2018-06-01_REVISION - C1980007 (4)

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b. Redundant Roads Violate the Colorado Roadless Rule; OSMRE Must Prepare a Supplemental NEPA Document. PR -15 seek to allow more road construction than necessary, in violation of the Colorado Roadless Rule.' The Roadless Rule includes regulatory provisions to mitigate impacts of road construction within Roadless areas. Specifically: "Conduct road construction in a manner that reduces effects on surface resources and prevents unnecessary or unreasonable surface disturbance." 36 C.F.R. § 294.43(d)(1). Here, the SFEIS predicted that exploration would require roughly 4.9 miles of road construction. See SFEIS at 41-42 (calculating total exploration road length at 25,651 feet, or 4.9 miles). Arch's application to DRMS shows that the construction of roads for MDWs adds another 6.9 miles of road —it appears at least 5 miles of which are on Forest Service lands, totaling more than 9.9 miles of road on Forest land. See Ex. 5.1 That amounts to at least a 50% increase in disturbance for roads on Forest Service lands over the SFEIS's assumption. Further, almost none of the exploration roads and none of the exploration drilling pads appear to be re -used for MDWs, contradicting the SFEIS's assumptions. The mine plan Arch submitted to DRMS displays 25 pads draining methane pads for three panels; 19 of those pads are on Forest Service land. Id. None of these identified MDW pads are coextensive with pads used for exploration. See Arch Map, Proposed MVB's with Weston Declaration, Map at 4, attached as Exhibit 7. Thus, at least 29 pads are already proposed for the Lease Modifications. Id. Assuming 1 acre per MDW pad, the total impact of roads and pads based on Arch's initial mine plan is already 55 acres on Forest Service lands. Once Arch completes exploration, the company will likely propose mining further to the southwest, as anticipated in Arch's map of projected coal mine panels, requiring the construction of even more roads and MDWs. See Ex. 6. It would appear that such construction could increase by at least 50% the number of drilling pads and road miles required to mine the Lease Modifications, which would exceed the footprint for exploration and mining roads and pads predicted in the Lease Modifications SFEIS. Because assumptions made in the Lease Modifications SFEIS are invalid and assume less disturbance for roads than will be required for the mine plan and exploration, OSMRE must prepare a supplemental NEPA document that addresses this increased damage. Further, the damage appears to be concentrated in the central third of the Lease Modifications area, rather than spread evenly across the entire area, contrary to the SFEIS's assumptions, further underscoring the need for OSMRE to prepare a new, site-specific NEPA analysis. c. OSMRE Must Address the Alternative of Methane Flaring Neither the USFS nor the BLM considered or addressed the alternative of methane flaring. Therefore, OSMRE must address it before any approval of the permit revision. ' The 2012 the Roadless Rule superseded the National Roadless Rule (66 Fed. Reg. 3244 (Jan. 12, 200 1)) and provided an exemption for temporary road construction or reconstruction associated with coal mining in the North Fork Valley. 36 C.F.R. § 294.43(c)(1)(ix). ' Approximately 1.5 miles constructed for MDWs is proposed to occur on private land. 6