48376 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 19, 2008 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Reopening of an Idle Open Pit 

Taconite Mine and Construction and 

Operation of a Taconite Ore 

Concentration Plant Proposed by 

Mesabi Mining, LLC and Steel 

Dynamics, Inc. (Collectively, the 

Applicant) Near Aurora and Hoyt Lakes 

in St. Louis County, MN 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DOD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: Mesabi Mining, LLC and Steel 

Dynamics, Inc. have applied to the St. 

Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) 

for a Clean Water Act Section 404 

permit to discharge fill material into 

jurisdictional wetlands to facilitate the 

reopening of an open pit taconite mine 

and construction and operation of a 

taconite ore concentration plant near 

Aurora and Hoyt Lakes in St. Louis 

County, MN. Tailings would be 

discharged into an existing, idle open 

pit mine. The proposed project is 

known as the Mesabi Nugget Phase II 

Project. The project would be located 

entirely on portions of the site of the 

former LTV Steel Mining Company 

Facility (also known as Erie Mining 

Company prior to 1986). Taconite 

mining was conducted at the site from 

the late 1950s until operations ceased in 

early 2001. Prior to taconite mining, the 

area was also mined for natural iron ore 

in nearby pits as early as 1903. Mesabi 

Mining now proposes to reopen and 

mine taconite ore from two open pits, 

haul the ore in trucks to a proposed new 

processing plant where the ore would be 

crushed, ground, magnetically 

separated, and then passed through a 

flotation circuit to produce a 

concentrate. About one-third of the 

concentrate (approximately 1.04 million 

metric tonnes per year) would be used 

as feed for Mesabi Nugget Delaware’s 

on-site Large Scale Demonstration 

Project (LSDP) iron nugget facility that 

was permitted in 2005 and will be ready 

for operation in the second quarter of 

2009. The remainder of the concentrate 

(approximately 2.09 million metric 

tonnes per year) would be shipped by 

rail for use in other facilities. The 

mining process would require the 

construction of overburden and waste 

rock, and lean ore stockpiles adjacent to 

the open pits. The project would operate 

24 hours per day; 365 days per year 

during its proposed 20-year life. The 

project area would be approximately 

4,760 acres, of which approximately 

3,820 acres (80 percent) has previously 

been disturbed by mining activities. 

The project would require the 

discharge of fill material into 

approximately 235 acres of wetlands. 

While some of the wetlands may be 

isolated, the majority of the wetlands 

are abutting Second Creek (a tributary to 

the Partridge River) or an unnamed 

tributary (Unnamed Creek) to the 

Partridge River. The Partridge River is a 

tributary to the St. Louis River, which 

is navigable water of the United States 

up to the mouth of the Embarrass River. 

The Applicant proposes to develop a 

detailed compensatory wetland 

mitigation plan for inclusion in the 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

(DEIS) to provide compensation for the 

unavoidable wetland impacts planned 

during at least the first five years of the 

project. Conceptual wetland mitigation 

plans will be developed for inclusion in 

the DEIS to provide compensation for 

the unavoidable wetland impacts 

planned during the remainder of the 

project (years six through twenty). The 

discharge of dredged or fill material into 

waters of the United States requires a 

permit issued by the Corps under 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

(FEIS) will be used as a basis for the 

permit decision and to ensure 

compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

ADDRESSES: Questions concerning the 

DEIS can be addressed to Mr. Jon K. 

Ahlness, Regulatory Branch by letter at 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 190 Fifth 

Street East, Suite 401, St. Paul, MN 

55101–1638, by telephone or by e-mail 

at jon.k.ahlness@usace.army.mil. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jon K. Ahlness, (651) 290–5381. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Corps 

and the State of Minnesota will jointly 

prepare the DEIS. The Corps is the lead 

federal agency and the Minnesota 

Department of Natural Resources 

(MnDNR) is the lead state agency. To 

determine issues to be addressed in the 

DEIS, a scoping process will be 

conducted. The MnDNR, with 

assistance from the Corps, will prepare 

and release to the public a Draft Scoping 

Decision Document (Draft SDD) and a 

Scoping Environmental Assessment 

Worksheet (SEAW). Federal, state, and 

local agencies; the general public; 

interested private organizations and 

parties; and affected Native American 

tribes will have 30 days to provide 

comments on those two documents. 

During the 30-day public comment 

period, the Corps and the MnDNR will 

jointly conduct a public scoping 

meeting. The meeting will be held on 

Wednesday, September 3, 2008, from 6 

p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Aurora Community 

Center at 15 West 1st Avenue North, 

Aurora, MN. The MnDNR, with 

assistance from the Corps will prepare 

and release to the public a Final SDD 

based upon the comments received 

during the scoping process. Significant 

issues and resources identified in the 

Final SDD will be addressed in the 

DEIS. 

The DEIS will assess impacts of the 

proposed action and reasonable 

alternatives, identify and evaluate 

mitigation alternatives, and discuss 

potential environmental monitoring. 

Anyone who has an interest in 

participating in the development of the 

DEIS is invited to contact the St. Paul 

District, Corps of Engineers. Major 

issues identified to date for discussion 

in the DEIS are the impacts of the 

proposed project on: 

1. Fish, wildlife, and ecologically 

sensitive resources. 

