60318 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 198 / Friday, October 10, 2008 / Notices 

of all decisions made by HUD to 

provide: 

a. Assistance subject to Section 102(a) 

of the HUD Reform Act; and 

b. Assistance provided through grants 

or cooperative agreements on a 

discretionary (non-formula, nondemand) basis, but that is not provided 

on the basis of a competition. 

B. Section 103 of the HUD Reform 

Act. HUD’s regulations implementing 

Section 103 of the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3537a), 

codified at 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, 

apply to this funding competition. The 

regulations continue to apply until the 

announcement of the selection of 

successful applicants. HUD employees 

involved in the review of applications 

and in the making of funding decisions 

are prevented by the regulations from 

providing advance information to any 

person (other than an authorized 

employee of HUD) concerning funding 

decisions or from otherwise giving any 

applicant an unfair competitive 

advantage. Persons who apply for 

assistance in this competition should 

confine their inquiries to the subject 

areas permitted under 24 CFR part 4. 

Applicants or employees who have 

ethics-related questions should contact 

the HUD Ethics Law Division at (202) 

708–3815. (This is not a toll-free 

number.) HUD employees who have 

specific program questions should 

contact the appropriate field office 

counsel or Headquarters counsel for the 

program to which the question pertains. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act 

Statement. The information collection 

requirements contained in this 

document are currently approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520) and 

assigned OMB control number 2502– 

0267. In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless the collection displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Public reporting burden for the 

collection of information is estimated to 

average 4 hours per annum per 

respondent for the application and grant 

administration. This includes the time 

for collecting, reviewing, and reporting 

the data for the application, semi-annual 

reports and final report. The 

information will be used for grantee 

selection and monitoring the 

administration of funds. Response to 

this request for information is required 

in order to receive the benefits to be 

derived. 

Dated: October 2, 2008. 

Ronald Y. Spraker, 

Acting General Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Housing. 

[FR Doc. E8–24196 Filed 10–9–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

and Record of Decision for the 

Proposed Absaloka Mine Crow 

Reservation South Extension Coal 

Lease Approval, Mine Development 

Plan and Related Federal and State 

Permitting Actions, Big Horn County, 

MT 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 

and the Montana Department of 

Environmental Quality (MDEQ) as joint 

lead agencies, with the Crow Tribe of 

Indians, the Office of Surface Mining 

Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), 

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

and the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, 

intend to file a Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (FEIS) with the EPA 

for the proposed extension of the 

existing Absaloka mine onto the Crow 

Indian Reservation and for related 

federal and state permitting actions. 

This notice also announces that the BIA 

will simultaneously issue its Record of 

Decision (ROD) for approval of the 

Westmoreland Resources, Inc. (WRI) 

lease with the Crow Tribe for the South 

Extension coal lease tract on the 

Reservation, and the approval of all 

surface use agreements between WRI 

and the allottee surface owners in the 

South Extension tract. The FEIS and 

ROD are now available for public 

review. 

DATES: The waiting period for the FEIS 

and the appeal period for the ROD end 

on November 10, 2008. Any written 

comments on the FEIS must arrive by 

November 10, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry 

written comments on the FEIS to George 

Gover, Superintendent; Crow Agency, 

P.O. Box 69; Crow Agency, MT. 

Directions on how and where to file 

appeals are included in the ROD. 

You may review the FEIS and ROD at 

BIA, Weaver Avenue, Building 2, Crow 

Agency, MT; BIA, Rocky Mountain 

Regional Office, 316 N. 26th Street 

(Environmental, Cultural and Safety— 

Room 4433), Billings, MT; BLM, 

Montana State Office (Solid Minerals 

Section), 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, 

MT; EPA, 10 W. 15th Street, Suite 3200, 

Helena, MT; MDEQ, 1520 E. 6th 

Avenue, Helena, MT; the Crow Tribal 

Office, Crow Agency, MT; Big Horn 

County Library, Hardin, MT; or Little 

Bighorn College Library, Crow Agency, 

MT. The documents are also available 

on the Internet at http:// 

www.deq.mt.gov. 

