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March 2000 Record of Decision <br />V. ISSUES CONSIDERED AND ADDRESSED <br />This section addresses issues for the Elk Creek Lease Tract. Environmental effects are <br />described in Chapter 3.0, Environmental Analysis, of the Final EIS. Environmental protection <br />measures are found in Section 2.9, Reclamation Measures, Section 2.10, Management and <br />Mitigation, and Section 2.11, Monitoring Measures, of the Final EIS. Appendix H, Standard <br />BLM Coal Lease Terms, Conditions and Stipulations, of the Final EIS outlines standard BLM <br />coal lease terms, conditions and stipulations. <br />Maior Issues of Importance to the Public <br />14 <br />The major issues identified during the scoping process were socioeconomics, transportation of <br />coal, subsidence related impacts to water resources and cumulative impacts. There were <br />several references to "quality of life" issues. These were split mostly between socioeconomics <br />and transpcnation impacts for the purpose of categorization. <br />Comments on the Draft EIS generally addressed the same important issues. Quality of life <br />issues were more focused on noise and the public health and safety issues associated with <br />railroad crossings. Comments on the Draft EIS were used to focus and improve the analysis in <br />the Final EIS. <br />The EIS was written to consider specific applications for accessing federal coal lands and <br />provides the most comprehensive analysis of coal activity in the North Fork Valley undertaken <br />in recent years. The applications are related in time and proximity and the agencies analyzed <br />the three proposed actions under one EIS in order to best serve the requirements of NEPA. At <br />the planning level, the Forest Service's Forest Plan and the BLM's Resource Management Plan <br />made the lands analyzed in the EIS acceptable for coal leasing and development. <br />In response to comments on the Draft EIS, the reasonable foreseeable development scenarios <br />for coal development in the valley were expanded and improved. Analysis in any more detail of <br />projects or scenarios considered speculative at best would not add to the NEPA or the decision <br />making process. <br />Great effort has been expended in the preparation of the EIS to identify those significant <br />environmental issues which are deserving of study. The EIS discloses and considers the <br />impacts associated with these issues to support an informed decision. We have strived to <br />identify all practical mitigation measures and discuss the effectiveness of each measure <br />regardless of jurisdiction. We further identify the entity or agency that would have authority to <br />or ability to implement these measures. We do not believe it is the role of the federal land <br />management agencies to assert some broader control over what goes on in the North Fork <br />Valley and to do so may in fact be unwelcome and/or illegal. <br />We are very supportive of the community's efforts to address the very real effects of expanded <br />coal development. The North Fork Coal Working Group (NFCWG) is an excellent example of a <br />successful partnership that has been formed within the local community. The group has made <br />substantial progress in a collaborative way to address off-site impacts that fall outside the <br />regulatory jurisdiction of the BLM and Forest Service. While we may have no jurisdictional <br />authority over some of the community agreement provisions, we will notify potential bidders on <br />the lease of the community efforts. Potential bidders would then be apprized of the community <br />expectations for responsible resource development and would have the opportunity to obtain <br />further information. <br />Forest Service -Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract <br />