2. Water resources, including: surface 

and groundwater resources; waters of 

the U.S., including wetlands; and 

receiving stream geomorphology. 

3. Water quality, including: surface 

water runoff; and storm water 

management. 

4. Air quality. 

5. Cumulative impacts, including: 

wildlife habitat loss/fragmentation and 

habitat corridor obstruction/landscape 

barriers; wetlands in the Partridge River 

watershed; loss of threatened and 

endangered plant species; air quality in 

federally-administered Class I areas; air 

quality in Class II areas; water quality; 

streamflow and lake level changes; and 

socioeconomic impacts. 

Additional issues of interest may be 

identified through the public scoping 

process. We anticipate that the DEIS 

will be available to the public in March 

of 2009. 

Issuing a permit for the reopening of 

an open pit taconite mine and the 

construction and operation of a taconite 

ore concentration facility is considered 

to be a major Federal action that may 

have a significant impact on the quality 

of the human environment. The project: 

(1) would have a significant adverse 

effect on wetlands (which are special 

aquatic sites), and (2) has the potential 

to significantly affect water quality, 

groundwater, air quality, fish, and 

wildlife. Our environmental review will 

be conducted to meet the requirements 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969, National Historic 

Preservation Act of 1966, Council of 

Environmental Quality Regulations, 


ebenthall on PRODPC60 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 19, 2008 / Notices 48377 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and 

other applicable laws and regulations. 

Dated: August 7, 2008. 

Jon L. Christensen, 

Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer. 

[FR Doc. E8–19164 Filed 8–18–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–CY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The IC Clearance Official, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management invites 

comments on the submission for OMB 

review as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

September 18, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be addressed to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Attention: Education Desk Officer, 

Office of Management and Budget, 725 

17th Street, NW., Room 10222, 

Washington, DC 20503. Commenters are 

encouraged to submit responses 

electronically by e-mail to 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov or via fax 

to (202) 395–6974. Commenters should 

include the following subject line in 

their response ‘‘Comment: [insert OMB 

number], [insert abbreviated collection 

name, e.g., ‘‘Upward Bound 

Evaluation’’]. Persons submitting 

comments electronically should not 

submit paper copies. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The IC Clearance 

Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of 

Management, publishes that notice 

containing proposed information 

collection requests prior to submission 

of these requests to OMB. Each 

proposed information collection, 

grouped by office, contains the 

following: (1) Type of review requested, 

e.g. new, revision, extension, existing or 

reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of 

the collection; (4) Description of the 

need for, and proposed use of, the 

information; (5) Respondents and 

frequency of collection; and (6) 

Reporting and/or Recordkeeping 

burden. OMB invites public comment. 

Dated: August 13, 2008. 

Angela C. Arrington, 

IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of Management. 

Institute of Education Sciences 

Type of Review: Extension. 

Title: National Longitudinal 

Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) Wave 5 

Interviews and Questionnaires. 

Frequency: Biennially. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

household. 

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour 

Burden: 

Responses: 3,912. 

Burden Hours: 1,423. 

Abstract: This ICR is for Wave 5 data 

collection for the National Longitudinal 

Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). NLTS2 

began in 2000 with a sample of 

approximately 12,000 youth who were 

13 through 16 years old and receiving 

special education services. Wave 5 data 

collection will take place in the 9th year 

of the project and will consist of parent 

and youth interviews conducted by 

phone or mail. This will be the last 

round of data collection for NLTS2 and 

will focus primarily on early adulthood, 

including postsecondary education, 

employment, and community 

adjustment. 

Requests for copies of the information 

collection submission for OMB review 

may be accessed from http:// 

edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the 

‘‘Browse Pending Collections’’ link and 

by clicking on link number 3698. When 

you access the information collection, 

click on ‘‘Download Attachments ‘‘ to 

view. Written requests for information 

should be addressed to U.S. Department 

of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, 

SW., LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed 

to 202–401–0920. Please specify the 

complete title of the information 

collection when making your request. 

Comments regarding burden and/or 

the collection activity requirements 

should be electronically mailed to 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339. 

[FR Doc. E8–19140 Filed 8–18–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection Requests 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The IC Clearance Official, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, invites 

comments on the proposed information 

collection requests as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before October 

20, 2008. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The IC Clearance 

Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of 

Management, publishes that notice 

containing proposed information 

collection requests prior to submission 

of these requests to OMB. Each 

proposed information collection, 

grouped by office, contains the 

following: (1) Type of review requested, 

e.g., new, revision, extension, existing 

or reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary 

of the collection; (4) Description of the 

need for, and proposed use of, the 

information; (5) Respondents and 

frequency of collection; and (6) 

Reporting and/or Recordkeeping 

burden. OMB invites public comment. 

The Department of Education is 

especially interested in public comment 

addressing the following issues: (1) Is 

this collection necessary to the proper 

functions of the Department; (2) will 

this information be processed and used 

in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate 

of burden accurate; (4) how might the 

Department enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (5) how might the 

Department minimize the burden of this 

collection on the respondents, including 


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