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Environmental Scientists and Engineers. LLC <br />lease application may be successful. <br />2.3 Other Alternatives Evaluated <br />The following three alternatives to the Proposed Action were evaluated and then <br />eliminated from further consideration: <br />• Reduced Lease Tract Acreage <br />• Increased Lease Tract Acreage <br />• Incremental Leasing of Smaller Lease Tracts <br />2.3.1 Reduced Lease Tract Acreage <br />Under this alternative a smaller acreage and coal reserve than that requested in the <br />Proposed Action would be applied for in the proposed lease sale. This alternative was <br />eliminated from further consideration because the requested lease area and reserve <br />comprise part of a logical mining unit (LMU) in which the coal reserves would be <br />developed and extracted in an efficient sequence. A reduced lease tract alternative would <br />probably make mining the remaining resource on Federal Lease C- 0123475 <br />uneconomical. The addition of the Collom Tract to the existing lease would allow for <br />optimum resource recovery and in sufficient quantities to justify the capital costs to <br />develop and operate a mine. <br />2.3.2 Increased Lease Tract Acreage <br />Under this alternative a larger acreage and coal reserve than that requested in the <br />Proposed Action would be applied for in the proposed lease sale. This alternative was <br />eliminated from further consideration because the known additional coal resources <br />adjacent to the proposed lease are deeper than can be economically mined under present <br />technical and economic conditions. <br />2.3.3 Incremental Leasing of Smaller Lease Tracts <br />Under this alternative the lease area requested in the Proposed Action would be broken <br />up into smaller tracts and new leases applied for when needed. This alternative was <br />eliminated from further consideration because the requested lease area and reserve . <br />comprise a LMU in which the coal reserves would be developed and extracted in an <br />efficient sequence that allows for optimum resource recovery. Smaller lease blocks would <br />require frequent new lease applications for additional coal reserves. These smaller lease <br />blocks and resulting resource base would discourage efficient mine planning and <br />equipment selection, and a company would resist committing the capital required to <br />develop the most cost effective and competitive mine. <br />2.4 Reasonably Foreseeable Related Future Actions <br />Issuance of the Preferred Action coal lease could result in the following future actions: <br />• Development of a new surface coal mine, mine operations, and final <br />P. PROJECTS Cokw o.ni 88 FA Filial.BI.JI -, -E.\ (',•Il n nK 01 Do d.+ <br />1 0 <br />