BEULAH – The Bureau of Land Management has signed a Finding of No Significant Impact and Decision Record on an environmental assessment that analyzes potential impacts from leasing 320-acres of federal coal to the Coyote Creek Mining Company.

The comment period on the environmental assessment ended on June 9. The proposed lease tracts are adjacent to the company’s existing Coyote Creek Mine in Mercer County, southwest of Beulah. The tracts contain an estimated 5.23 million tons of federal coal.

The coal lease application is part of Coyote Creek Mining Company’s ongoing mining operation and would extend the life of the mine. The federal coal is within the current mine planning area.

The Coyote Creek environmental assessment is part of a Department of the Interior pilot project to streamline required National Environmental Policy Act compliance. To increase operational efficiencies, the BLM and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement are working as co-lead agencies on the environmental assessment, allowing each agency to issue its own findings regarding the significance of potential impacts resulting from leasing and permitting coal mining.