Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Twin Metals Project in the Superior National Forest, Lake and St. Louis Counties, Minnesota
| Published date | 30 June 2020 |
| Record Number | 2020-14051 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Interior Department,Land Management Bureau |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 126 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 126 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39206-39208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14051]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLES00000.L51100000.GF0000.LVEMM19M2070.19X]
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Twin Metals Project in the Superior National Forest, Lake and St.
Louis Counties, Minnesota
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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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 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Northeastern States District, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, intends to prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the potential
impacts of issuing a proposed new preference right lease (MNES 57965)
and approving a Mine Plan of Operation in the Superior National Forest
in Lake and St. Louis Counties, Minnesota. The approval of a Mine Plan
of Operation allows the lessee to access, and once other necessary
permits are obtained, to mine federal minerals. The BLM will conduct a
public scoping process, including public meetings. During this time,
the public will be invited to submit comments.
DATES: The BLM will announce the dates of public scoping, including
dates and locations of public meetings and the ways in which people may
submit scoping comments, on its e-Planning
[[Page 39207]]
website. The BLM will notify the public of scoping meetings at least 15
days prior to the event. Meeting dates, venues, and times will be
announced by a news release to the media and postings on the project
website.
ADDRESSES: The page that is dedicated to this project and its EIS is
located at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1503233/510.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Derek Strohl, Planning and
Environmental Coordinator, telephone: (414) 297-4416; address: 626 E
Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 43202; email:
[email protected]. Contact Mr. Strohl if you wish to add your
name to our project notification list. 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
per day, 7 days per week, to leave a message or question with the above
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 43 CFR 3592.1, the BLM must consult
with other agencies involved when approving a Mine Plan of Operation.
In addition, the State of Minnesota would need to issue a number of
permits before mining activity could begin. The Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources will serve as the responsible governmental unit for
the preparation of a separate, state-level EIS. The BLM and the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources expect to coordinate their
efforts on their respective EISs as appropriate, including during
public scoping periods.
The Forest Service is serving as a cooperating agency in the
preparation of the EIS. The Forest Service decisions to be made are (1)
whether to consent to the leasing of certain National Forest System
lands requested in the preference right lease application (PRLA, MNES
57965) and, if consent is granted, whether lease stipulations are
necessary for the protection of surface resources; (2) whether to
approve the Mine Plan of Operation pursuant to Section 14a of TMM's
existing leases (MNES 1352 and MNES 1353); (3) whether to issue a
Special Use Permit to allow the portion of the project that is on off-
lease National Forest System lands; and (4) whether to approve a Forest
Plan amendment, if analysis leads the Forest Service to conclude that
an amendment is necessary and appropriate to complete the Action. This
notice does not commit the Forest Service to amending the Forest Plan.
However, scoping comments can help to inform the Forest Service's
decision as to the need for a Forest Plan amendment.
In the event that the Forest Service determines that it intends to
amend the Forest Plan, the public is hereby notified that the
substantive requirements of the 2012 Planning Rule (36 CFR part 219)
likely to be directly related to the Forest Plan amendment are 36 CFR
219.8 (b)(1), (2), and (3) regarding social and economic
sustainability, 36 CFR 219.10(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (6), (7), and (9),
regarding integrated resource management for multiple use, 36 CFR
219.10 (b)(1)(vi), regarding management of designated areas, and 36 CFR
219.11(c), regarding timber requirements based on the National Forest
Management Act.
The proposed action is to issue a preference right lease and
approve a Mine Plan of Operation for the mining of federal hard rock
minerals in the Superior National Forest. The proposed activities would
occur approximately 10 miles southeast of Ely, Minnesota, South of
State Highway 1, in an area southeast of the South Kawishiwi River. The
proposed Mine Plan of Operation details the proposed exploration,
prospecting, testing, development and mining operations to be conducted
to access federal minerals. Additional approvals by the State of
Minnesota are required to conduct any mining. Mining would include
critical minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, precious and
platinum-group metals. The total surface footprint for mining is
estimated at 1,156 acres, 400 acres of which is federal land managed by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. The surface-
disturbing components include a processing facility, a tailings
management site, three ventilation shafts, a power line corridor,
access roads, and a water intake corridor.
The proposed Mine Plan of Operation describes the lifecycle of the
mine. Construction of the mine would take two and a half years. After
construction, the mine would operate for 25 years. Interim reclamation
would begin on the dry stack facility as portions of it are completed,
and final reclamation would follow the end of the 25-year period of
mine operation.
The Mine Plan of Operation estimates that approximately 163 million
tons of ore would be removed. Mining and crushing would occur 24 hours
per day, 7 days per week. Ore would be crushed underground and
processed in the plant to recover copper, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver,
platinum, and palladium. Tailings generated by this process would be
dewatered and placed either in the tailings management site, also known
as the dry stack facility, or mixed with a binder and used to backfill
mined-out stopes. The current Mine Plan of Operation is available on
the BLM's e-planning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/1503233/510.
The public will be invited to submit comments during a scoping
period. Prior to the submission of any comments, if you provide 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 can ask us in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The purpose of the public scoping process will be to identify
relevant issues that will influence the scope of the environmental
analysis, including alternatives, and guide the process for developing
the federal EIS. The BLM has identified the following preliminary
issues associated with the project: (1) The potential for acid-rock
drainage or other water quality impacts from ore and tailings; (2)
regional socioeconomics, including the generation of high wage-paying
jobs and the potential for impacts to water resources to degrade Ely's
tourism-based economy; and (3) the potential impacts to recreation and
wilderness, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
(BWCAW), approximately five miles from the proposed mine site. Scoping
will also be used to determine if it is necessary to amend the Forest
Plan to accommodate the Proposed Action.
The BLM will coordinate the scoping process as provided in 36 CFR
800.2(d)(3) (54 U.S.C. 306108) to help fulfill the National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA, as amended) review process. The information
about historic and cultural resources within the area potentially
affected by the proposed project will assist the BLM in identifying and
evaluating impacts to such resources in the context of both NEPA and
the NHPA.
The BLM will consult with Native American tribes on a government-
to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due
consideration.
[[Page 39208]]
Federal, state, and local agencies, along with tribes and other
stakeholders who may be interested in or affected by the proposed
project that the BLM is evaluating, will be invited to participate in
the scoping process. Six federal and tribal agencies have agreed to
participate in this process as cooperating agencies, as follows:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.
Gary Torres,
Acting State Director, BLM-Eastern States.
[FR Doc. 2020-14051 Filed 6-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-GJ-P
