VANE Uranium Exploratory Drilling Project Environmental Impact Statement. Scoping Report.

摘要

The Kaibab National Forest (KNF) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze the impact of exploratory drilling to the Tusayan Ranger District. The applicant, VANE Minerals (US) LLC. (VANE), has submitted a Plan of Operations (PoO) to KNF to perform exploratory drilling at 24 drill site locations. VANE proposes to perform only exploratory drilling and does not propose any uranium mining at this time. From 2006 through 2008, VANE submitted a PoO to the KNF for 24 drill site locations, requesting approval to conduct exploratory drilling on 24 dill sites on National Forest System land. The PoO was accepted by the KNF, although a decision on approval will not be made until a thorough environmental review has been completed. . This EIS is being prepared as a condition to a settlement of a lawsuit over exploratory drilling. The EIS is being prepared to analyze and disclose to the public the environmental, social, and economic impacts of VANEs proposed exploratory drilling. The EIS will be prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, Council on Environmental Quality regulations implementing NEPA, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976, and other associated regulations. The Forest Service decision will be based on the results of this NEPA process (i.e., the findings of the impacts analyses reported in the EIS) and, further, on the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) determination regarding the consistency of the proposed use with the parameters specified in the KNF Forest Plan. Exploratory drilling proposed by VANE seeks to locate economically feasible uranium deposits within solution-collapse breccias pipes on 24 mining claim sites.