Department of Agriculture February 22, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, intends to hold public scoping meetings and prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) to meet its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and RUS's Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR part 1794) in connection with potential impacts related to a proposed project in Colorado by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. (Tri-State). The proposed Burlington-Wray 230-kilovolt (kV) Transmission Project (Proposal) consists of the following: a proposed new single-circuit 230-kV electric transmission line between the existing Burlington Substation in Kit Carson County and the existing Wray Substation in Yuma County. Tri-State is requesting that RUS provide financial assistance for the Proposal.

Mitsubishi Cement Corporation is submitting to the San Bernardino National Forest and San Bernardino County, for permitting, a Plan of Operations and Reclamation Plan for the South Quarry. The South Quarry will total approximately 153.6 acres consisting of a 128-acre quarry, a 2.7 acre landscape berm, a 22.2-acre haul road 1.8 miles in length, and a temporary construction road of 0.7 acres. The South Quarry and haul road will be located almost entirely (147.0 acres) on 440 acres of unpatented claims owned by Mitsubishi Cement Corporation on the San Bernardino National Forest with approximately 6.6 acres of the haul road located on Mitsubishi Cement Corporation fee land where it enters the existing East Pit. Current estimates project the South Quarry could feed the cement plant for approximately 120 years. No change to the throughput or operation of the Cushenbury Cement Plant is proposed as part of this project. Based on drilling conducted during the winter of 2009 and 2010, the South Quarry site has estimated proven and inferred reserves of over 200 million tons of mostly high to medium grade limestone. This higher grade limestone would be blended with lower grade limestone excavated from the West and East Pits at a ratio of approximately 50/50 in order to meet the limestone specifications to feed the adjacent Mitsubishi Cement Corporation Cushenbury Cement Plant. Concurrent reclamation would be conducted throughout the life of the quarry and, at the conclusion of excavations, 5 years of active reclamation and revegetation would be implemented followed by revegetation monitoring and remediation until revegetation goals are achieved. Comments are being requested to help identify significant issues or concerns related to the proposed action, to determine the scope of the issues (including alternatives) that need to be analyzed and to eliminate from detailed study those issues that are not significant. Supporting documentation should be included with comments recommending that the joint Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (EIS/EIR), to be prepared by the San Bernardino National Forest and County of San Bernardino, as the lead state agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), address specific environmental issues.