Computer disk copies of the FEIS may 

be obtained by contacting Rick Stefanic, 

Regional Environmental Protection 

Officer, Rocky Mountain Region, at 316 

N. 26th Street, Billings, MT 59101, or at 

the telephone number provided below. 

Copies have been mailed to parties on 

the distribution list and to others who 

commented during the development 

and review process for this EIS. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick 

Stefanic, (406) 247–7911. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: WRI has 

operated the Absaloka Mine on the 

existing Tract III Crow Indian coal lease 

in the Crow Ceded Area since 1974. 

WRI proposes to advance surface coal 

mining operations southward onto the 

Crow Reservation pursuant to the terms 

of an agreement with the Crow Tribe 

under the Indian Mineral Development 

Act (IMDA). The legal description for 

the coal acreage on the Reservation is 

generally given as being within T.1S., 

R.37E., Sections 1, 12, 13; and T.1S., 

R.38E., Sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 

17, 20, and 21; Montana Principal 

Meridian. This area totals 3,660.23 acres 

in Big Horn County, Montana. All of the 

minerals are owned by the Crow Tribe. 

The surface estate is owned by the Crow 

Tribe (32%), allotted Indian owners 

(14%), and non-Indian fee owners 

(54%). 

The FEIS analyzes three alternatives, 

the Proposed Action, Alternative One, 

and No Action. Under the Proposed 

Action, the MDEQ and OSMRE would 

approve Absaloka Mine’s proposed 

Tract III Revision. The BIA would 

approve the IMDA lease for the 

proposed South Extension and the 

surface use agreements between the 

allottee surface owners and WRI; and 

OSMRE would approve the mining 

permit for the South Extension. Under 

this alternative, approximately 76.6 

million tons of additional coal would be 

recovered, and the mine life would be 

extended until about 2023. 

Under Alternative One, WRI would 

not implement the South Extension 

development plan on the Crow Indian 

Reservation if the BIA does not approve 

the IMDA lease for the South Extension 

tract. Furthermore, because the South 

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 198 / Friday, October 10, 2008 / Notices 60319 

Extension includes allotted trust lands, 

the South Extension development plan 

would not be implemented if the BIA 

does not approve all surface use 

agreements between the allottee surface 

owners and WRI. The coal contained in 

the South Extension tract on the Crow 

Indian Reservation would not be mined. 

WRI would, however, receive approval 

from MDEQ and OSMRE to revise 

Absaloka Mine’s existing mine and 

reclamation plan to include the Tract III 

Revision area. Under this alternative, 

approximately 13 million tons of 

additional coal would be mined and the 

mine life would be extended to about 

2011. 

Under the No Action Alternative, 

none of the proposed actions would 

occur and WRI would not implement 

the South Extension development plan. 

The remaining (already permitted) 14 

million tons of in-place coal reserves 

would be mined by approximately 2009 

at the current 6.5 to 7.0 million-ton 

annual production rate. 

In addition to the BIA’s proposed 

action alternatives described above, the 

EIS analyzes the proposed action for the 

EPA to issue a Clean Water Act National 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) permit for discharges of storm 

water associated with the proposed 

mine expansion onto the Crow Indian 

Reservation. The proposed stormwater 

management alternative is for EPA 

Region 8 to issue an NPDES permit for 

the use of 24 sediment traps to contain 

the 2-year, 24-hour runoff event during 

the initial clearing and grubbing and 

during the reclamation phase. 

Supplemental internal sediment traps 

would be used during the operational 

phase to contain 10-year, 24-hour runoff 

volume in aggregate. Sediment traps 

would then be reduced in size to small 

depressions as a best management 

practice as reclamation is completed. 

A second alternative analyzed is to 

issue an NPDES permit for the use of 

conventional sediment pond dams to 

detain the 10-year, 24-hour runoff event 

plus sediment storage. A third, is to 

issue an NPDES permit for the use of a 

single large dam on the main stem of 

Middle Fork Sarpy Creek, downstream 

of mine operations. The No Action 

Alternative for the proposed 

management corresponds with BIA 

alternatives that do not involve 

expansion of the mine onto the Crow 

Indian Reservation, in which case, EPA 

would not issue an NPDES permit. 

