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Show BLM studies Coal Leasing Act What should Utah's coal I production be in 1985? This is just one of several questions being addressed as the Bureau of Land Management strives to establish objectives for leasing federal coal in the state. The Bureau is presently going through a coal leasing process known as the Energy Minerals Activity Recommendation System (EMARS) incompliance with the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976. Paul L. Howard, BLM state director in Utah, pointed out that earlier this year, industry, the-State the-State and private individuals were asked to nominate areas to be considered for coal leasing. Maps of the nominated areas were made available to the public and, in October, BLM requested public participation to identify public concerns and issues which should be considered con-sidered while addressing potential federal coal development develop-ment in the land use planning process. An analysis of nominations has been completed which prioritizes potential lease areas based on quality of the coal resource, industry interest, production potential, and other technical information, Mr. Howard said. This will allow coal production estimates to be made for the entire state, according to the BLM state director. These estimates will assist in establishing federal coal leasing objectives in coordination with state and local government. Once the objectives have been established, Mr. Howard said BLM and the Forest Service can move ahead to complete the land use planning process giving full multiple use consideration to the higher priority tracts. As a result, tentative lease tracts will be identified which will undergo further scrutiny in the two regional coal environmental impact statements being prepared for southern and central Utah by U. S. Geological Survey. |