Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Proposed Absaloka Mine Crow Reservation South Extension Coal Lease Approval, Mine Development Plan and Related Federal and State Permitting Actions, Big Horn County, MT

Resumen

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) as joint lead agencies, with the Crow Tribe of Indians, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as cooperating agencies, intend to file a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) with the EPA for the proposed extension of the existing Absaloka mine onto the Crow Indian Reservation and for related federal and state permitting actions. This notice also announces that the BIA will simultaneously issue its Record of Decision (ROD) for approval of the Westmoreland Resources, Inc. (WRI) lease with the Crow Tribe for the South Extension coal lease tract on the Reservation, and the approval of all surface use agreements between WRI and the allottee surface owners in the South Extension tract. The FEIS and ROD are now available for public review.