Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Red Cliff Coal Mine, Railroad Spur Line, and Other Associated Surface Facilities in Garfield County and Mesa County, CO, 42659-42660 [E6-12010]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management
• Land Management Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 144 (Thursday, July 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42659-42660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12010]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO-130; COC 69290]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Proposed Red Cliff Coal Mine, Railroad Spur Line, and Other 
Associated Surface Facilities in Garfield County and Mesa County, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior; U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Army; Office of Surface Mining, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976, notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM), Grand Junction Field Office located in Grand Junction, CO, will 
be directing the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
for the Proposed Red Cliff Coal Mine near Loma, Colorado, including 
Right-of-Way and Land Use Applications for facilities on Federal Lands, 
submitted by CAM-Colorado, LLC (CAM).
    The EIS will analyze the development of surface facilities for coal 
mining associated with CAM's proposed underground Red Cliff Mine, 
including roads, a water pipeline, coal stockpile and waste disposal 
areas, a coal preparation plant, the mine portal, other administrative 
and operations facilities, and a railroad spur line that would connect 
to the existing Union Pacific Railroad line near Mack, Colorado. 
Cooperating agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 
Office of Surface Mining, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, 
Mesa County, and Garfield County. The BLM invites the public to 
participate in the NEPA process.

DATES: The scoping comment period will commence with the publication of 
this notice and terminate at 45 days. A public meeting will be held 
during the scoping comment period in Fruita, Colorado. Comments on the 
scope of the EIS, including concerns, issues, or proposed alternatives 
that should be considered, can be made at the public meeting or can be 
submitted in writing to the address below. The date of the public 
meeting will be announced through the local media, newsletters, and the 
BLM Red Cliff Mine mailing list. The Draft EIS is expected to be 
available for public review and comment in Spring 2007 and the Final 
EIS is expected to be available in late 2007.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: David Lehmann, BLM, 2815 
H Road, Grand Junction, Colorado 81506. At the close of the scoping 
comment period, written comments, including names and addresses of 
respondents, will be available for public review at the offices of the 
BLM Grand Junction Field Office, 2815 H Road, Grand Junction, Colorado 
81506, during normal working hours (7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except 
holidays). Submissions from organizations or businesses will be made 
available for public inspection in their entirety. Individuals may 
request confidentiality with respect to their name, address, and phone 
number. If you wish to have your name or street address withheld from 
public review, or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. Such 
requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. Comment contents 
will not be kept confidential. The Draft EIS will consider comments and 
issues received during public scoping, and responses to comments on the 
Draft EIS will be published as part of the Final EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact David Lehmann, Supervisory 
Natural Resource Specialist, at (970) 244-3021. E-mail can be directed 
to David--Lehmann@blm.gov and mail can be sent to the address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 28, 2005, CAM filed a Right-of-
Way application with BLM for facilities associated with the proposed 
Red Cliff Mine. Subsequently, on February 10, 2006, CAM submitted a 
Land Use Application to the BLM for other facilities supporting the 
proposed coal mine project. A mine permit will also be required for all 
mine facilities, in accordance with U. S. Office of Surface Mining and 
Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology regulations. This EIS will 
meet the National Environmental Policy Act requirements for the mine 
permit. There will be additional opportunities for public

[[Page 42660]]

involvement when the mine permit application is processed.
    The proposed Red Cliff Mine is located approximately 11 miles north 
of the towns of Mack and Loma, Colorado, and 1.5 miles east of Colorado 
State Highway 139. CAM is proposing a new portal and associated 
facilities to extract low-sulfur coal from Federal Coal Leases C-
0125515 and C-0125516 and from several potential new Federal leases as 
well as a small amount of private coal.
    The proposed railroad line would traverse approximately 9.5 miles 
of Federal land, and include one crossing of State Highway 139 and 
approximately 5 miles of private land. The EIS will analyze the 
potential impacts associated with the construction and operation of 
facilities proposed in CAM's Right-of-Way and Land Use Applications, 
and other potential impacts associated with the Red Cliff Mine project. 
Citizens are invited to help identify issues or concerns and to provide 
input on the proposed action. Alternatives will be developed through 
the public involvement process and analyzed in the EIS.
    A company affiliated with CAM is currently mining approximately 
280,000 tons of coal per year from the nearby McClane Canyon Mine. 
CAM's production from the Red Cliff Mine would be approximately 8 
million tons per year. CAM is proposing to load the coal onto rail cars 
at the mine site and ship it to coal consumers. CAM would recover this 
coal by mining the Cameo Seam using both room and pillar and longwall 
mining techniques. As is consistent with the goals of the 2001 National 
Energy Policy report and the Energy Policy Act of 2005, this project 
would help meet the existing and future domestic market demand for low-
sulfur coal, thereby supporting clean coal initiatives; and would 
encourage and facilitate meeting national demands for electricity from 
a domestic source of energy.
    The BLM will analyze the potential impacts of the proposed action 
and no action alternatives, as well as other reasonable alternatives 
that could include optional approaches for activities proposed in the 
project area. The alternatives will be further defined as part of the 
scoping and planning process. Consultation with tribal governments will 
be accomplished as part of the planning process. Section 106 
consultations with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer 
will be conducted as required by the National Historic Preservation 
Act. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 7 consultations will be 
conducted as required by the Endangered Species Act. BLM will consult 
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as required by the Clean Water 
Act.

    Dated: June 5, 2006.
Catherine Robertson,
Field Manager.
 [FR Doc. E6-12010 Filed 7-26-06; 8:45 am]
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