1993-11-05_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981038

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• CYPRUS ORCHARD VALLEY COAL CORPORATION COAL LEASE APPLICATION COC 53356 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS U-92-34 I. PURPOSE AND NEED The Colorado State Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received on October 8, 1991, a coal lease application from Cyprus Orchard Valley Coal Corporation (Cyprus). The application was submitted under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, and 43 CFR 3420. The coal reserves are managed by the Montrose District Office of the BLM. The purpose of the environmental assessment (EA) is to evaluate potential impacts of lease issuance upon the physical and socioeconomic environment and to develop mitigating measures to be included as lease stipulations in the event the lease is issued. As a result of the lease application, the Roatcap Creek coal lease tract was delineated. The Roatcap Creek Tract lies to the north of federal coal lease COC-37210 which is leased by Cyprus. Cyprus would like to continue development of their underground mining operation on to the lease application area. Mining would occur in the D Seam on the Roatcap Creek Tract. The original competitive lease application submitted by Cyprus identified a 400 acre tract of federal coal. A 120-acre area lying along the eastern boundary of the application area was added to the Roatcap Creek Tract during tract delineation. 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 by-pass tract. • The Roatcap Creek Tract, analyzed in this EA, is described as follows: T.13S., R.92W., 6th Principal Meridian, Sec. 10: lots Ito 3, inclusive, and lots 6 to 9, inclusive and Sec. 11, NWY. and N'f,SWY. containing approximately 521.78 acres in Delta County, Colorado (see Maps 1, 2 and 3). The tract is located six miles northwest of Paonia, Colorado. All of the surface is privately owned and the mineral estate is federally owned (see Map 4). Authorizing Actions and Agency Involvement In response to the competitive coal lease application submitted by Cyprus, the Bureau of land Management reviews the coal lease application in accordance with the regulations found at 43 CFR 3420. The BLM then prepares an environmental assessment to analyze the potential impacts of the proposed lease and to develop mitigating measures to be included as lease stipulations in the event a competitive sale is held. The BLM conducts a public hearing before a competitive sale is held to allow public comment on the effects of mining on the proposed lease. The BLM must also evaluate lease proposals with respect to the coal unsuitability criteria developed by the Department of the Interior in compliance with Section 522 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMRCA) and 43 CFR 3461. This evaluation was done in conjunction with the Uncompahgre Basin Resource Management Plan 0 989) and the Uinta Southwest Utah EIS (1983). Unsuitability decisions affecting the lease application area have been reviewed and it was found that the exceptions to Criteria 11 and 14 also apply to this proposed lease tract. The special stipulations to protect bald and golden eagle nest sites and migratory birds are listed in Section V - Mitigation Measures of this document. In addition, new exceptions to Criteria No. 9 and 14 are addressed in the following paragraph. No other exceptions to the Coal Unsuitability Criteria apply. The Grand Mesa Penstomen and the loggerhead shrike have become Category 2 threatened and • endangered species since the application of the criteria. Criterion No. 9 states that habitat for a proposed threatened or endangered plant or animal shall be considered unsuitable. Criterion 14 states that federal lands which Are high priority habitat for migratory bird species of high federal interest shall be considered unsuitable. The lands involved in Criteria No. 9 and 14 are suitable for coal leasing after applying the exceptions to the criteria. Mining would occur approximately 2,000 feet below the surface and would not interfere with the habitat of the penstomen or loggerhead shrike. In addition, if surface disturbance is proposed it will be stipulated that a Threatened and Endangered plant survey be conducted and that