GENERAL46211 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

®'~ United States Forest fi~ ,~' Department of Service Agriculture Dear Interested Party, File code: 2820-4~EDE~VED Date: Mazc 2005 ~~ 2 5 2005 Division of Minerals & Geology The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) and the BLM- Colorado State Office (BLM) have prepared a draft environmental impact statement (Draft EIS) that considers the effects of leasing a 1,517-acre parcel of National Forest System lands for underground coal mining. The Dry Fork Federal Coal Lease-by-Application Draft EIS was prepared in response to an application submitted by ArkLand, a subsidiary of ArchCoal, Inc., for lands adjacent to the existing West Elk Mine near Somerset in Gunnison County, Colorado. The lease contains about 17 million tons of federal coal reserves. The Draft EIS is enclosed for your review, and is being released for the 45-day public comment period according to 36 CFR 215.5. The opportunity to comment on the Draft EIS ends 45 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The publication date of the NOA is the exclusive means for calculating the time to submit comments on the Draft EIS. Only those who submit timely and substantive comments will have eligibility to appeal the final decision. Substantive comments aze defined in 36 CFR 215. Substantive comments must be within the scope of the proposed action, have a direct relationship to the proposed action, and include supporting reasons for the Responsible Official to consider. Also, for appeal eligibility, each individual or representative from each organization submitting comments must either sign the comments or verify their identity upon request. The Forest Service Responsible Official is Charles S. Richmond, Forest Supervisor for the GMUG, (970) 874-6600. Comments maybe submitted in hard copy through the mail, email, fax or delivered by hand. Mail comments to: Liane Mattson Fax Comments to: Leasable Minerals Program Leader USDA Forest Service Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison NFs 2250 Highway 50 Delta, CO 81416 (970)874-6698 Electronic comments will be accepted, and must be submitted as a Word document, or in rich text format. Electronic comments should be sent to: comments-rocky-tnountain- mug~(a fs.fed.us. For electronically mailed comments, the sender should normally receive an automated electronic acknowledgement from the agency as confirmation of receipt. If the sender Grand Mesa, 2250 Highway 50 Uncompahgre and Delta, CO 81416 Gunnison Vofce: 970-874-6600 National Forests TDD: 970-874-6660 UPS ~" Caring for [he Land and Serving People P..~~e~ „,. H~•~,,~~~•~~ ~,_,~.•~ ~•a