and regulations. 

II. Background on the Rosebud Mine 

Coal has been mined at Colstrip, MT 

for more than 90 years. The Norther 

Pacific Railway established the city of 

Colstrip and its associated mine in the 

1920s to access coal from the Fort Union 

Formation. Coal mining began in 1924, 

providing fuel for the railway’s steam 

locomotive trains. During the initial 34 

years of mining, 44 million tons of coal 

were mined. By 1958, diesel-powered 

locomotives replaced steam engines and 

mining ceased in the Colstrip area. 

In 1959, the Montana Power Company 

purchased rights to the Rosebud Mine in 

the city of Colstrip with plans to build 

power generation facilities. The 

Rosebud Mine operation began 

production in 1968. In 2001, 

Westmoreland purchased the Rosebud 

Mine; its subsidiary, Western Energy, 

continues to operate the mine today. 

Although the Rosebud Mine has 

shipped coal by rail as recently as 2010, 

all coal currently produced by the mine 

is consumed locally at the Colstrip and 

Rosebud Power Plants. 

III. Background on the Western Energy 

Proposed Permit Area F 

Western Energy proposes to conduct 

surface coal mining and reclamation 

operations within the 6,746-acre 

proposed permit Area F of the Rosebud 

Mine. The project area would be 

adjacent to the western boundary of 

Area C, 12 miles west of Colstrip. 

Western Energy proposes to conduct 

surface coal mining operations on an 

approximately 2,159-acre portion of the 

project area, with a total disturbance 

footprint, including soil storage, scoria 

pits, and haul roads, of approximately 

4,260 acres. The project area would, in 

conjunction with the mining of any 

reserves remaining with existing permit 

areas of the Rosebud Mine, supply lowsulfur coal to the Colstrip Power Plant 

(Unites 3 and 4) at a rate of between 7.7 

and 9.95 million tons annually. In 

addition, coal from the Rosebud Mine 

with higher sulfur content would be 

supplied to the Rosebud Power Plant at 

a rate of approximately 300,000 tons 

annually. 

Approval of the proposed permit Area 

F is expected to require several other 

agency actions, including: 

• Finding and recommendation by 

BLM and OSMRE with respect to 

Western Energy’s Resource Recovery 

and Protection Plan and other 

requirements of Western Energy’s lease. 

BLM will also submit a 

recommendation regarding the Federal 

mining plan; 

• Approval by DEQ of Western 

Energy’s Montana Air Quality Permit 

#1570–07 to allow expansion of the 

geographic extent of the mine to include 

the proposed permit Area F; and 

• Approval by DEQ of a new MPDES 

permit. 

IV. Alternatives 

Alternatives carried forward in the 

Draft EIS include No Action (Alternative 

1), the Proposed Action (Alternative 2), 

and the Proposed Action Plus 

Environmental Protection Measures 

(Alternative 3). Several alternatives 

were considered but dismissed from 

further consideration. 

Public Comment Procedures: In 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s regulations for 

implementing NEPA and DOI’s NEPA 

regulations, OSMRE solicits public 

comments on the Draft EIS. Comments 

on the Draft EIS may be submitted in 

writing or by email. At the top of your 

letter or in the subject line of your 

message indicate that the comments are 

‘‘Western Energy Area F Draft EIS 

Comments.’’ 

You are invited to mail your 

comments on the Draft EIS to: ATTN: 

Western Energy Area F EIS C/O: Nicole 

Bauman, ERO Resources Corporation, 

1842 Clarkson Street, Denver, CO 80218. 

You may also submit your comments 

electronically to http://svc.mt.ogv/deq/ 

publiccomment or by email to the 

following email address: westernenergy-area-f-eis@eroresources.com. 

Comments can also be made either in 

writing or verbally at a public meeting 

that will be announced at a later date. 

Be specific in your comments and 

indicate the chapter, page, paragraph, 

and sentence that your comment applies 

to. 

All submissions from organizations or 

businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

available for public review to the extent 

consistent with applicable law. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered; however, those who submit 

anonymous comments may not have 

standing to appeal the subsequent 

decision. 

If you would like to be placed on the 

mailing list to receive future 

information, please contact the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.1 

Dated: August 17, 2017. 

David Berry, 

Regional Director, Western Region. 

[FR Doc. 2017–28407 Filed 1–2–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[Investigation No. 731–TA–1104 (Second 

Review)] 

Polyester Staple Fiber From China; 

Scheduling of an Expedited Five-Year 

Review. 

AGENCY: United States International 

Trade Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives 

notice of the scheduling of an expedited 

review pursuant to the Tariff Act of 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES