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aur. eau o'f Land Management <br />Record of Decision <br />for the <br />Final Environmental Impact Statement, <br />Federal Coal Lease Modifications COC -1362 & COC -67232 <br />1.0 Introduction <br />This Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Record of Decision (ROD) formally adopts the <br />Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Federal Coal Lease Modifications COC- <br />1362 & COC -67232 completed by the US Forest Service (USFS) Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre <br />and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG), Paonia Ranger District. I concur with the selection <br />of Alternative 3 as described in the attached USFS ROD (August 2, 2012). As identified in <br />40 CFR 1506.3(a), "An agency may adopt a Federal draft or final EIS or portion thereof <br />provided that the statement or portion thereof meets the standards for an adequate statement <br />under their [the CEQ] regulations." BLM affirms that this FEIS meets all requirements of <br />the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Department of Interior (DOI) and BLM for <br />preparation of an EIS. This decision will allow the BLM, with the consent of the USFS, to <br />lease the federal mineral estate underlying the National Forest System 'NFS) lands included <br />in Federal coal lease modifications COC -1362 and COC- 67232. <br />The BLM was a Cooperating Agency in the preparation of the FEIS. Per 40 CFR 1506.3(c), <br />the BLM adopts the FEIS without re- circulating, as the BLM has concluded that its <br />comments and suggestions were incorporated during the National Environmental Policy Act <br />(N EPA) process. <br />1.1 Background <br />A FEIS has been prepared by GMUG in cooperation with: <br />• Uncompahgre Field Office of the BLM, <br />• Southwest District Office of the BLM, <br />• Colorado State Office of the BLM, <br />• Western Region of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement <br />(OSM), and <br />• Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS). <br />The FEIS analyzes and discloses the impacts of modifying Federal coal Ieases COC- <br />1362 and COC -67232 in response to applications received by the BLM Colorado State <br />Office. On January 16, 2009, the BLM received an application from Mountain Coal <br />Company (MCC) to modify lease COC -1362 by adding approximately 800 acres; and an <br />application from Ark Land Company (ALC) to modify lease COC -67232 by adding <br />about 921 acres. Coal in the existing leases is mined at the West Elk Mine near <br />Somerset, Colorado. The applications were made to ensure that compliant and super- <br />