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Authorizing Actions and Agency Involvement • The Bureau of Land Management in response to the application submitted by Western Fuels-Utah Incorporated is responsible for the following actions. 1) Preliminary evaluation of the application to determine if it meets the criteria for an emergency bypass lease. 2) Notification of the Governor of the State of Colorado and the Chair- man of the Green River-Hams Fork Regional Coal Team of the applica- tion. 3) Preparation of the Environmental Assessment, Fair Harket Value, and Maximum Economic Recovery Report. 4) And if appropriate preparation Eor lease sale, holding aE the Lease sale and issuance of the lease. The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has agreed to cooperate in preparing this EA. In addition, OSHRE has juris- diction in recommending approval of any mining plan that might result from BEM's leasing decision. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SHCRA) gives OSHRE primary responsibility to administer programs that regulate surface coal mining operations on federal lands and the surface effects of underground coal mining operations on federal lands. Pursuant to Section 503 of SMCRA, the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division (NERD) developed, and the . Secretary of the Interior approved, a permanent program authorizing Colorado MLRD to regulate Surface coal mining operations and surface effects of underground coal mining on non-federal lands within the State of Colorado. In September 1982, pursuant to Section 523(c) of SHCRA, Colorado MLRD entered into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Interior authorizing Coloreds HERD to regulate surface coal mining operations and surface effects of underground mining on federal lands within the state. Pursuant to the cooperative agreement, federal coal lease holders in Colorado must submit permit application packages to OSMRE and Colorado FILRD for proposed mining and reclamation operations on federal lands in the State. Colorado MLRD reviews the packages to ensure that the permit application complies with the permitting requirements and that the coal mining operation will meet the approved permanent program's environmental performance standards; if it does comply, Colorado MLRD issues the lessee a state permit to conduct coal mining operations. OSMRE and other federal agencies review the permit application packages to ensure that it complies with the terms of the coal lease: the operation, and reclamation require- ments of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as defined in SHCRA; the Nation- al Environmental Policy Act of 1969; and other federal laws and their attendant regulations. OSMRE recommends approval, approval with condi- tions, or disapproval of the mining plan contained in the packages to the Assistant Secretary - Land and Minerals Management. BLM and the surface- managing agency (if other than BEM) must concur with the recommendation, based on their review of the permit application package. r~ 4