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United States Department of the Interior <br />Bureau of Land Management <br />Uncompahgre Field Office <br />2465 South Townsend Avenue <br />Montrose, Colorado 81401 <br />mjG 2 5 V <br />Ctvlsto(l of KeGia00WV%1 <br />oning and SOW <br />Dear Interested Party, <br />AUG 2 0 2008 <br />LLi OOAtII1r1I p M MEIIO? <br />rwuu a tuo ruuwron <br />In Reply Refer to: 3420 <br />COC70615 <br />The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Uncompahgre Field Office (BLM), is <br />seeking input regarding an application by Oxbow Mining, LLC (OML) for a federal competitive coal <br />lease-by-application (LBA). The Elk Creek East Tract (ECET) encompasses about 786 acres of BLM <br />managed surface and mineral estate located about 1.5 miles northeast of Somerset, Colorado in Gunnison <br />County, in T. 13 S. R. 90 W., 61h P.M. and generally described as follows: <br />T.13S., R. 90W., 6th PM, <br />Seca 3: Portion of W'/2; <br />Sec. 4: N''/2 and Portion of N%zS'/2; <br />Sec. 5: Portion of E%2. <br />(SEE ENCLOSED FIGURE 1). <br />The applicants purpose and objectives for the LBA tract are to obtain a lease that would allow access to <br />adjacent coal reserves, provide return to their investors, and allow continued coal extraction consistent <br />with applicable company, state, federal, and local environmental permitting and operational requirements. <br />The proposed action conforms to the overall guidance given in the BLM Uncompahgre Basin Resource <br />Management Plan (RMP, 1989), which encourages environmentally sound energy and mineral <br />development. <br />OML applied for the ECET as a logical extension east of its D-Seam workings in their Elk Creek Mine, <br />located near Somerset, Colorado. OML presently operates using a longwall system of underground <br />mining. <br />The adjacent federal coal lease COC61357 was analyzed in the North Fork Coal EIS of 2000. Portions of <br />the proposed ECET have been included in federal coal exploration license tracts which were analyzed in <br />two BLM lands NEPA documents, CO-150-2003-53 EA and CO-150-07-019 EA. The adjacent federal <br />coal lease COC61357 is currently undergoing NEPA analysis with regard to a lease modification (Tract <br />4) that involves 148 acres that are adjacent to the northwest side of the ECET LBA. <br />The BLM has determined that this action must be evaluated under the National Environmental Policy Act <br />(NEPA) to identify the potential for environmental impacts related to the proposed project. The BLM is <br />seeking any comments you may have related to this project. Your comments will assist the <br />interdisciplinary team in identifying issues that should be addressed as part of the evaluation being <br />prepared for this project. <br />Page lof 2