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SUMMARY
<br />INTRODUCTION AND
<br />BACKGROUND
<br />[n 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 amended
<br />(30 U.S.C. Section 201), as implemented by
<br />regulations found at 43 CFR 3425. The lands
<br />subject to this Lease-by-Application (LBA) are
<br />located near Somerset, in Gunnison County,
<br />Colorado. The tract is adjacent to the existing
<br />underground workings of the West Elk Mine
<br />operated by Mountain Coal Company, LLC (MCC).
<br />ArkLand and MCC are wholly owned subsidiaries
<br />of Arch Coal, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri.
<br />The surface lands involved are National Forest
<br />System (NFS) lands administered by the USDA
<br />Forest Service (Forest Service) within the Grand
<br />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 for 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 />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'/z SW'/aNW'/a, and W%zSWY<, 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 and 4, S%zNW'/<, SW'/<,
<br />W%zNW''/aSE%<, and SW%qSE'/a;
<br />2. Sec. 2, lots 1-4, inclusive, S%zN%z, and S%z;
<br />3. Sec. 11, N%zN%z;
<br />4. Sec. 12, N%zNWYa, and NW'/<NE%<.
<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.
<br />The BLM-Colorado State Office and the USDI-
<br />Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
<br />Enforcement (OSM) are participating in this EIS as
<br />cooperating agencies.
<br />PURPOSE OF AND NEED FOR
<br />ACTION
<br />The purpose and need for this Federal action is to
<br />lease additional Federal coal reserves in the Dry
<br />Fork LBA tract for economic development and
<br />production of the coal, consistent with applicable
<br />laws and regulations.
<br />The purpose of this drafr environmental impact
<br />statement (DEIS) is to evaluate the potential
<br />environmental consequences of leasing additional
<br />Federal coal lands for underground coal resource
<br />development.
<br />ArkLand made application to obtain the Dry Fork
<br />LBA tract to add reserves to the existing reserve
<br />base and to extend the life of the West Elk Mine. If
<br />ArkLand was the successful bidder at a potential
<br />lease sale, then MCC would extract coal from this
<br />lease tract as part of a logical extension of the West
<br />Dry Fork Lease-By-Application DEIS S-1
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