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• Conformance with the Land Use Plan <br />The current land use plan ie the 1989 Little Snake Resource Management <br />Plan (RMP), in which the decision was made to: 1) maximize the <br />availability of the federal coal estate for exploration and development, <br />and 2) facilitate orderly, economic, and environmentally Bound <br />exploration and development of the coal resource within the principles of <br />balanced multiple-use. The subject lands lie entirely within Management <br />Unit 1. The objectives of this unit are deecribed on page 38 of the <br />Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision. The objectives for this <br />unit are to realize the potential for development of coal, oil, and gas <br />resources. <br />Coal unsuitability criteria were applied to these lands during <br />preparation of the RMP. The results of this review are deecribed in <br />Appendix 2 of the Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision, pages <br />A2-3 through A2-26. <br />Under Criterion 3 (pp. A2-7), Routt County Aoad 27 and three occupied <br />dwellings within the proposed lease area were considered unsuitable for <br />further consideration of leasing. According to Exception 3 of this <br />criterion, a 30-day public comment period was held through the AMP <br />process in which the public could express any concern about mining within <br />100 feet of a public road. No comments were received and the authorized <br />officer made a decision that all lands within 100 feet of the outside <br />line of the right-of-way for public roads in the coal planning area are <br />suitable for coal mining. Exception 4 of Criterion 3 requires written <br />permission from the owners of occupied dwellings to mine within 300 feet <br />of their buildings. The AMP deferred application of this exception until <br />• the coal activity planning stage because of the potentially frequent <br />changes in property ownership. <br />Criteria 16 and 19 require that lands designated as Floodplaine and <br />Alluvial valley Floors (AVF), respectively, be considered unsuitable for <br />all or certain stipulated methods of coal mining involving surface coal <br />mining operations. Part of the Fieh Creek drainage on the proposed lease <br />in T.SN., R.87W.,.NW~NW~tNW~ of section 36, was designated both floodplain <br />and AVF. The results of this analysis are discussed in this document and <br />the Little Snake RMP. <br />Relationship to Statutes. Reaulationa, or Other Plana <br />Congress has established a policy of orderly and economic development of <br />domestic mineral resources to meet industrial, security, and <br />environmental needs through several laws such ae the Mineral Leseinq Act <br />of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 181 et. seq.), the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of <br />1970 (30 U.S.C. 21a),.the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976 (90 <br />Stet. 1083-1092), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 <br />(43 U.S.C. 1701). This policy has been affirmed and implemented through <br />the regulations at 43 CFA Part 3400. <br />The subject lands have been previously analyzed in the Fieh Creek Tract <br />Profile Report and Site Specific Analysis (Nov. 1982) and the Supplement <br />to the Fieh Creek Tract Site Specific Analysis (Mar. 1984). These lands <br />are within the area that was included in the Fiah Creek Tract that was to <br />be offered for lease in Round II of the Green River Hame Fork Regional <br />Coal Lease Sale. Both documents are available for public review at the <br />Little snake Resource Area Office. Further analysis was done in the 1989 <br />Little Snake Resource Management Plan, in which the coal unsuitability <br />criteria were applied. <br /> <br />