Rosemont Copper Project, Coronado National Forest, Pima County, Arizona, 13527-13529 [E8-4780]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 50 (Thursday, March 13, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13527-13529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4780]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Rosemont Copper Project, Coronado National Forest, Pima County, 
Arizona

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the President's Council on Environmental 
Quality Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Forest Service, announces its intent to prepare an 
environmental impact statement to document and publicly disclose the 
environmental effects of proposed construction and operation of an 
open-pit mine on National Forest System land and the effects of any 
necessary amendments to the Coronado National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan. The proposed mining project would be located on 995 
acres of private land and 3,670 acres of National Forest System land 
about 30 miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona, within Townships 18 and 
19, Ranges 15 and 16, Gila and Salt River Meridian, Pima County, 
Arizona. Land under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the State of Arizona may be 
affected by certain activities associated with the proposed project. 
Production of 234 million pounds of copper, 4.5 million pounds of 
molybdenum, and 2.7 million ounces of silver is estimated annually over 
a period of approximately 20 years.

DATES: To be given full consideration during this National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, written and oral comments 
concerning the scope of the environmental impact statement (EIS) 
analysis must be received by the Coronado National Forest (Forest) 
within 30 days following the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. Written and oral comments may also be submitted during open 
houses that will be held by the Forest Service as follows:
    1. March 18, 2008, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Pima Community College, Desert 
Vista Campus, 5901 South Calle Santa Cruz, Tucson, Arizona;
    2. March 19, 2008, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Canoa Hills Recreation 
Center, 3660 South Camino del Sol, Green Valley, Arizona; and
    3. March 20, 2008, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Patagonia Union High School, 
Highway 82, Patagonia, Arizona.
    A Draft EIS (DEIS) for the Rosemont Copper Project (Project) is 
expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 
March 2009, at which time EPA will publish a Notice of Availability 
(NOA) of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The NOA will begin a 
period of public review of the DEIS that will extend 45 days from the 
date of publication of the NOA in the Federal Register. The Final EIS 
(FEIS) and a Record of Decision (ROD) are scheduled to be completed in 
November 2009.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this notice may be mailed or hand-
delivered to ATTN: Ms. Beverley Everson, Geologist, Coronado National 
Forest, 300 W. Congress St., Tucson, Arizona 85701. Comments may be 
also be submitted by facsimile to (520) 388-8305 and by electronic mail 
(e-mail) to comments-southwestern-coronado@fs.fed.us. Postal envelopes 
and the subject line of email and facsimiles should include the words 
``Rosemont Copper Project EIS.'' Addresses for open house meetings are 
given above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the 
Rosemont Copper Project (Project), please contact Ms. Beverley Everson 
in writing at the address above or by telephone at (520) 388-8428. 
Questions on the Forest Service NEPA process may be directed to Ms. 
Andrea Wargo Campbell, Forest NEPA Coordinator, at the same address and 
telephone (520) 388-8352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Project area is located on the Nogales Ranger District, 
Coronado National Forest, in the northern Santa Rita Mountains in Pima 
County, Arizona, where production of copper began in the 1880s and 
continued until 1951. Although several exploration projects have been 
undertaken since then, there has been no recent production of copper 
ore. In the past few years, a significant increase in the value of 
copper has made mining of certain claims in the area economically 
viable.
    The Project is proposed by the Rosemont Copper Company (Company), a 
subsidiary of Augusta Resource Corporation, which acquired the Rosemont 
Mine property in 2005. In July 2007, the Company submitted a Mine Plan 
of Operations (MPO), including a reclamation plan, to the Forest, 
requesting approval to construct and operate ore-mining and related 
facilities on and adjacent to National Forest System (NFS) land in Pima 
County, Arizona.
    There are 132 patented lode claims, 850 unpatented lode claims, and 
14 parcels of fee land in the Project area. Lode deposits that would be 
mined as part of the Project are, for the most part, on Company 
(private) property. Most unpatented claims were staked on Federal land 
managed by the Forest Service; however, a few of these claims in the 
northwest portion of the property are on Federal land managed by the 
BLM.

Proposed Action

    The EIS will disclose the potential environmental and social 
impacts of (1) Approval by the Forest Service of an MPO and reclamation 
plan that addresses construction and operation of an open-pit mine and 
related facilities on claims held by the Company, and (2) amendment of 
the Coronado National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest 
Plan), if necessary, to allow specific mining activities to be 
undertaken on NFS land. Connected actions related to the MPO (e.g., 
construction of roads, utilities) will also be evaluated in the EIS, 
regardless of whether they are proposed to be undertaken on NFS land. 
Impacts of reasonably foreseeable actions in the Project area will be 
considered in combination with the impacts of the Project to estimate 
the potential cumulative impacts of Project implementation.
    The Project would be undertaken on a mosaic of privately owned and 
Federally managed land. Extraction of ore from an approximately 2,900-
foot-deep open-pit mine would be conducted primarily on private land. 
Processing, waste management, and other support

