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Appeal Deciding Officer <br />• "no surface occupancy" stipulation <br />Appellant states that "[n]either the public nor the decision maker is provided information that <br />would enable them to understand where subsidence or other impacts might occur." However, the <br />EA identified past, present and reasonably foreseeable actions: <br />EA, 3. 1, page 41: 3.1 Past, Present and Reasonably Foreseeable Actions <br />With respect to surface disturbance, only subsidence (lowering of the land surface) is <br />expected on the lease modification area; surface facilities are not expected, nor will be <br />allowed. <br />And, in the North Fork Coal EIS (Tab 4, Section 1.9), reasonably foreseeable coal mining <br />activities:... typically, [lease] modifications do not involve any substantial surface disturbance <br />or additional impacts over and above the existing operation. <br />Significance exists if it is reasonable to anticipate a cumulatively significant impact on the <br />environment. In consenting to authorize BLM to modify the lease area with an additional 157 <br />acres (proposed action), the USFS has determined there will be little to no surface disturbance, <br />and, therefore, impacts were not determined to be significant within the context or setting of the <br />proposed action. This is also addressed in the Decision Notice (Tab 3). Subsidence and other <br />surface- related issues are covered in the Decision Notice under Appendix B- Stipulations for <br />National Forest System Lands Federal Coal Lease COC -61357 and Appendix C- Federal Coal <br />Lease COC- 61357. <br />In the EA, Response to Comments - Conduct an EIS because the effects are significant <br />The agencies feel that a proposal that has no impacts or very minimal surface impacts <br />from subsidence [only] is not a significant action requiring the preparation of an EIS. <br />Also, the Appellant is concerned about whether OMLLC will be allowed to build roads, clear <br />pads, and construct methane drainage wells within the Springhouse Park Roadless Area outside <br />of the Lease Modification area to mine the additional half - million tons of coal. Again, this is <br />covered in the EA (Tab 2) and Decision Notice (Tab 3). As described in the Decision Notice <br />(Tab 3, Appendix C), consenting to the lease does not result in any direct effects to the land <br />surface of the lease tract. Furthermore, the "no surface occupancy" stipulation applies to all NFS <br />lands within the Springhouse Park Roadless Area. <br />EA, 1.2, Background of this Lease Modification, pgs 15 -16: <br />... stipulations would be carried forward from the existing (parent) lease including a <br />stipulation for activities in roadless areas... <br />The coal lease was modified in December 2008. Appendix B of the permit includes the <br />stipulations that were updated on the parent lease of 2001 (Tab 7) and in the Decision Notice <br />(Tab 3, Appendix Q. One of the stipulation changes included "roadless ", which would apply to <br />the USFS portion on both the parent and any lease modifications. The area includes the <br />Springhouse Park Inventoried Roadless Area and is subject to applicable restrictions. <br />