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U.S. Department of the Interior <br />Bureau of Land Management <br />Uncompahgre Field Office <br />2505 S. Townsend Ave. <br />Montrose, CO 81401 <br />Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) <br />DOI- BLM- CO -S050 -2013 -0027 EA <br />Location: Township 14 South, Range 90 West, portions of Sections 10, 11, 14 and 15, 6th Prime <br />Meridian, Gunnison County, Colorado <br />Project Name: Sunset Trail Area Coal Exploration Plan <br />Applicant: Ark Land Company (ALC) on behalf of Mountain Coal Company (MCC) <br />Background <br />The BLM Uncompahgre Field Office has completed an Environment Assessment (EA) # CO -S050- <br />2013 -0027 that analyses the effects of drilling 10 exploration holes including temporary road access and <br />drill pad construction. The exploration drilling would be on National Forest System land with Federal <br />minerals. <br />The USDA Forest Service completed an Environmental Impact Statement in 2012 for the Federal Coal <br />Lease Modifications COC -1362 & COC- 67232. That document analyzed the impacts of surface <br />disturbing activities. The Sunset Trail Area Coal Exploration EA addresses the site - specific impacts now <br />that a plan of operations has been submitted with surface disturbing activities identified. The EA tiers to, <br />and incorporates by reference, the impacts identified in the 2012 FEIS. <br />The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) is a cooperating agency as the <br />surface managing agency. BLM must have concurrence of the surface managing agency for the approval <br />terms of the exploration plan as they must consent to approval of the exploration plan. <br />Finding of No Significant Impact <br />Based on the analysis of potential environmental impacts contained in CO -SO50- 2013 -0027 EA, I have <br />determined that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the human environment. The <br />proposed action includes the lease stipulations (listed in Appendix A of the EA). No additional <br />conditions of approval are needed. <br />Rationale <br />This FONSI is based on my consideration of the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) criteria for <br />significance (40 CFR 1508.27), with regard to the context and the intensity of impacts described in the <br />EA. <br />Context <br />The proposed action is in Gunnison County. CO, within the Minnesota Creek area. The 10 exploration <br />holes would be located on Federal coal leases COC -1362 and COC- 67232. The holes would be drilled <br />June 2013 <br />