The BIA has afforded government 

agencies and the public full opportunity 

to participate in the preparation of this 

EIS. The BIA published a notice of 

intent to prepare the EIS for the 

proposed action in the Federal Register 

on November 28, 2006 (71 FR 68831); 

and held a public scoping meeting on 

December 14, 2006, in West Hardin, 

Montana. A Notice of Availability for 

the Draft EIS was published in the 

Federal Register on March 21, 2008 (73 

FR 15189). The Draft was available for 

public comment until May 5, 2008, with 

an extension until June 4, 2008, 

published in the Federal Register on 

May 2, 2008 (73 FR 24304). The BIA 

held a public hearing on the Draft EIS 

on April 23, 2008, in West Hardin, 

Montana. This date was announced in 

the Federal Register on April 2, 2008 

(73 FR 17995), in correction of an April 

10, 2008, meeting date erroneously 

announced in the March 21, 2008, 

Notice of Availability (73 FR 15189). 

Public Comment Availability 

Comments, including names and 

addresses of respondents, will be 

available for public review at the BIA 

address shown in the ADDRESSES

section, during business hours, 8 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. Before including your 

address, phone number, e-mail address, 

or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

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. 

Authority: This notice is published in 

accordance with section 1503.1 of the 

Council of Environmental Quality 

Regulations (40 CFR, Parts 1500 through 

1508) implementing the procedural 

requirements of the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 

4371 et seq.), Department of the Interior 

Manual (516 DM 1–6), and is in the exercise 

of authority delegated to the Director, Office 

of Environmental Policy and Compliance, via 

516 DM 6.3 B. and Environmental Statement 

Memorandum ESM04–12.6(e). 

Willie R. Taylor, 

Director, Office of Environmental Policy and 

Compliance. 

[FR Doc. E8–23784 Filed 10–9–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[F–14888–A; AK–965–1410–KC–P] 

Alaska Native Claims Selection 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of decision approving 

lands for conveyance. 

SUMMARY: As required by 43 CFR 

2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an 

appealable decision approving lands for 

conveyance pursuant to the Alaska 

Native Claims Settlement Act will be 

issued to The Kuskokwim Corporation, 

Successor in Interest to Lower Kalskag 

Incorporated. The lands are in the 

vicinity of Lower Kalskag, Alaska, and 

are located in: 

Seward Meridian, Alaska 

T. 16 N., R. 60 W., 

Secs. 27 to 30, inclusive. 

Containing approximately 2,254 acres. 

T. 16 N., R. 61 W., 

Secs. 25 to 29, inclusive. 

Containing approximately 3,145 acres. 

T. 16 N., R. 63 W., 

Secs. 8, 17, and 19. 

Containing approximately 1,821 acres. 

T. 14 N., R. 64 W., 

Secs. 1, 2, and 3; 

Secs. 10 to 16, inclusive. 

Containing approximately 4,949 acres. 

Aggregating approximately 12,169 acres. 

The subsurface estate in these lands 

will be conveyed to Calista Corporation 

when the surface estate is conveyed to 

The Kuskokwim Corporation. Notice of 

the decision will also be published four 

times in the Tundra Drums. 

DATES: The time limits for filing an 

appeal are: 

1. Any party claiming a property 

interest which is adversely affected by 

the decision shall have until November 

10, 2008 to file an appeal. 

2. Parties receiving service of the 

decision by certified mail shall have 30 

days from the date of receipt to file an 

appeal. 

Parties who do not file an appeal in 

accordance with the requirements of 43 

CFR Part 4, Subpart E, shall be deemed 

to have waived their rights. 

ADDRESSES: A copy of the decision may 

be obtained from: Bureau of Land 

Management, Alaska State Office, 222 

West Seventh Avenue, #13, Anchorage, 

Alaska 99513–7504. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

Bureau of Land Management by phone 

at 907–271–5960, or by e-mail at 

ak.blm.conveyance@ak.blm.gov. Persons 

who use a telecommunication device 

(TTD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877– 

8330, 24 hours a day, seven days a 

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