Department of the Interior December 12, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to section 2(b) of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended by section 4 of the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, 90 Stat. 1083, 30 U.S.C. 201(b), and to the regulations adopted as 43 CFR 3410, all interested parties are hereby invited to participate with Ark Land Company on a pro rata cost sharing basis in its program for the exploration of coal deposits owned by the United States of America in the following-described lands in Campbell County, WY:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and USDA Forest Service (collectively the Agencies) will prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) to address the order of Judge Marshal J. Pechman, United States District Court, Western District of Washington. (Northwest Ecosystem Alliance v. Rey, August 1, 2005) Specifically, the court found that the 2004 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guideline (2004 SEIS) was deficient because the Agencies failed to: (1) ``* * analyze potential impacts to Survey and Manage species if they are not added to or are removed from the Forest Service's and BLM's respective programs for special status species;'' (2) ``* * * provide a thorough analysis of their assumption that the late-successional reserves would adequately protect species that the Survey and Manage standard was introduced to protect, particularly in light of their previous positions in earlier environmental impact statements;'' and (3) ``* * * disclose and analyze flaws in their methodology for calculating the acreage in need of hazardous fuel treatments. Part of the cost analysis was similarly flawed because it relied on the acreage in need of hazardous fuel treatments in calculating the cost of the Survey and Manage standard.'' The SEIS will provide additional information and analysis necessary to fully address the deficiencies noted by the court in the 2004 SEIS.