Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 193 / Friday, October 3, 2008 / Notices 57647 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[NV–060–1990; 08–08807; TAS: 14X1109] 

Notice of Availability of Final Cortez 

Hills Expansion Project Environmental 

Impact Statement, Nevada 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 

prepared a Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS) for the Cortez Gold 

Mines (CGM) proposed Cortez Hills 

Expansion Project (project) and by this 

Notice is announcing its availability. 

DATES: The BLM will not issue a Record 

of Decision (ROD) on the proposal for a 

minimum of 30 days following the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

publication of a Notice of Availability 

(NOA) of this document in the Federal 

Register. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Cortez Hills 

Expansion Project Final EIS are 

available in the BLM Battle Mountain 

District Office, 50 Bastian Road, Battle 

Mountain, Nevada, during regular 

business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. Copies are also available via 

the Internet at www.blm.gov/nvst/en/ 

fo//battle_mountain_field.html. 

Electronic (on CD–ROM) or paper 

copies are also available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephen Drummond, BLM Battle 

Mountain District Office at (775) 635– 

4000. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CGM, on 

behalf of the Cortez Joint Venture, 

proposes to expand its Pipeline/South 

Pipeline Project, an existing open-pit 

gold mining and processing operation. 

The Pipeline/South Pipeline Project is 

located in north-central Nevada 

approximately 31 miles south of 

Beowawe in Lander County. 

The proposed project is located in 

Lander and Eureka counties: 

Mount Diablo Meridian, Nevada 

T. 27 N., R. 48 E.; 

T. 27 N., R. 47 E.; 

T. 27 N., R. 46 E.; 

T. 26 N., R. 47 E.; 

T. 26 N., R. 48 E.; 

T. 28 N., R. 46 E.; 

T. 28 N., R. 47 E. 

The proposed project would require 

new surface disturbance of 

approximately 6,633 acres, including 

6,412 acres of public land administered 

by the BLM Battle Mountain District 

and 221 acres of private land owned by 

CGM. Existing CGM mining and 

processing facilities are located in three 

main areas in the Cortez Gold Mines 

Operations Area. These areas are 

referred to as the Pipeline Complex, 

Cortez Complex, and Gold Acres 

Complex. The proposed project would 

include development of new mining 

facilities in the proposed Cortez Hills 

Complex, including development of a 

new open pit, underground mining, 

three new waste rock facilities, new 

heap leach pad, construction of a 12- 

mile conveyor system and modification 

or construction of related roads and 

ancillary facilities. The proposed project 

also would include continued use of 

existing facilities in the Pipeline 

Complex, Cortez Complex, and Gold 

Acres Complex, as well as expansion of 

existing facilities (pits and waste rock 

facilities) in the Pipeline Complex and 

Cortez Complex. The life of the mine 

would include approximately 10 years 

of active mining and concurrent 

reclamation as areas become available, 

as well as an additional three years for 

on-going ore processing, final 

reclamation, and closure. 

A range of alternatives was developed 

and analyzed in the Draft and Final EIS 

to address the concerns and issues that 

were identified. These include alternate 

waste rock facility and heap leach pad 

locations, underground mining only, 

revised pit design, and the No Action 

Alternative. The rationale for 

alternatives considered but eliminated 

from detailed analysis also is discussed. 

Mitigation measures have been 

identified, as needed, to minimize 

potential environmental impacts and to 

assure that the proposed project would 

not result in undue or unnecessary 

degradation of public lands. In addition, 

the Final EIS includes an analysis of 

cumulative impacts, including a 

comprehensive evaluation of potential 

impacts to Native American cultural 

values. 

A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an 

EIS was published in the Federal 

Register on December 2, 2005. Two 

public scoping meetings were held in 

2005 in Crescent Valley and Battle 

Mountain. The Draft EIS was released 

for public review, with a 60-day 

comment period, on October 7, 2007. 

Following release of the Draft EIS, two 

public comment meetings were held in 

Crescent Valley and Battle Mountain in 

November 2007 to solicit additional 

comments on the document. Comment 

responses and resultant changes in the 

impact analyses are documented in the 

Final EIS. 

Based on the results of the analysis of 

the Proposed Action for the Draft EIS 

and in response to public comments, 

CGM developed the Revised Cortez 

Hills Pit Design Alternative, which the 

BLM evaluated as an alternative to the 

Proposed Action in the Final EIS. This 

alternative was developed to address 

long-term stability issues identified for 

the east wall of the proposed Cortez 

Hills Pit. The revised Cortez Hills Pit 

design includes a flatter east pit wall 

and associated reduction in the size of 

the open pit, expansion of the 

underground mining component, and an 

associated reduction in the size of the 

Canyon, North, and South waste rock 

facilities. The Revised Cortez Hills Pit 

Design Alternative lies within the 

spectrum of alternatives analyzed in the 

Draft EIS, and is a minor variation of an 

alternative analyzed. 

Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6. 

Gerald M. Smith, 

District Manager, Battle Mountain. 

[FR Doc. E8–23251 Filed 10–2–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[NM–030–1430–FB; NMNM 120291] 

Recreation and Public Purpose (R&PP) 

Act Classification; Don ̃ a Ana County, 

NM 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of realty action. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) has determined that 

land located in Don ̃ a Ana County, New 

Mexico is suitable for classification for 

lease and/or conveyance to New Mexico 

State University (NMSU) under 

authority of the Recreation and Public 

Purposes Act (R&PP), as amended (43 

U.S.C. 869 et seq. ). NMSU proposes to 

use the land as a new satellite campus 

for the Don ̃ a Ana Community College. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

no later than November 17, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments 

concerning this Notice should be 

addressed to: District Manager, BLM Las 

Cruces District Office, 1800 Marquess 

Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Al 

Chavez, Realty Specialist at the address 

above or by telephone at (575) 525– 

4350. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 7 of the Taylor 

Grazing Act, as amended, 43 U.S.C. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES