Notice2025-15164
Notice of Public Hearing and Request for Comments on the Fair Market Value and Maximum Economic Recovery for the Little Eccles Coal Lease by Application, UTU-92226, in Emery County, Utah
Primary source
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Published
August 11, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is soliciting public comments on the fair market value (FMV) and maximum economic recovery (MER) of the coal resources contained in the proposed Skyline Mine Little Eccles lease by application (LBA). This Federal Register notice complies with the Mining Leasing Act of 1920, as amended.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 152 (Monday, August 11, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 152 (Monday, August 11, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38659-38660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15164]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[A2407-014-004-065516; #02412-014-004-047181.1]
Notice of Public Hearing and Request for Comments on the Fair
Market Value and Maximum Economic Recovery for the Little Eccles Coal
Lease by Application, UTU-92226, in Emery County, Utah
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is soliciting public
comments on the fair market value (FMV) and maximum economic recovery
(MER) of the coal resources contained in the proposed Skyline Mine
Little Eccles lease by application (LBA). This Federal Register notice
complies with the Mining Leasing Act of 1920, as amended.
DATES: The public hearing will be held on August 20, 2025, from 5:00
p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (mountain time). Written comments for the FMV and MER
must be received by the BLM as provided in
[[Page 38660]]
the ADDRESSES section below, no later than August 30, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The public hearing details will be published in the ETV News
prior to the hearing and on e-Planning BLM website at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2015277/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2015277/510</a>. The EIS and
documents pertinent to this proposal are also available for review at
the same website.
Written comments on the FMV and MER must be received by Erika Tobin
at email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94f1e0fbf6fdfad4f6f8f9baf3fbe2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b2e3f242922250b292726652c243d">[email protected]</span></a> or Bureau of Land Management, Attn: Erika
Tobin, Skyline FMV and MER, 125 South 600 West, Price, UT 84501.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erika Tobin, telephone (435) 636-3605;
or by email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1f7a6b707d76715f7d737231787069"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5431203b363d3a143638397a333b22">[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. Tobin. 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 lands included in the tract are located
in Emery County, Utah, on lands managed by the Manti-La Sal National
Forest, and the coal is managed by BLM. The tract is described as
follows: Salt Lake Meridian, Utah, T. 14 S., R. l 6 E., sec. 10, W1/
2SE1/4 and SE1/4SE1/4.
The area described contains 120 acres, according to the official
plat of the survey on file with the BLM.
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC, submitted the Little Eccles LBA to the
BLM Utah State Office on July 10, 2019. The Flat Canyon lease
modification application (LMA) was also submitted on June 10, 2019, and
was subsequently revised on July 5, 2019. To comply with the National
Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and
regulations at 43 CFR 3425.3 and 43 CFR 3432.3(c), an EIS was completed
to address both the LBA and LMA. The complete EIS is available on e-
Planning at the location in the ADDRESSES section.
Additionally, the BLM and U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest
Service, as Federal defendants in WildEarth Guardians v. Haaland (2:16-
cv-00168), have a responsibility under the March 2023 settlement
agreement that resolved the litigation to complete an EIS that at a
minimum analyzes effects of climate change attributable to and air-
quality effects resulting from these lease proposals when deciding
whether or not to approve the Flat Canyon LMA and to issue a new
Federal coal lease in the Little Eccles LBA.
The Little Eccles LBA tract has one minable coal bed called the
Lower O'Connor A seam ranging from 10.5-15.7 feet in thickness. The LBA
contains approximately 2.1 million tons of high-volatile C bituminous
coal in-place and an estimated 858,000 tons recoverable coal reserves.
The coal quality on an ``as received'' basis is as follows: 12,519 BTU/
lb, 5.98 percent Moisture, 7.01 percent Ash, 42.70 percent Volatile
Matter, 44.31 percent Fixed Carbon, and 0.52 percent Sulfur. The BLM
may revise this information based on additional information and public
comments received.
Public Involvement Process
At the public hearing for the Little Eccles LBA, the BLM will make
every effort to accommodate all speakers who register, although
preference will be given to participants from the local area. Each
commenter will have 3 minutes to provide oral testimony. Written
statements and supporting information submitted during the comment
period for the LBA will be considered with the same weight as oral
comments and supporting information presented at the public hearing.
Proprietary data must be marked ``CONFIDENTIAL'' and shall be
treated in accordance with the laws and regulations governing
confidentiality of such information.
A copy of the FMV and MER comments, except those portions marked as
``CONFIDENTIAL'' by the author and meeting one of the exemptions in the
Freedom of Information Act, will be available for public review upon
request at the Price Field Office.
Comments on the Little Eccles LBA, FMV, and MER may include, but
need not be limited to, the following topics:
1. The quality of the coal resource;
2. The mining method or methods which would achieve MER of the
coal, including specifications of seams to be mined and the most
desirable timing and rate of production, restriction of mining, and the
inclusion of the tract in an existing or proposed mining operation;
3. Whether this tract is likely to be mined as part of an existing
or a proposed mine and evaluated on a realistic incremental basis, in
relation to the mine which has the greatest value;
4. Whether the tract should be evaluated as part of an existing
mine or as a portion of a new potential mine;
5. Restrictions to mining that may affect coal recovery;
6. The price the mined coal would bring when sold;
7. Costs, including mining and reclamation, and the anticipated
timing of production;
8. The percentage rate at which anticipated income streams should
be discounted, either with inflation or in the absence of inflation, in
which case the anticipated rate of inflation should be given;
9. Depreciation, depletion, amortization and other tax accounting
factors;
10. Documented information on the terms and conditions of recent
and similar coal land transactions in the lease sale area;
11. The value of any privately held mineral or surface estate in
the lease sale area; and
12. Any potential or known competitive interest in the lease sale
area.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us to withhold your personal identifying information from public
review, we cannot guarantee we will be able to do so.
(Authority: 43 CFR 3422.1, 3425.3, and 3425.4.)
Gerald Davis,
Utah State Director, Acting.
[FR Doc. 2025-15164 Filed 8-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-25-P
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