Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices 65983

available for public inspection by

written request, by appointment only,

during normal business hours (8:00 to

4:30) at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Austin, Texas. Written data or

comments concerning the application

and EA/HCP should be submitted to the

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Austin, Texas, at the above

address. Please refer to permit number

TE–050153–0 when submitting

comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Clayton Napier at the above U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, Austin Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9

of the Act prohibits the ‘‘taking’’ of

endangered species such as the Houston

toad. However, the Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service), under limited

circumstances, may issue permits to

take endangered wildlife species

incidental to, and not the purpose of,

otherwise lawful activities. Regulations

governing permits for endangered

species are at 50 CFR 17.22.

The Service has prepared the

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) for the

incidental take application. A

determination of jeopardy to the species

or a Finding of No Significant Impact

(FONSI) will not be made until at least

30 days from the date of publication of

this notice. This notice is provided

pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act and

National Environmental Policy Act

regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

Applicants: Thomas and Elisa

Kirchner plan to construct a singlefamily residence and guest home,

within 5 years, on approximately 1.0

acre of a 205.0-acre property on Antioch

Road, Bastrop County, Texas. This

action will eliminate 1.0 acre or less of

Houston toad habitat and result in

indirect impacts within the lot. The

Applicants propose to compensate for

this incidental take of the Houston toad

by providing $4,000.00 to the Houston

Toad Conservation Fund at the National

Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the

specific purpose of land acquisition and

management within Houston toad

habitat.

Bryan Arroyo,

Regional Director, Region 2.

[FR Doc. 01–31424 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT–921–01–1320–EL–P; NDM 90783]

Cancellation of Competitive Coal

Lease

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Cancellation of Competitive

Coal Lease Offering (NDM 90783)

scheduled for December 11, 2001;

Request for Public Comment on Fair

Market Value and Maximum Economic

Recovery; and Notice of Reschedule of

the Competitive Coal Lease Offering

(NDM 90783) by Sealed Bid.

SUMMARY: Notice of The Coteau

Properties Company’s Coal Lease.

The Bureau of Land Management is

providing notice of cancellation for the

coal lease offering (NDM 90783) by

sealed bid scheduled for December 11,

2001. According to Federal coal

management regulations at 43 CFR

3422, the BLM must conduct a public

hearing for comments on the

environmental assessment, the fair

market value (FMR), and maximum

economic recovery (MER) of the

proposed lease tract 30 days prior to

holding a lease sale. This required

Public Hearing has not occurred.

Consequentially, this notice is

published to: (1) retract the earlier lease

sale date; (2) provide notice for a Public

Hearing on the environmental

assessment, FMR, and MER; and (3)

announce a new date for the coal lease

sale.

The lands included in Coal Lease

Application NDM 90783 are located in

Mercer County, North Dakota. The

entire area lies within the Freedom

Mine NACT 9501 permit area operated

by The Coteau Properties Company.

The coal resource to be offered

consists of all recoverable reserves in

the following-described lands:

T. 146 N., R. 88 W., 5th P.M.

Sec. 14: SW1⁄4SW1⁄4

Sec. 22: N1⁄2N1⁄2, SW1⁄4NE1⁄4, S1⁄2NW1⁄4

excluding a 4.59-acre tract described by

metes and bounds and further described

as: Beginning at a point on the west line

of said Section 22, said point being

250.00 feet north of the southwest corner

of the NW1⁄4 of Section 22; thence north

along said west line of Section 22, 500.00

feet; thence east at right angles to the

last-described line, 400.00 feet; thence

south parallel with said west line, 500.00

feet; thence west at right angles, 400.00

feet to the point of beginning; SW1⁄4

excluding a 12.61-acre tract described by

metes and bounds and further described

as: Beginning at the southwest corner of

the SW1⁄4 of said Section 22, thence

easterly along the south line of said

Section 22, 500.00 feet; thence north at

right angles to said south line, 500.00

feet; thence northwesterly to a point on

the west line of said Section 22, said

point being 1,700.00 feet north of said

southwest corner; thence southerly along

said west line to the point of beginning;

NW1⁄4SE1⁄4

502.80 acres—Mercer County, North Dakota

For Coal Lease Application NDM

90783, the recoverable Beulah-Zap seam

averages 15.2 feet with an average

overburden depth of 61.8 feet. The coal,

as received, averages 6,817 BTU/lb in

heating 3 value, contains 0.72% sulfur

content, 37.5% moisture, 6.81% ash,

and 6.11% sodium. The BLM estimates

recoverable coal reserves to be

approximately 7 million tons.

