SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On October 2, 1998, JRCC filed coal lease application WYW146744, for the following lands in Campbell and County, Wyoming:

T. 44 N., R. 70 W., 6th PM, Wyoming

Section 26: Lots 9, 10;

Section 27: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 28: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 29: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 30: Lots 5 thru 20;

Section 31: Lots 5 thru 20; ( printed page 2980)

Section 32: Lots 1 thru 16;

Section 33: Lots 4, 5, 12, 13;

T. 44 N., R. 71 W., 6th PM, Wyoming

Section 25: Lots 1 thru 16.

The tract as applied for, which is referred to as the North Jacobs Ranch Tract, includes 4,821.19 acres, more or less, with an estimated 519 million tons of coal in place. As part of the coal leasing process, BLM will evaluate the tract configuration, and may decide to add or subtract Federal coal to avoid bypassing coal or to increase estimated fair market value.

The Jacobs Ranch Mine, which is adjacent to the lease application area, has an approved mining and reclamation plan from the Land Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The mine has an approved air quality permit from the Air Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to mine up to 35 million tons of coal per year, and they have applied for an air quality permit to mine up to 55 million tons per year. According to the application filed for the North Jacobs Ranch LBA Tract, the maintenance tract would be mined to extend the life of the existing mine.

Using the LBA process, JRCC previously acquired maintenance coal lease WYW117924, containing approximately 1,709 acres and 147 million tons of minable coal adjacent to the Jacobs Ranch Mine, effective October 1, 1992.

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) will be a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. If the North Jacobs Ranch LBA tract is leased to the applicant, the new lease must be incorporated into the existing mining plans for the adjacent mine and the Secretary of the Interior must approve the revised mining plan before the Federal coal in the tract can be mined. OSM is the Federal agency that would be responsible for recommending approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the revised mining plan to the Secretary if the tract is leased.

Several issues related to this lease application were identified during the scoping held during the month of October 1999. The primary issue raised in both written and oral comments is the need for resolution of the conflicts between existing and proposed oil and gas development and proposed coal mining on the North Jacobs Ranch LBA tract. Other issues identified during the scoping process included the potential impacts to big game herds and hunting, the potential impacts to sage grouse, the size of the tract as applied for, the need for considering the cumulative impacts of this leasing decision, the validity and currency of the resource data to be used in analyzing the impacts, the impact on existing land uses, the potential impacts to sensitive and endangered species including prairie dogs and mountain plover, and the potential impacts on air and water quality. If you have specific concerns about these issues, or have other concerns or issues that BLM should consider in processing this application, please address them in writing to the above address. Written comments should be received by February 15, 2000, in order to be fully considered in the draft EIS.

Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the address listed above during regular business hours, 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.

65 FR 2979