Notice2024-17683
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
Primary source
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Published
August 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County, WY.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65389-65390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17683]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_WY_FRN_MO4500180137]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County,
Wyoming
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
announces the availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the Dry Creek Trona Mine Project, Sweetwater County, WY.
DATES: To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments on the
draft EIS, please ensure that the BLM receives your comments within 45
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in the
Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. The
BLM will hold a public meeting during the public comment period. The
date, time, and location will be announced at least 15 days prior to
the meeting, through public notices, news releases, social media,
mailings and the BLM website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510</a>.
ADDRESSES: The draft EIS is available for review on the BLM project
website at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510</a>.
Written comments related to the Dry Creek Trona Mine EIS may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510</a>
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#682a2425373f31372c1a11372b1a0d0d03280a0405460f071e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="195b5554464e40465d6b60465a6b7c7c72597b7574377e766f">[email protected]</span></a>
<bullet> Mail: Dry Creek Trona Mine EIS c/o BLM Kemmerer Field Office,
430 North Highway 189, Kemmerer, WY 83101
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at
<a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510</a> and at
the Kemmerer and Rock Springs Field Offices.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Lamborn, Project Manager,
telephone: (307) 828-4505; address: 430 North Highway 189, Kemmerer, WY
83101; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#86c4cacbd9d1dfd9c2f4ffd9c5f4e3e3edc6e4eaeba8e1e9f0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a383637252d23253e08032539081f1f113a181617541d150c">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States
who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability
may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications
relay services for contacting Ms. Kelly Lamborn. Individuals outside
the United States should use the relay services offered within their
country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the
United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The draft EIS provides the analysis of
environmental impacts for the proposed Dry Creek Trona Mine Project.
Pacific Soda, LLC (Pacific Soda) owns rights to mine trona resources on
private lands and leased BLM administered lands in the Kemmerer Field
Office in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The proposed mine permit area
includes two BLM leased sections and three private sections
locatedsouth of I-80 and west of Wyoming State Highway 530, south of
the town of Green River, Wyoming. The mine plan, if approved by the
BLM, would allow Pacific Soda to construct mining facilities and employ
solution mining technologies to develop their BLM leases by mining
trona beds 2,300 feet below the surface and processing that trona for
market. Pacific Soda estimates that approximately 23.5 million tons of
trona are in reserve on each section of land within the proposed
project area, that mining would occur on each section for 9 to 10
years, and that mined trona would be refined to produce approximately
6.0 million metric tons of marketable soda ash per year and 440,900
metric tons of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) per year. Key approving
agencies are the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, the BLM,
and the State of Wyoming Industrial Siting Commission.
There are four alternatives under consideration. Approximately the
same amount of trona would be mined under each action alternative
(i.e., alternatives B, C, and D):
Alternative A--No Action Alternative: The project would not be
approved.
Alternative B--Proposed Action: Company proposed action would
include processing facilities at the mine location. This alternative
includes 26.22 miles of water line and impacts nine acres of USFS
managed lands near the Green River. Under the proposed action
approximately 6,325 total acres could be impacted, of which about 327
acres is identified as a priority habitat management area (PHMA) for
sage grouse, with the remaining acreage a general habitat management
area (GHMA).
Alternative C--Modified proposed action: would collocate the
transmission line, access road, and rail line and thereby reduce
construction in undisturbed areas. The water line would remain the same
as Alternative B. Under this alternative approximately 6,387 total
acres would be impacted, of which about 324 acres are PHMA, with the
remaining acreage being GHMA.
Alternative D--BLM Preferred Alternative: Implementation of
Alternative D would result in a larger total project footprint (7,015
acres). Although development of the well field and mine production
levels would be unchanged, the processing facilities would be moved
from the mine site area to a site north of I-80, approximately 8 miles
west of Green River, Wyoming, within a designated processing facilities
boundary. The water supply pipeline
[[Page 65390]]
would be relocated to north of I-80, connecting the processing
facilities to the water intake on the Green River, reducing the impacts
from 24.66 miles to 6.4 miles, and eliminating the disturbance through
the U.S. Forest Service Flaming Gorge Recreation Area and the Blacks
Fork PHMA for Greater Sage-Grouse.
The preparation of an EIS is intended to assist the BLM in the
decision-making process through the identification, analysis, and
public disclosure of potential impacts of the Proposed Action on the
human environment, including but not limited to environmental, social,
and economic impacts (40 CFR 1502.16). Aside from BLM- and USFS-managed
lands, there are no additional federal or Wyoming state-managed lands
that would be disturbed by the Proposed Action. Additionally, the BLM
is not aware of any other proposed activities in the Dry Creek Trona
Mine Project area that would be considered a connected action to the
Proposed Action under NEPA.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action: The BLM's purpose for the
action is to respond to Pacific Soda's Plan of Operations to construct
and operate trona mining facilities, including mine well fields,
processing facilities, a co-generation plant, storage ponds, access
roads, railroad spurs, and utility features. If approved by the BLM,
this would allow Pacific Soda the opportunity to develop their valid
existing leases on specific public lands within the proposed mining
plan boundary as authorized by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (as
amended) and FLPMA. Pacific Soda would construct the mining facilities
and transportation and utility features specified in the Plan of
Operations and SF-299 applications for rights-of-way for off lease
facilities.
The need for the action is established by the BLM's responsibility
under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (as amended) and FLPMA. Under
these statutes, the BLM is required to respond to the Proposed Action
and review the proposed Mine Plan and associated SF-299 applications to
ensure that proposed mining activities and construction of associated
facilities do not cause unnecessary or undue degradation of public
lands and are carried out consistent with leasing stipulations and
other requirements mandated in the BLM Kemmerer and Green River
Resource Management Plans (RMPs), as well as other applicable federal,
state, and local statutes and regulations.
Schedule for the Decision-Making Process: The Proposed Final EIS is
anticipated to be available for public review in December 2024, and the
Record of Decision in March 2025. The BLM will continue to consult with
Indian Tribal Nations on a government-to-government basis in accordance
with Executive Order 13175, BLM MS 1780, and other Departmental
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due
consideration. Consultation with interested Indian Tribal Nations is
ongoing. A Programmatic Agreement for addressing cultural concerns is
included in the EIS. Following a thorough NEPA analysis, the BLM's
decision includes whether to approve the Plan of Operations and
subsequent SF-299 applications (for transportation and utility
features) and, if approved, to determine whether modifications and/or
additional mitigation measures are required to comply with the FLPMA
mandate to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation and conform to
leasing stipulations specified in the BLM Kemmerer and Green River
RMPs.
The BLM will hold a public meeting during the public comment
period. The specific date, time, and location will be announced at
least 15 days prior to the meeting, through public notices, news
releases, social media, mailings, and the BLM website: <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/admin/project/2016395/510</a>.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)
Franklin Keeler,
Acting District Manager, BLM High Desert District Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-17683 Filed 8-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-26-P
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