The public is invited to submit

written comments on the fair market

value and the maximum economic

recovery of the tract. Comments must be

received on or before 30 days after the

publication date of this notice in the

Federal Register.

Notice is also given that a public

hearing will be held on the

environmental assessment, the proposed

sale, and the fair market value and

maximum economic recovery of the

proposed lease tract at 1 p.m., on

Tuesday, January 8, 2002, at the BLM

North Dakota Field Office. The

environmental assessment is available

for review at the BLM North Dakota

Field Office, 2933 Third Avenue West,

Dickinson, North Dakota. For further

information, please contact Lee Jefferis,

geologist, at 701–225–7713.

In accordance with the Federal coal

management regulations at 43 CFR 3422

and 3425, not less than 30 days prior to

the publication of a notice of sale, the

Secretary shall solicit public comments

on fair market value appraisal and

maximum economic recovery and on

factors that may affect these two

determinations. Proprietary data marked

as ‘‘confidential’’ may be submitted to

the BLM in response to this solicitation

of public comments. Data so marked

shall be treated in accordance with the

laws and regulations governing the

confidentiality of such information. A

copy of the comments submitted by the

public on fair market value and

maximum economic recovery, except

those portions identified as proprietary

by the author and meeting exemptions

stated in the Freedom of Information

Act, will be available for public

inspection at the BLM, Montana State

Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings,

Montana, during regular business hours

(9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Monday through

Friday.

65984 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices

Comments should be sent to the BLM,

Montana State Office, at the above

address, and should speak to, but not

necessarily be limited to, the following

information:

1. The quality of the coal resource;

2. The quantity of coal;

3. The mining method or methods

which would achieve maximum

economic recovery of the coal,

including specification of seams to

be mined and the most desirable

timing and rate of production;

4. If this tract is likely to be mined as

part of an existing mine and,

therefore, be evaluated, on a

realistic incremental basis, in

relation to the existing mine to

which it has the greatest value;

5. If this tract should be evaluated as

part of a potential larger mining

unit and evaluated as a portion of

a new potential mine (i.e.; a tract

which does not in itself form a

logical mining unit);

6. The configuration of any larger

mining unit of which the tract may

be a part;

7. Restrictions to mining which may

affect coal recovery;

8. The price that the mined coal

would bring when sold:

9. Costs, including mining and

reclamation, of producing the coal

and the times of production;

10. The percentage rate at which

anticipated income streams should

be discounted, either in the absence

of inflation or with inflation, in

which case the anticipated rate of

inflation should be given;

11. Depreciation and other tax

accounting factors;

12. The value of any surface estate

where held privately;

13. Documented information on the

terms and conditions of recent and

similar coal land transactions in the

lease sale area; and

14. Any comparable sales data of

similar coal lands.

The values given above may or may

not change as a result of comments

received from the public and changes in

market conditions between now and

when final economic evaluations are

completed.

In addition, notice is hereby given

that the coal resources in the lands

previously described in Mercer County,

North Dakota, will be offered for

competitive lease by sealed bid on

Tuesday, February 12, 2002, in

accordance with the provisions of the

Mineral Leasing Act of February 25,

1920, as amended (41 Stat, 437; 30

U.S.C. 181 et seq.).

