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December 1.2003 Page 9-2 Ark Land made application to obtain the West Flatiron LBA tract to prevent a bypass of a federal coal resource (BLM, 2003). MCC, a company affiliated with Ark Land, would plan to extract coal from this lease tract as part of a logical extension of the company's current underground mining activities. MCC presently operates a longwall system of underground mining at the West Elk Mine, which is permitted with the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) for a production rate of 8.2 million tons of coat per year. The West Elk Mine was opened in 1981 and presently produces coal from several existing federal coal leases. The coal mined at the West Elk Mine, as well as from other mines in the North Fork Valley, is a high BTU, low sulfur coal. It is considered a "clean coal" (compliance coal). Its use in industry helps meet standards of the Clean Air Act. As such, there is a demand for coal from the West Elk Mine and other mines in the North Fork Valley by electric power generation industries. Recovering these federally-administered coal reserves ensures that they would not be bypassed or rendered inaccessible. 1.3 Leasing Process /Authorizing Actions and Relationship to Policies, Plans and Programs This EA is prepared to inform federal agency decision makers, publicly disclose the probable environmental impacts of coal leasing, explore alternatives, and provide for possible mitigation measures in the event the lease is approved. In order for a mining company to access Federal coal reserves, the company must apply to lease the Federa! lands for development of the coal resource. An application is submitted to the BLM, who administers the Federal mineral estate on all Federal lands. BLM initiates the lease consideration process, which ensures that a NEPA analysis is completed. BLM directives indicate the need to offer Federal coal in quantities responsive to market conditions, and assure maximum economic recovery (MER) of mineable Federal coal reserves. BLM cooperates with the surface management agency (SMA), who, by agreement, may take the lead on the NEPA analysis. This federal coal lease application (the West Flatiron LBA tract) is being processed under the authority of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (MLA), as amended by the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975, and implementing regulations at 43 CFR 3425, Lease-on-Application. The BLM has the mineral leasing authority, and since the West Flatiron LBA tract contains NFS and BLM public lands, the Forest Service and BLM are the SMAs. Consent of the SMA is required before a lease can be offered by the BLM. The Forest Service and BLM must also prescribe conditions for the protection of non-coal resources. See Appendix B, Standard BLM Coal Lease Terms, Conditions and Stipulations, and Appendix C, Stipulations for Lands Under Jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Forest Service and BLM will develop terms, conditions and stipulations that will be attached to the coal lease (if it is offered for sale), to ensure MER and protection of the environment. See Appendix D, Potential Stipulations -West Flatiron Coal Lease Tract. If the LBA tract is leased, it wiif be done under a competitive bid at a lease sale. Granting the lease would give the successful bidder (the lessee) exclusive rights to mine the coal, but does not authorize mining or surface disturbing activities. This EA considers the potential environmental impacts associated with leasing these lands for underground coal development. A Reasonably Foreseeable Development Scenario (REDS), a conceptual mine plan, was developed by MCC to aid in assessing potential impacts. The REDS is described in Section 2.9, Reasonably Foreseeable Development Scenario. Envirrsnment~l Fss2ssment `rVest Flatiron LB,~ Tract G~.,nnison L;oun?y, Cr±ipifiClo