Black Mesa and Kayenta Coal Mines, Coal Slurry Preparation Plant and Pipeline, and Coconino Aquifer Water-Supply System, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai Counties, Arizona, and Clark County, NV, 1764-1765 [E7-454]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
• Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1764-1765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-454]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement


Black Mesa and Kayenta Coal Mines, Coal Slurry Preparation Plant 
and Pipeline, and Coconino Aquifer Water-Supply System, Coconino, 
Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai Counties, Arizona, and Clark County, NV

AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.

ACTION: Extension of comment period for the Black Mesa Project draft 
environmental impact statement (EIS) and scheduling of additional 
public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) 
is extending the comment period for the Black Mesa Project draft EIS 
and scheduling an additional public meeting in Leupp, Arizona.

DATES: To ensure consideration in the preparation of the final EIS, 
written comments must be received by OSM by 4 p.m., m.s.t., on February 
6, 2007. A public meeting to receive comments on the draft EIS will be 
held in Leupp, Arizona, on January 11, 2007, from noon to 4 p.m. at the 
Leupp Chapter House on Navajo Route 15.

ADDRESSES: The draft EIS is available for review on OSM's Internet Web 
site at https://www.wrcc.osmre.gov/WR/BlackMesaEIS.htm. Paper and 
computer compact disk (CD) copies of the draft EIS are also available 
for review at the Office of Surface Mining, Western Region, 1999 
Broadway, Suite 3320, Denver, Colorado 80202-5733.
    A limited number of CD and paper copies of the draft EIS have been 
prepared and are available upon request. Because of the time and 
expense in producing and mailing CD and paper copies, OSM requests that 
you review the Internet or publicly-available copy, if possible. You 
may obtain a CD or paper copy by contacting the person identified below 
in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In your request, indicate whether 
you want a CD or paper copy.
    Comments on the draft EIS may be submitted in writing or by e-mail 
over the Internet. At the top of your letter or in the subject line of 
your e-mail message, indicate that the comments are ``BMP Draft EIS 
Comments.'' Include your name and return address in your letter or e-
mail message.
     E-mail comments should be sent to BMKEIS@osmre.gov. If you 
do not receive a confirmation from the system that OSM has received 
your e-mail comment, contact the person identified in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT below.
     Written comments sent by first-class or priority U.S. 
Postal Service should be mailed to: Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black 
Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, P.O. Box 46667, Denver, Colorado 
80201-6667.
     Comments delivered by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or 
by courier service should be sent to: Dennis Winterringer, Leader, 
Black Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320, 
Denver, Colorado 80202-5733.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black

[[Page 1765]]

Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, by telephone at (303) 844-1400, 
extension 1440, or by e-mail at BMKEIS@osmre.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Extension of the Comment Period and Scheduling of an Additional 
Public Meeting
II. Background on the Black Mesa Project EIS
III. Availability of Your Comments for Public Review
IV. Specificity of Comments
V. Public Meetings

I. Extension of the Comment Period and Scheduling of an Additional 
Public Meeting

    On November 22 and December 1, 2006, OSM and the Environmental 
Protection Agency respectively published in the Federal Register 
notices announcing availability of the Black Mesa Project draft EIS for 
comment (71 FR 67637 and 71 FR 69562). In the former notice, OSM 
announced a comment period closing date of January 22, 2007, and the 
locations, dates, and times for 11 public meetings that will be held 
from January 2 through 11, 2007.
    Subsequent to the publishing of the notices OSM received requests 
to extend the comment period and a request to reschedule one of the 
meetings. In consideration of the comment period extension requests, 
OSM is extending the comment period for 15 days to February 6, 2007. In 
consideration of the request to reschedule the public meeting in Leupp, 
Arizona, that was originally announced for January 9, 2007, from 6 p.m. 
to 9 p.m. at the Leupp Chapter House, OSM has decided to hold the 
meeting as planned and to also hold another meeting at the same 
location on January 11, 2007, from noon to 4 p.m.

II. Background on the Black Mesa Project EIS

    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 
OSM prepared a draft EIS analyzing the effects of the proposed Black 
Mesa Project. The proposed Project consists of Peabody Western Coal 
Company's operation and reclamation plans for coal mining at the Black 
Mesa Mine Complex near Kayenta, Arizona; Black Mesa Pipeline 
Incorporated's (BMPI's) Coal Slurry Preparation Plant at the Black Mesa 
Mine Complex; BMPI's reconstruction of the 273-mile long Coal Slurry 
Pipeline across northern Arizona from the Coal Slurry Preparation Plant 
to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada; and Salt River 
Project's and Mohave Generation Station co-owners' construction and 
operation of a water supply system consisting of water wells in the 
Coconino aquifer (C aquifer) near Leupp, Arizona, and of a water supply 
pipeline running 108 miles across the Navajo and Hopi Reservations from 
the wells to the Coal Slurry Preparation Plant. More information about 
the project and EIS can be found on OSM's Internet Web site at https://
www.wrcc.osmre.gov/WR/BlackMesaEIS.htm.

III. Availability of Your Comments for Public Review

    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses, home phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of respondents, 
available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we 
withhold their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to 
consider withholding this information you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your comments and submit your comments by regular 
mail, not by e-mail. In addition, you must present a rationale for 
withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that 
disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy. 
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of 
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be 
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.

IV. Specificity of Written Comments

    Written comments, including e-mail comments, should be sent to OSM 
at the addresses given in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Be 
specific in your comments and indicate the chapter, page, paragraph, 
and sentence your comments pertain to.

V. Public Meetings

    Meeting rooms for the 12 public meetings will be set up in four 
areas: (1) An area where an audio-visual presentation on the Black Mesa 
Project and EIS will be made, (2) an area with displays where meeting 
attendees may discuss the project proposal and the EIS process with OSM 
and others, (3) an area where meeting attendees may record and submit 
written comments, and (4) an area where an OSM representative and a 
transcriber will record oral comments.
    To assist the transcriber and ensure an accurate record, OSM 
requests that each presenter of oral comments provide a written copy of 
his or her comments, if possible.
    Hopi, Hualapai, and Navajo interpreters will be present 
respectively at meetings on the Hopi, Hualapai, and Navajo 
Reservations.
    If you are disabled or need reasonable accommodations to attend one 
of the meetings, contact the person under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT at least 1 week before the meeting.

    Dated: January 10, 2007.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
 [FR Doc. E7-454 Filed 1-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-05-P