[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 193 (Friday, October 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46830-46831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21599]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNVB00000.L51100000.GN0000.LVEMF1703550.211B.17XMO#4500108947]
Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement for the Gold Bar Mine Project, Eureka County, Nevada
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, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mount Lewis
Field Office, Battle Mountain, Nevada, has prepared a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Gold Bar Mine Project
(Project) in Eureka County, Nevada, and by this Notice is announcing
its availability.
DATES: The BLM will not issue a final decision on the proposal for a
minimum of 30 days after the date that the Environmental Protection
Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS for the Project and other documents
pertinent to this proposal may be reviewed at the Mount Lewis Field
Office: 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, Nevada 89820. The document is
available for download at http://bit.ly/2gyfZms.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Gabriel--Project Manager,
telephone 775-635-4000; address 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain,
Nevada 89820; email [email protected].
Contact Christine Gabriel to have your name added to the project
mailing list. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to
contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FRS 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: McEwen Mining Inc. (MMI) proposes to develop
a gold mine in the southwest portion of the Roberts Mountains
approximately 30 miles northwest of Eureka, Nevada. The mine plan
boundary encompasses 5,362 acres of public lands and 199 acres of
private lands located in Eureka County, Nevada. The proposed Project
would include four open pits; waste rock dump areas (WRDAs); crushing,
screening, and agglomeration facilities; heap leach pads (HLP), an
associated process solution pond, and an event pond; an adsorption,
desorption, and recovery (ADR) plant including barren and pregnant
solution tanks; ancillary and other facilities including an explosive
storage area, ammonium nitrate prill silos, liquid natural gas (LNG)
Cryostorage or compressed natural gas (CNG) generators with a switch
station, a truck shop and wash bay, a ready line, landfill, laydown
areas, water and power infrastructure, buildings, yards, parking,
storage, growth media stockpiles, production water wells (GBPW-210 and
GBPW-211) and an associated water supply pipeline, groundwater
monitoring wells (GBMW-01, GBMW-03, and GBMW-04), communication
facilities, potable water and fire water facilities, septic systems,
and fencing; and mine access roads (Three Bars Road, Atlas Haul Road,
North Roberts Creek Road, Bypass Road [NVN-91566], and Roberts Creek
Road). The Project would disturb 1,154 acres, including re-disturbing
420 acres of existing, non-reclaimed disturbance from a previous
abandoned mining operation; 718 acres of new disturbance; and 16 acres
of new disturbance as a result of exploration. Of the 1,154 acres, 185
acres would be on private land, and 969 acres would be on public land.
The proposed pit depths would not intercept groundwater. No pit
dewatering would be necessary and no pit lakes are anticipated to form
after mining operations end. The Final EIS, through scoping and a 45-
day public comment period, has identified and analyzed impacts to the
following resources areas: Water resources, air quality, vegetation
resources, wildlife, grazing management, land use and access,
aesthetics (noise and visual), cultural resources, paleontological
resources, geological resources (including minerals and soils),
recreation, social and economic values, hazardous materials, Native
American cultural concerns, and wild horses. The proposed project area
does not have any lands with wilderness characteristics (LWCs). The
Pony Express National Historic Trail crosses existing Three Bars and
North Roberts Creek Roads; however, public and recreational access to
the National Historic Trail would not be affected by mining activities.
The FEIS describes and analyzes the proposed Project's direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts on all affected resources. In addition
to the proposed Project, four alternatives were analyzed including the
25kV Overhead Distribution Line Alternative, the Three Bars Road/Atlas
Haul Road as Only Access Alternative, the Mount Hope and North Roberts
Creek Road for Light Vehicle Traffic Alternative, and the No Action
Alternative. The Draft EIS was released for a 45-day public comment
period, which ended April 17, 2017. A public meeting was held in
Eureka, Nevada on March 22, 2017. A total of 2,178 comment letters were
received from the general public, agencies, special interest groups,
businesses and organizations. The FEIS responds to all comments
received. These public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying
text, but did not significantly change the analysis. Based on the
analysis in the FEIS, the BLM has determined that the preferred
alternative is the approval of the Project, with accompanying
mitigation measures and voluntary applicant-committed
[[Page 46831]]
environmental protection measures. The BLM has used and coordinated the
NEPA scoping and comment process to help fulfill the public involvement
process under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C.
306108) as provided in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3)--and continues to do so. The
information about historic and cultural resources within the area
potentially affected by the proposed Project has assisted the BLM in
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources in the context of
both NEPA and Title 54 of the NHPA.
The BLM has consulted and continues to consult with Indian tribes
on a government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order
13175 and other policies. Tribal concerns, including potential impacts
to areas of critical cultural and spiritual significance and potential
impacts to cultural resources have been analyzed in the Final EIS.
Following a 30-day Final EIS availability and review period, a
Record of Decision (ROD) will be issued. The decision reached in the
ROD is subject to appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals. The 30-
day appeal period begins with the issuance of the ROD.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.
Joseph S. Moskiewicz,
Acting Field Manager, Mount Lewis Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2017-21599 Filed 10-5-17; 8:45 am]
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