[[Page 13528]]

facilities are proposed to be located on the Forest, and project 
infrastructure, such as utilities, could be located on BLM and state 
land. Access to mining claims would originate on State Highway 83 east 
of the property. A new access road is proposed.
    Project-related activities to be addressed in the EIS include, but 
are not be limited to, the following:
    [squ] Construction, operation and reclamation of an open-pit 
copper, silver and molybdenum mine primarily on private land.
    [squ] Construction, operation, and reclamation of an ore-processing 
plant, tailings, waste rock and leach facilities on NFS land adjacent 
to the mine.
    [squ] Construction and operation of infrastructure, such as 
utilities and their corridors, on non-NFS land.
    [squ] Construction of a new access road, leach field, retention 
structures, wells, ore transportation systems, and test reclamation 
plots.
    [squ] Use of existing roads, new road construction, and maintenance 
of both.
    [squ] Labor requirements for construction, operation, processing, 
and reclamation.
    [squ] Implementation of mitigation to avoid or minimize impacts;
    [squ] Closure, reclamation and maintenance of the mine and related 
facilities.
    [squ] Resource monitoring during construction, operation, and 
reclamation.
    The Forest Service will serve as the lead agency in the preparation 
of the EIS, in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations (CEQ) at 40 CFR 1501.6, and will be responsible for 
compliance with the NEPA, CEQ regulations, Forest Service NEPA 
directives, and various resource-protection laws and regulations. Other 
agencies, such as the BLM, State of Arizona, and Pima County, may be 
invited to participate in the NEPA review as cooperating agencies, 
depending on their jurisdiction and/or expertise, and in accordance 
with CEQ NEPA regulations.

Purpose of and Need for Action

    The purpose of the proposed Forest Service action is to grant 
permission to the Company to use NFS land for certain activities 
related to operation of the Rosemont Mine. The agency's need for action 
is based on statutes and policy that govern mining on NFS land.
    Most NFS land is subject to the location of certain minerals under 
the Mining Law of 1872, as amended (30 U.S.C. 21-54, et seq.), and the 
directives in Forest Service Manual 2800. Prospecting, locating, and 
developing the mineral resources on NFS land are also subject to other 
rules and regulations. These include, but are not limited to, the 
following:
    1. The 1897 Organic Administration Act (30 Stat. 11, as amended; 16 
U.S.C. 473-475, 477-482, 551) grants the Secretary of Agriculture the 
authority to regulate the occupancy and use of NFS lands. It provides 
the public with the continuing right to conduct mining activities under 
general mining laws and in compliance with rules and regulations 
applicable to NFS lands. It also recognizes the rights of miners and 
prospectors to access NFS lands for prospecting, locating and 
developing mineral resources.
    2. The 1960 Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act (74 Stat. 215; 16 
U.S.C. 528-531) requires that NFS lands be administered in a manner 
that includes consideration of the relative values of various resources 
as part of management decisions and specifically provides that nothing 
in the Act be construed to affect the use or administration of the 
mineral resources on NFS lands.
    3. The 1970 Mining and Minerals Policy Act (84 Stat. 1876; 30 
U.S.C. 21a) established the Federal Government's policy for mineral 
development, ``* * * to foster and encourage private enterprise in the 
development of economically sound and stable industries and in the 
orderly development of domestic resources to help assure satisfaction 
of industrial, security, and environmental needs''.
    4. Regulations at Title.36, Code of Federal Regulations, part 228A, 
set forth rules and procedures governing the use of NFS lands in 
conjunction with operations authorized by general mining laws. Part 
228.3(a) specifically addresses the development of mineral resources.

Preliminary Identification of Issues

    Based on a preliminary review of the proposed action by Forest 
resource specialists, the following potential issues were identified:
    [squ] Effects on the economy, public services, quality of life and 
other community resources in Pima County, Tucson, and nearby 
communities;
    [squ] Effects on the quality and availability of surface water 
groundwater resources;
    [squ] Effects on vegetation and wildlife, including those having 
special-status designations by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Arizona Game and Fish Department, Forest Service, Region 3 Regional 
Forester; and Forest Plan;
    [squ] Effects on soils and geology;
    [squ] Effects on aesthetic resources, including Forest visual 
quality objectives and State Highway 83, a state-designated scenic 
highway;
    [squ] Effects on archaeological, historic, and cultural resources, 
including Native American interests and values;
    [squ] Effects on Forest recreational use and compatibility with 
other land uses;
    [squ] Effects of increased traffic on local roads and 
transportation systems;
    [squ] Effects of mining and processing and vehicle traffic on;
    [squ] Effects of noise on nearby residents, Forest users, and 
sensitive wildlife.
    The preceding list is subject to change, based on future comments 
received from the public and resource agencies.

