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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 ri•oer is • also not likely due to the 100-year floodplain and existing rights-of-way. This alternative vas 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 reeuired 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 facilities/portal, unless a waiver, exception, or modification were granted. Alternative One - Proposed Action The proposed action is co 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 far c.~ most efficient development of iederaiiy 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 we 1' as 40 acres l;~ing east of Sylvester Gulch. The additional area was • incorporated into t:~a tract in order co ensure all federal coal far which there were adequate data were inc:cded 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. Reasonably Foreseeable Develoc~ent A reasonably foreseeable development (RFD) scenario was developed based on expansion of Mountain Coal Company's present operations. This scenario is used to estimate the sur`_ace impacts of the mining of the coal on the Box Canyon tract. The ~FD 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 emvirornental consequences. Subsurface Development The coal reset-ves could be mined from the applicant's existing operation, the West Elk Wine. The tract lies to the east of a block of existing federal coo! ':eases held b•: uouncain Coal Company; the existing leases are operated as the 'vest Elk :line. Production from the West Elk Mine was approximately 3 mi::ion ton: in 1993, 1.4 million cons in 1992, 716,000 tons in 1991 and averaved X60.000 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 [o the tract is `tom the West Elk Mine. The workings of the • mine would be extended to the east.