GENERAL53904

• Permit No: C1981022
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 4/6/2000
• Doc Name: RECORD OF DECISION Elk Creek Lease Tract COC 61357
• Permit Index Doc Type: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

March 2000 Record of Decision Page 2
I. INTRODUCTION
Background
In November of 1997, Oxbow Mining (Oxbow) filed a coal lease application with the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado State Office, for
lands located in Delta and Gunnison counties, Colorado. Oxbow's coal lease application was
amended by the BLM during tract delineation. The Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract contains a
mixture of federal (BLM and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Grand Mesa-
Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forests) and private surface ownership. The coal is federally
owned. Figure 1, General Location Map, show the general location of the tract area. Figure 2,
Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract show the area in more specific detail.
Three federal coal applications were pending before the agencies: the Iron Point Exploration
license application (COC-61945), the Iron Point Coal Lease Tract Application (COC-61209) and
the Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract Application (COC-61357). The BLM and the Forest Service
determined that the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) would be
best served by preparing a consolidated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the three
actions. The BLM and Forest Service are joint lead agencies for the document. The
Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining is a cooperating agency.
The North Fork Coal Draft EIS was made available to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the general public on September 3, 1999, and Notice of Availability for the
Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on that same date. The formal comment
period on the Draft EIS ended on November 3, 1999. The Final EIS was made available to
EPA and the public on February 25, 2000. The Notice of Availability for the Final EIS was
published in the Federal Register on that same date.
Decisions to be Made/Authorities
This Record of Decision (ROD) documents findings specific to actions related to leasing,
through the Lease-by-Application (LBA) process, for the Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract. This
action was analyzed in the North Fork Coal Final EIS. This ROD documents BLM decisions
including terms and conditions for leasing lands for underground coal mining activities on
unleased federal coal.
The Forest Service participated in the analysis as a joint lead agency. The Forest Supervisor of
the GMUG will document his respective decisions with regard to this leasing in a separate and
distinct ROD. The Forest Supervisor must decide whether or not to consent to the BLM.
With this ROD, the Colorado State Director of the BLM is the NEPA responsible signatory
official for the BLM and will decide whether or not to offer the Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract for
competitive leasing under the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975. The BLM
Uncompahgre Field Office Manager was responsible for the preparation of the EIS and
provided the State Director with briefings and recommendations.
The decisions are in accordance with the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975
(MLA), and the federal regulations at 43 CFR 3400. The decisions do not encompass all
resource management practices that may occur within the project area. Previous
environmental documents, past and ongoing activities, and reasonably foreseeable activities
were identified and included in cumulative effects analyses presented in the Final EIS. Future
BLM -Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract