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Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Plan Amendment to the Pony Express Resource Management Plan (RMP)

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: June 23, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 122)]
[Notices]
[Page 39174-39175]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23jn00-83]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-020-00-5101-ER-J206, U-76985]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
and Proposed Plan Amendment to the Pony Express Resource Management
Plan (RMP)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement and Proposed Plan Amendment to the Pony Express Resource
Management Plan (RMP).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Salt Lake
Field Office, Utah announces the availability of a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) and plan amendment to the Transportation and
Corridor Decision of the Pony Express RMP.
    On April 15, 1999 the Salt Lake Field Office published in the
Federal Register a notice of intent to conduct a plan amendment to the
RMP. Further, the notice indicated that BLM was a cooperating agency
with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), lead agency for the DEIS.
The NRC is publishing a separate notice for the DEIS, ``Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation of an
Independent Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Installation on the Reservation
of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians and the Related
Transportation Facility in Tooele County, Utah'' NUREG-1714, June 2000,
regarding the proposal of Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (PFS) to
construct and operate an independent spent fuel storage installation
(ISFSI) on the Reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians.
BLM intends to adopt the EIS as a basis for its plan amendment
decision.

DATES: Comments on the land use plan amendment and DEIS will be
accepted though September 21, 2000. Public meetings concerning both the
DEIS and

[[Page 39175]]

plan amendment will be held at the following locations and dates:

--July 27, 2000, Little America Inn, Arizona Room, 500 S. Main Street,
Salt Lake City, UT, from 7-10 p.m.
--July 28, 2000, Grantsville Middle School, 318 S. Hale Street,
Grantsville, UT, from 7-10 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed BLM plan amendment and the DEIS
should be sent to Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Division
of Freedom of Information and Publications Services, Office of
Administration, Mailstop T-6D-59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001. All comments received by the NRC, including
those made by Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, or
other interested persons, will be made available for public inspection
at the NRC's Public Document Room in Washington, DC.
    The DEIS is available for public inspection and duplication at the
NRC's Public Document Room at the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NS,
Washington, DC. The DEIS will be available for review on the NRC Web
site, and a comment form will be available for those who wish to submit
comments. Upon written request and to the extent supplies are
available, a single copy of the draft report can be obtained for free
by writing to the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Reproduction
and Distribution Services Section, U.S. Nuclear Regulator Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; by e-mail (Distribution@NRC.gov); or by fax
at (301) 415-2289. Comments, including names and street addresses of
respondents, will be available for public review at the BLM Salt Lake
Field Office and will be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). They may be published as part of the Final EIS
and other related documents. Individual respondents may request
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street address
from public review and disclosure under the FOIA, you must state this
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, will be made available for public
inspection in their entirely.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the BLM plan
amendment contact Alice Stephenson, BLM Project Leader, telephone (801)
977-4317. Existing planning documents and information are available at
the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PFS intends to transport spent nuclear fuel
(SNF) by rail from commercial power reactor sites to an existing rail
line north of Skull Valley. To transport the SNF from the existing rail
line to the proposed facility, PFS proposes the construction and
operation of a rail siding and rail line from Skunk Ridge (near Low,
Utah) to the site of the ISFSI on the Reservation. This DEIS discusses
the purpose and need for the PFS proposal and describes the proposed
action and its reasonable alternatives. The PFS proposal requires
approval from four federal agencies, NRC, Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA), Surface Transportation Board (STB), and BLM. The BLM decision to
grant a right-of-way to PFS would be dependent upon the decisions made
by the NRC and BIA. If the NRC issues a license to PFS for the proposed
facility and BIA approves the lease, then BLM's preferred alternative
would be to amend the Pony Express RMP and issue a right-of-way for the
Skunk Ridge rail siding and rail line.

Sally Wisely,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 00-15586 Filed 6-22-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P

 
 

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