Responsible Official

    Ms. Jeanine Derby, Forest Supervisor, Coronado National Forest, 
will be the Responsible Official who prepares the Record of Decision 
(ROD) at the conclusion of this NEPA review. The Forest address is 
provided above.

Nature of NEPA Decision To Be Made

    Based on the results of the NEPA analysis, the Forest Supervisor's 
ROD regarding the MPO and reclamation plan will recommend 
implementation of one of the following: (1) The proposed action and 
mitigation necessary to minimize or avoid adverse impacts; (2) an 
alternative to the proposed action and mitigation necessary to minimize 
or avoid adverse impacts, or (3) the no-action alternative. The ROD 
will also document the consistency of the proposed action with the 
Coronado National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest 
Plan) (1986, as amended) and approval of Proposed amendments to it.

National Forest Management Act Consistency

    The Forest must ensure that the Project is consistent with the 
Forest Plan, which was prepared in accordance with direction in the 
National Forest Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1600). The Forest Plan 
provides land management guidance and direction to Forest managers in 
terms of Forest-wide and management-area-specific goals, objectives, 
standards, and guidelines, based on desired future conditions on the 
Forest. If implementation of the Project will require amendments to the 
Forest Plan, all proposed amendments will be evaluated for 
environmental effects in conjunction with the NEPA review of the 
Project.

[[Page 13529]]

Request for Comments on the NEPA Review

    The Forest Service encourages citizens to express issues, concerns, 
and suggestions they may have about this proposed action. Comments 
should be directly related to issues associated with the proposed 
action, rather than general advocacy of or opposition to the project, 
to best assist us in the NEPA analysis. Although comments are welcome 
at any time during the NEPA review, they will be most useful to us if 
they are received within 30 days following the publication of this 
notice. If you have questions about this notice or the scoping process, 
please contact Ms. Beverley Everson, Geologist, Coronado National 
Forest, at telephone (520) 388-8352 prior to submitting your comments.
    Written comments may be mailed or hand-delivered to Ms. Everson at 
Coronado National Forest, 300 W. Congress St., Tucson, Arizona 85701; 
sent by facsimile to (520) 388-8305; or submitted by email to comments-
southwestern-coronado@fs.fed.us. Envelopes and the subject line of 
email and facsimiles should include the words ``Rosemont Copper Project 
EIS.'' Oral and written comments may also be submitted at the open 
houses listed above or in person at the Forest address above.
    Please be advised that comments and personal information associated 
with them, such as names and addresses, will become part of the 
administrative record for this NEPA review. As such, they may be made 
available to a third-party in response to a Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) request. You may prefer to submit comments without including 
personal information. Or, you may request of the Forest Service that 
your personal information be exempted from release under the FOIA. You 
will subsequently be informed by the Forest Service whether or not your 
request qualifies for an exemption. If it does not, you will be 
afforded the opportunity to resubmit your comments without personal 
information or to withhold them altogether.

Early Notice of the Importance of Public Participation in the NEPA 
Process

    Following the 30-day scoping period announced in this notice, the 
Forest Service will prepare a draft environmental impact statement 
(DEIS). Upon completion, the DEIS will be made available for a 45-day 
public review and comment period that will begin on the date that the 
EPA publishes an NOA of the DEIS in the Federal Register. The Forest 
Service believes that, at this early stage, it is important to provide 
the public with notice about several court rulings related to public 
participation in the NEPA environmental review process.
    First, reviewers of a DEIS must structure their participation in 
the NEPA review so that it is meaningful and alerts the agency to the 
reviewer's position and contentions [Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Com. 
v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978)]. Also, environmental objections that 
could be raised at the DEIS stage but that are not raised until after 
completion of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) may be 
waived or dismissed by the courts [City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages. Inc. v. Harris, 490 
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wise. 1980)]. Because of these court rulings, 
it is very important that those parties who are interested in this 
proposed action participate before the close of a public comment period 
so that substantive comments and objections are available to the Forest 
Service in a timely manner that will allow them to be meaningfully 
considered and subsequently addressed in the FEIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns about the proposed action, comments on a DEIS should be as 
specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to specific 
line numbers, pages, and/or chapters of the DEIS. Comments may address 
the adequacy of the DEIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated 
an discussed in it. For comments of this nature, reviewers may choose 
to refer to CEQ regulations at 40 CFR 1503.3.
    Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who 
comment, will be considered part of the public record of this NEPA 
review and will be available for public inspection unless exempted from 
such.

    (Authority: 40 CFR parts 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service 
Handbook 1909.15, section 21).

    Authorization: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as amended 
(42 U.S.C. 4321-4346); Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 
CFR parts 1500-1508); U.S. Department of Agriculture NEPA Policies and 
Procedures (7 CFR part 1 b).

    February 28, 2008.
Jeanine A. Derby,
Forest Supervisor.
 [FR Doc. E8-4780 Filed 3-12-08; 8:45 am]
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