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December 1.2003 Fade 2-4 <br />2.4 Alternatives <br />2.4.1 Alternative 1 -Proposed Action Alternative <br />Under the proposed action alternative, the West Flatiron LBA tract would be offered for lease by <br />competitive bid. The tract would be offered with special coal lease stipulations for the protection of non- <br />coal resources as determined through the NEPA process, in addition to the BLM Standard Lease Terms, <br />and terms of the Standard Stipulation for Lands Under the Jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of <br />Agriculture. This alternative assumes that the successful bidder would extract coal in the lease tract using <br />underground Iongwall methods. This alternative is consistent with the GMUG LRMP and the BLM RMP. <br />Also see Section 2.1, Proposed Action. <br />2.4.2 Alternative 2 - No Action Alternative <br />Under the no action alternative, the West Flatiron LBA tract would not be offered for competitive sale at <br />this time. Federal mineable coal in the LBA tract would not be mined. <br />If the decision would be not to lease, it is assumed that MCC would continue its present Iongwall coal <br />mining activities at the West Elk Mine. The coal resources in the leased area would not be extracted, and <br />the economic benefits from coal mining (royalty payments, tax payments, etc.) on the LBA tract would not <br />be realized for federal, state and local agencies, as well as to the MCC workforce. <br />Implementation of the no action alternative would not cause a cessation of mining activities at the West <br />Elk Mine, nor would it be expected to alter present and expected coal mining trends in regional energy <br />development. Current resource trends and land uses in the region would continue. Natural processes and <br />existing land uses would continue. <br />2.5 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated From Detailed Evaluation <br />2.5.1 Room and Pillar Mining (NO Longwall Mining) of West Flatiron LBA Tract <br />The impacts of room and pillar mining were not assessed for the West Flatiron LBA tract. This alternative <br />was considered but not analyzed given the current reasonable expectation that coal in the LBA tract <br />would be recovered by Iongwall mining techniques. If a successful lessee decides that mining should be <br />completed solely by room and pillar methods, it might be necessary to undertake additional environmental <br />analysis to determine mining impacts, especially the subsidence potential, which would be different than <br />Iongwall induced subsidence. <br />2.5.2 Accessing Coal in West Flatiron LBA Tract Through Separate Surface <br />Facilities <br />Accessing the federal coal reserves in the West Flatiron LBA tract through portal and coal handling <br />facilities separate from the MCC facilities would not be feasible, as the coal does not outcrop in the area. <br />Given that the West Flatiron LBA tract is immediately adjacent to the West Elk Mine and that minor <br />amounts of recoverable coal resources exist in this tract, it is unlikely that any other mining firms besides <br />MCC would be able to economically extract this resource. This alternative was considered but not <br />E~~tiir~~nmenta! Assessment <br />West Flatiron LE',r~, 7r2rt <br />Gunnsoi7 Ccun+,. Ccioi2dn <br />