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CENTER for <br />BIOLOGICAL <br />DIVERSITY <br />�WMDEnRTx <br />GunRnurrs <br />A FORCE FOR NATURE <br />j <br />�,SIERRA <br />% CLUB <br />MLRB Rule 1.6.6. Here, the question of right of entry certainly affects the owners of the <br />adjacent lands and requires a new notice. Additionally, we believe that the expanded acreage (a <br />50% increase in the area slated for surface disturbance for roads and methane drilling pads) and <br />the 33% increase in the number of panels meets the definition of a "substantial" change. The <br />significant changes to the mining plan and the premature completeness finding require new <br />notice. <br />III. The Revised Mine Plan's Footprint is Near or Exceeds the Acreage Used to <br />Analyze Lynx Impacts. <br />Changes to the mine plan proposal that were submitted in July show substantially larger <br />surface impact from roads and well pads on both private and public lands. Compare Attachment <br />2 (original mine plan map) with Attachment 3 (updated mine plan map). Rough calculations of <br />surface disturbance based on the July map put surface disturbance near, at, or even potentially <br />exceeding 75 acres. This is also 50% percent larger than originally proposed.' The acreage <br />disturbance figures were calculated using the approximation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <br />("FWS") used in its Biological Assessment for Canada lynx, which is that well pads are <br />approximately 1 acre in size and road widths average 30 feet wide. See Attachment 4 at 13. <br />Without having access to georeferenced files, it is not possible for Conservation Groups to <br />provide a more exact acreage impact figure. However, there is enough information to show that <br />the revised mine plan's impacts are now very close to (or even exceed) the 75 acre threshold that <br />U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS") used for analyzing impacts to Canada lynx for the lease <br />modifications. E.g. Attachment 4 at 10 (providing an upper limit to impacts covered under the <br />analysis and consultation, which, if exceeded, would require the Forest Service to reinitiate <br />consultation and re -analyze the impact of the project to the lynx). <br />The Division's and Board's responsibilities include to "[c]onsult with State and Federal <br />agencies having responsibility for the protection and management of fish, wildlife, historic, <br />cultural and archeological resources, and related environmental values." MLRB Rule 1.03.1(h). <br />The Division must also minimize disturbances and adverse impacts on fish, wildlife, and other <br />related environmental values. MLRB Rule 4.01.1(5). Here, the Division is in receipt of a mine <br />plan that now is pushing or exceeds the analysis that other agencies have conducted and relied <br />on. The Division needs to ensure that other State and Federal agencies are aware of these <br />changes and explore ways to minimize disturbances to lynx habitat. This is all the more <br />necessary as acreage impacts for both well pads and roads can be larger than the approximations <br />FWS used for its analysis. <br />V. Conclusion and Requests <br />Given these significant changes, we request the application be denied on the basis that a <br />complete application supporting the current mining plan proposal has not been <br />z Our calculations estimated that the initial mine plan would have been between 45-50 acres of <br />disturbance. <br />4 <br />