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comply with all applicable state and federal regulations as described above before it can be approved DESCflIPTION OF THE ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING THE PROPO~iED ACTION The proposed action is to offer for competitive lease 2769.67 acres of 6 and D/E Seam coal reserves in the Box Canyon Tract as requested by Mountain Coal Company. There are two alternatives associated with this EA: Alternative One -the proposed action is to lease the Box Canyon Tract and Alternative Two - No Action is to deny the lease application. The preferred alternative is to lease the tract. There are two possibilities under Alternative One. If Mountain Coal Company was the successful bidder, the coal lease would be developed from the existing operation (West Elk Mine). If another party was the successful bidder, two scenarios are possible. Either the lease would be subleased and developed by Mountain Coal Company or a new portal could be constructed. Because the D/E coal seam outcrops on the tract, it is conceivable that a new operation with portal and surface facilities could be constructed on this tract. However, the D/E seam appears to be unmineable at the outcrop because the coal bed is thin and the roof conditions are bad. It is not likely that it would be feasible to construct another portal at the D/E outcrop to ramp down to the B seam reserves at depth (300 feet below the surface). Access to the reserves from across the river is also not likely due to the 100-year floodplain and existing rights-of-way. This alternative was considered but not analyzed. In the unlikely situation that another portal is constructed, approximately 40 acres would be disturbed. An additional NEPA environmental analyses must be completed to determine the impacts resulting from the proposed disturbance of a new portal and related surface facilities and structures. This EA does not analyze the impacts of the construction of a new portal. Additional stipulations and mitigation could be required upon the completion of the NEPA analysis. Areas designated as No Surface Occupancy or Unsuitable for Coal mining as listed in Section V of this EA could not be considered for any future proposed surface facilitieslportal. A. Alternative One -Proposed Action The proposed action is to offer for competitive lease 2769.67 acres of federal coal, the Box Canyon Tract, containing approximately 37 million tons of recoverable reserves. The coal reserves are in the B and D/E seams of the Mesaverde formation. Leasing the coal would allow for the most efficient development of federally owned coal. The applicant's lease application was amended to include an additional 453.67 acres lying along the southern boundary of the application area as well as 40 acres lying east of Sylvester Gulch. The additional area was incorporated into the tract in order to ensure all federal coal for which there were adequate data were included to avoid a potential bypass tract in the future. The applicant's proposed action as amended by the BLM is the Bureau's and USFS's preferred action. The coal reserves would be mined from the applicant's existing operation, the West Elk Mine. The tract lies to the east of a block of existing federal coal leases held by Mountain Coal Company; the existing leases are operated as the West Elk Mine. Production from the West Elk Mine was approximately 3 million tons in 1993, 1.4 million tons in 1992, 716,000 tons in 1991 and averaged 560,000 tons in the years 1989 to 1990. Access to the reserves on the proposed tract is limited by previous mining in the D/E seam, mining conditions and lack of B seam outcrop. The best access to the tract is from the West Elk Mine. The workings of the mine would be extended to the east. Both seams would be mined by underground longwall mining methods. Continuous miner units and shuttle cars would be used as the means of development extraction, with a belt conveyor for transportation of the coal to the surface. Coal would be transported by conveyor from the portal to the rail loadout located on fee lands off Highway 133 east of Somerset. Page 3