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CHAPTER 1
<br />PURPOSE AND NEED
<br />1.1 INTRODUCTION AND
<br />BACKGROUND
<br />This draft environmental impact statement (DEIS)
<br />documents the environmental analysis pertaining to
<br />offering the Dry Fork Federal Coal Lease-by-
<br />Application (LBA) tract for competitive bid. This
<br />EIS was prepared in accordance with the National
<br />Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and provides a
<br />forum for public review and comment on the
<br />proposed leasing. This DEIS also documents the
<br />process used to analyze the LBA submittal, the
<br />environmental impacts, and possible stipulations for
<br />protection of non-coal (i.e, surface resources) in the
<br />event the lease is issued.
<br />T 13 S., R. 90 W, 6"' P.M
<br />1. Sec. 35, lots 5-7, inclusive, and lots 9-16,
<br />inclusive, less and except land in leases C-
<br />1362, and COC56447, as modified;
<br />2. Sec. 36, W~= SWYaNW'/a, and W`/=SW'/a, less
<br />and except land in lease COC-56447, as
<br />modified;
<br />T. 14 S., R. 90 W., 6`" P.M
<br />1. Sec. 1, lots 3, 4, S%zNW'/<, SW'/a,
<br />W'/zNW'/<SE'/a, and SW'/<SE'/o;
<br />2. Sec. 2, lots 1-4, inclusive, S'/zNYz, and S'/z;
<br />3. Sec. 11, N'hN'h;
<br />4. Sec. 12, N%zNW''/a, and NW%<NE%a.
<br />In September 2003, ArkLand Company (ArkLand)
<br />filed a competitive coal lease application with the
<br />U.S. Department of the Interior (USDI)-Bureau of
<br />Land Management (BLM), Colorado State Office
<br />under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as
<br />amended, (30 U.S.C. Section 201), as implemented
<br />by regulations found at 43 CFR 3425. The lands
<br />subject to this LBA are located near Somerset, in
<br />Gunnison County, Colorado. The tract is adjacent
<br />to the existing underground workings of the West
<br />Elk Mine operated by Mountain Coal Company,
<br />LLC (MCC). ArkLand and MCC are wholly owned
<br />subsidiaries of Arch Coal, Inc. of St. Louis,
<br />Missouri.
<br />The location of the Dry Fork LBA tract is shown on
<br />Figure 1-1. The surface lands involved are National
<br />Forest System (NFS) lands administered by the
<br />USDA Forest Service (Forest Service) within the
<br />Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National
<br />Forests (GMUG). The coal resources in the Dry
<br />Fork Tract are administered by the BLM through
<br />the Uncompahgre Field Office in Montrose,
<br />Colorado.
<br />The BLM accepted the application, prepared a tract
<br />delineation report (BLM 2004), and has assigned
<br />the Dry Fork LBA tract with Serial Number COC-
<br />67232. The legal description fot the Dry Fork LBA
<br />tract as applied for by MCC, and accepted by BLM
<br />through the tract delineation process is as follows:
<br />Dry Fork Lease-By-Application DEIS
<br />The tract contains about 1,517 acres.
<br />The tract contains an estimated 17 million tons of
<br />recoverable coal (BLM 2004). The coal resource
<br />within this LBA tract is limited to coal recoverable
<br />by underground mining methods. The Dry Fork
<br />LBA tract lies to the southeast of MCC fee (private)
<br />coal and fee surface property, south of existing
<br />Federal coal leases COC-56447 (Box Canyon
<br />Lease), and to the east of the southern extension of
<br />Federal coal lease C-1362 both held by MCC.
<br />ArkLand applied for all the coal seam reserves
<br />within the Dry Fork LBA tract. MCC currently
<br />extracts coal from the B Seam in the West Elk
<br />Mine, to the north of the tract. The existing West
<br />Elk Mine operations plan calls for mining both E
<br />and B Seam reserves to the west and north of the
<br />Dry Fork LBA tract, and MCC intends to mine E
<br />Seam reserves within the Dry Fork LBA tract (see
<br />Section 1.8 Reasonably Foreseeable Mining Plan
<br />and Foreseeable Surface Use).
<br />The BLM-Colorado State Office and the USDI-
<br />Office of Stffface Mining Reclamation and
<br />Enforcement are participating in this EIS as
<br />cooperating agencies.
<br />1-1
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