The lease sale will be held at 11 a.m.,

Tuesday, February 12, 2002, in the BLM

Montana State Office 920 conference

room, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings,

Montana 59101. Bids for the tract will

be in the form of sealed bids. Sealed

bids clearly marked ‘‘Sealed Bid for

NDM90783 Coal Sale—Not to be opened

before 11 a.m., Tuesday, February 12,

2002,’’ must be submitted on or before

10 a.m. Tuesday, February 12, 2002, to

the cashier, BLM, Montana State Office,

5001 Southgate Drive, P.O. Box 36800,

Billings, Montana 59107–6800.

The tract in this lease offering

contains split estate lands. Written

consent is on file from all qualified

surface owners as defined in the

regulations at 43 CFR 3400.0–5.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The tract

will be leased to the qualified bidder of

the highest cash amount provided that

the high bid meets the fair market value

of the coal resource. The minimum bid

for the tract is $100 per acre, or fraction

thereof. No bid that is less than $100 per

acre, or fraction thereof, will be

considered. The bids should be sent by

certified mail, return receipt requested,

or be hand-delivered bid. Bids received

after 10 a.m., Tuesday, February 12,

2002, will not be considered. The

minimum bid is not intended to

represent fair market value. The fair

market value will be determined by the

authorized officer after the sale.

If identical high bids are received, the

tying high bidders will be requested to

submit follow-up sealed bids until a

high bid is received. All tie-breaking

sealed-bids must be submitted within 15

minutes following the Sale Official’s

announcement at the sale that identical

high bids have been received.

A lease issued as a result of this

offering will provide for payment of an

annual rental of $3 per acre, or fraction

thereof; and a royalty payable to the

United States of 12.5 percent of the

value of coal mined 7 by surface

methods and 8.0 percent of the value of

coal mined by underground methods.

The value of the coal shall be

determined in accordance with 30 CFR

206.250.

Bidding instructions for the tract

offered and the terms and conditions of

the proposed coal lease are included in

the Detailed Statement of Lease Sale.

Copies of the statement and the

proposed coal lease are available at the

Montana State Office. Casefile NDM

90783 is also available for public

inspection at the Montana State Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Connie Schaff (Land Law Examiner) at

406–896–5060, Rebecca Good (Coal

Coordinator) at 406–896–5080 or Doug

Burger, (North Dakota Field Office

Manager) at 701–225–9148.

Dated: December 7, 2001.

Randy D. Heuscher,

Chief, Branch of Solid Minerals.

[FR Doc. 01–31403 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–$$–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY–040–1320–EL, WYW154595]

Federal Coal, Environmental Document

and Notice of Scoping

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

environmental document on one lease

application received for one Federal

coal tract in the decertified Green River/

Hamms Fork Coal Production Region,

Wyoming, and Notice of Scoping.

The type of environmental document

(Environmental Assessment or

Environmental Impact Statement), will

be determined after the scoping process

is completed. If analysis shows that a

plan amendment is necessary, the Green

River Resource Management Plan (RMP)

will be amended.

SUMMARY: BLM received a competitive

coal lease application on September 28,

2001, from Bridger Coal Company. The

tract applied for is approximately

7,054.34 acres in size, and contains

approximately 110 million tons of inplace coal reserves. The tract is adjacent

to the Bridger Mine in Sweetwater

County, Wyoming. The tract, which is

referred to as the Ten Mile Rim Lease by

Application (LBA) Tract, was assigned

case number WYW154595.

The tract was applied for as a tract

LBA under the provisions of 43 CFR

3425.1. As part of the LBA process, BLM

will prepare an environmental analysis

in accordance with the requirements of

the National Environmental Policy Act,

develop possible stipulations regarding

mining operations, determine the fair

market value (FMV) of the Federal coal

included in the tract, and evaluate the

maximum economic recovery (MER) of

the coal in the tract. The purpose of the

public scoping period and public

scoping meeting is to allow interested

parties to submit comments and/or

relevant information that BLM should

consider in preparing an environmental

analysis and in evaluating the FMV and

MER of the Federal coal included in this

coal lease application.

DATES: Scoping comments must be

received by 30 days after publication of

this notice in order to be fully

considered in the draft environmental

analysis. A public scoping meeting at