2020-10-27_PERMIT FILE - C1981035 ‎(23)‎

• Permit No: C1981035
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 10/27/2020
• Section_Exhibit Name: KII Appendix 15 E.A. Dunn Ranch LBA
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
CHAPTER 3 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the existing conditions relevant to the issues presented in Table 1-3 and discloses
the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the Proposed Action and No Action Alternative
on those issues. Within this section, the terms "effects" and "impacts" are used interchangeably. No
additional mitigation measures were identified as being necessary following the analysis of each issue and
therefore no discussion of mitigation or residual impacts is provided below. For the purposes of this
analysis, potential effects are categorized as direct or indirect, and short term or long term. Short-term
impacts generally occurfor a short period during a specific point in the mining process. Long-term impacts
would generally last the life of the Project and beyond. Finally, impacts are described as major, moderate,
minor, negligible, or no impact. An impact is considered to be major if it would result in a substantial
change to the environment. An impact is considered moderate or minor if it would not result in a
substantial environmental change but could still have some measurable effect. In contrast to no impact,
a negligible impact is one that would occur but at the lowest limits of detection of an effect.
In addition to direct and indirect effects, cumulative impacts are also addressed. The cumulative impact
analysis is required to evaluate the"impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact
of the [Proposed Action] when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions"
(40 CFR 1508.7).
The past uses, present uses,and reasonably foreseeable actions analyzed as part of the cumulative effects
analysis are identified in Table 3-1.
Table 3-1. Past, Present, and Reasonably Foreseeable Actions
Action Description Past Present Reasonably
Foreseeable
Coal Mining Underground coal mining is projected to X X X
continue at the King II Mine.The level of coal
production would depend on market demand
for cement and associated coal as well as
availability of economically recoverable coal
reserves in the immediate area. Based on the
unsuitability assessments (BLM 1985; SJNF
1983),46,000 acres are identified as acceptable
for further consideration for coal leasing within
the TRFO,with an estimated reserve of 1.5
billion tons. Of this estimated reserve, it is
unknown how much is reasonably expected to
be developed in the future.
Dunn Ranch Area Coal Lease by Application COC-78825 and Mine Plan Modification EA 3-1