[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 222 (Friday, November 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68814-68816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27771]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWYR05000.L51100000.GN0000.LVEMK10CW370-WYW-140590]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Gas Hills In Situ Recovery Uranium Project, Fremont
and Natrona Counties, WY
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Gas Hills
In Situ Recovery (ISR) Uranium Project and by this notice
[[Page 68815]]
is announcing the opening of the comment period.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Gas Hills ISR Uranium Project draft EIS within
45 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency
publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The BLM
will announce future meetings and any other public involvement
activities at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media
releases, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the Gas Hills ISR Uranium Project may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Web site: www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/lfo/gashills.html.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: 307-332-8444.
Mail or hand delivery: Bureau of Land Management, Attn:
Kristin Yannone, Lander Field Office, 1335 Main Street, Lander, WY
82520.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the
following BLM offices:
Lander Field Office, 1335 Main Street, Lander, Wyoming
82520;
High Plains District Office, 2987 Prospector Drive,
Casper, Wyoming 82604;
Wind River/Bighorn Basin District Office, 101 South 23rd,
Worland, Wyoming 82401; and
Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne,
Wyoming 82009; Interested persons may also view the documents online
at: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/lfo/gashills.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin Yannone, Project Manager,
telephone: 307-332-8400; address: mail: 1335 Main Street, Lander, WY
82520; email: [email protected]. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above
individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The applicant, Power Resources, Inc. (PRI),
a wholly owned subsidiary of Cameco US Holdings, Inc., doing business
as Cameco Resources, has filed a plan of operations pursuant to 43 CFR
subpart 3809 regulations to construct uranium recovery facilities
including: Waste water disposal facilities; access roads; pipelines and
utility lines; delineation, injection and production wells; and
improvement of one existing and construction of one new equipment-
housing satellite facility used in the ISR process. The project would
be located in eastern Fremont and western Natrona counties,
approximately 45 road miles east of Riverton, Wyoming, and
approximately 65 road miles west of Casper, Wyoming.
The boundary of the Gas Hills Project Area (GHPA) encompasses
approximately 8,500 acres, of which approximately 1,300 acres would
incur surface disturbance from the proposed project. Approximately 15
percent of the surface within the GHPA has been disturbed by past
mining and exploration activities. This disturbance includes an
existing warehouse structure (the Carol Shop) and access road (the AML
Road).
If the proposed mining operation is not approved, existing
reclamation responsibilities under the No-Action Alternative would
require Cameco to remove and reclaim the existing disturbance once
ongoing exploratory activities are concluded. This reclamation would
include a minimum of 26.7 acres for the removal of the Carol Shop. If
no other use for the existing 1.8 miles of road were identified, it
would need to be removed and reclaimed, an additional 10.9 acres.
Additional notice-level activities resulting from exploration would
need to be reclaimed as well for a total of 40.2 acres. The use of the
road and Carol Shop have been allowed during active exploration in the
area and currently maintained mill-site claims.
The Plan of Operations identifies five production areas, or mine
units, with subsurface ore bodies within the Wind River Formation for
ISR extraction. Construction, operation, groundwater restoration, and
surface reclamation of five mine units would occur during an estimated
period of approximately 25 years. At the end of the project, all
surface structures would be removed, and all disturbances would be re-
contoured and reclaimed. In accordance with Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) regulations, any radiological contaminated wastes,
including any processing pipe and equipment as well as solid residue or
liners from evaporation ponds, would be removed from the Project Area
and disposed of in accordance with regulations.
The Draft EIS addresses the direct, indirect, and cumulative
impacts of the Proposed Action and two alternatives including the No
Action Alternative and the Resource Protection Alternative.
The Proposed Action Alternative is the project proposed by Cameco
as identified by the Plan of Operations, the NRC license application,
and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Land Quality
Division's Mine Permit Application 687.
Under the Resource Protection Alternative, the project would
utilize the same ISR process occurring over the same time period as the
Proposed Action, but modifications to the project would reduce surface
disturbance and heavy truck transportation. Modifications would include
on-site resin processing to produce slurry, submittal of an annual
development plan, construction timing constraints, a disturbance offset
for an additional satellite facility, reduced number of evaporation
ponds, enhanced reclamation, and power line burial.
The Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal
Register on September 7, 2010 (75 FR 54384). Key issues identified
during scoping included: Alternative reclamation and restoration
criteria and timing; alternative transportation routes; alternative
wastewater treatment, storage, and disposal; potential groundwater
restoration issues; enforcement of reclamation or restoration; impacts
to area recreation, grazing, and hunting; impacts to surface waters
from runoff; the potential to impact sage-grouse, migratory birds, mule
deer, and antelope; adequate opportunity for comment by the public; and
adequate analysis of cumulative impacts.
The public is encouraged to comment on any of the draft
alternatives. The BLM asks that those submitting comments make them as
specific as possible with reference to chapters, page numbers, and
paragraphs in the draft EIS document. Comments that contain only
opinions or preferences will not receive a formal response; however,
they will be considered and included as part of the BLM decision-making
process. The most useful comments will include new technical or
scientific information, identification of data gaps in the impact
analysis, or technical or scientific rationale for opinions or
preference.
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 may
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
[[Page 68816]]
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10)
Donald A. Simpson,
State Director, Wyoming.
[FR Doc. 2012-27771 Filed 11-15-12; 8:45 am]
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