GENERAL39413

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Name: Dec Document for Federal Lease COC-56447
• Permit Index Doc Type: Other Permits
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

portal at the D/E outcrop [o ramp down co the :B seam reserves ac 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 chat another portal is constructed,
approximately 40 acres would be disturbed. An additional environmental
analysis (NEPA) 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 reouired upon
the completion of the NEPA analysis. Areas stipulated as No Surface
Occupancy or designated Unsuitable for Coal mining as listed in Section V
of this EA could not be considered for any future proposed surface
facilitiesjportal, unless a waiver, exception, or modification were
granted.
Alternative One - Prooosed Action
The proposed action is co offer for competitive lease 2764.67 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 t.-.~ aost
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
wel! as 40 acres lying east of Sylvester Gulch. The additional area was
incorporated into taa 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 BLY is the
Bureau's and USFS's preferred action.
Reasonably Foreseeable Development
A reasonably foreseeable development (RFD) scenario was developed
based on expansion of Mountain Coal Company's present operations. This
scenario is used co estimate the surface impacts of the mining of the coal
on the Box Canyon tract. The RFD does not suggest specific locations for
potential surface facilities beyond indicating a general area of
anticipated occurrence. Thus, the RFD does not provide a basis for a
site-specific discussion of environmental consequences.
Subsurface Develoomenc
The coal reserves could be mined Erom 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 kest Elk (line. Production Erom 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 co 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 Wes[ Elk Yine. The workings of the
. mine would be extended to the east.
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