# Public Hearing and Request for Comment on the Maximum Economic Recovery, Fair Market Value, and Review of Environmental Analysis (EA), for the Ramaco Resources, LLC (Ramaco) Proposed Federal Coal Lease-by-Application WVES106738235, Mingo and Wyoming Counties, West Virginia
**AGENCY:**
Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
**ACTION:**
Notice of availability; notice of public hearing.
**SUMMARY:**
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) announce the availability of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for public review for the proposed coal lease-by-application (LBA) for Ramaco Resources, LLC (Ramaco) application WVES106738235, in Mingo and Wyoming Counties, West Virginia. The BLM and OSMRE also announce that a public hearing will be held to discuss the EA analysis, and to receive comments on Fair Market Value (FMV) and the maximum economic recovery (MER) of the tracts proposed to be offered for lease, as well as on factors that may affect the FMV and MER determinations. At the hearing, the BLM will provide information on how the government determines the FMV and MER of the coal resources contained in the proposed LBA lease tracts.
The BLM and OSMRE take these actions in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended; the Mineral Leasing Act, as amended; and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, and the Department's implementing coal leasing regulations.
**DATES:**
A public hearing will be held and announced via the BLM website and the project's e-Planning page ( *https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2041028/510* ), at a future time. The public hearing will also be announced at least 14 days prior, in the newspaper(s).
**ADDRESSES:**
The public hearing will be held at the Larry Joe Harless Community Center, 202 Larry Joe Harless Drive, Gilbert, WV 25621. Any updates to the public hearing will be provided through the e-Planning project website, newspaper notices and a news release.
The EA and associated documents are available for review on the BLM project website at *https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2041028/510.*
Written and oral comments related to FMV and MER will be accepted at the public hearing. The EA will also be available for review.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Pamela Mathis, BLM Northeastern States District Manager, telephone: 414-297-4401; address: 250 E Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202; email: *[email protected].*
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting Ms. Mathis. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
Ramaco Resources, LLC is a subsidiary of Ramaco Resources, Inc, a publicly traded company (NASDAQ).
The BLM Northeastern States District Office received a Federal coal LBA to expand current underground mining operations located on private property in Mingo and Wyoming Counties, West Virginia. Ramaco proposes to expand both its Michael Powellton Deep Mine and Eagle Mine (Ramaco existing operations) from privately-owned mineral into federal minerals to produce clean coal, metallurgical, used for steelmaking.
The LBA project boundary includes up to and not more than 4,382 acres for the expansion of the Ramaco existing operations, containing approximately 4.55 million saleable Federal coal tons, underlying surface lands managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as part of the R.D. Bailey Lake Project, which encompasses the R.D. Bailey Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) managed by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR). The coal seams to be mined are the Powellton, Eagle, and 2-Gas coal seams, with the nearest proposed mining at 14,600 feet (2.77 miles) horizontally from and 640 feet vertically above the R.D. Bailey Lake pool.
The proposed mining area will be accessed from Ramaco's existing, adjacent operations, limiting the surface disturbances from the proposed LBA to the use of existing access roads inside the R.D. Bailey Lake Project and the construction of eight (8) new horizontal ventilation punchouts. Each of the 8 ventilation punchouts would constitute approximately 0.25 acres of surface disturbance, with a combined total of 2 acres of surface disturbance.
The BLM has determined that an EA is warranted for this proposed LBA.
The tracts for the proposed LBA, underlying USACE managed Federal surface property in Mingo & Wyoming Counties, WV, described from deeds included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers R.D. Bailey Lake Project are included in the proposed lease as follows:
| Tract ID | Deed acres | Proposed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 714 | 373.05 | 242.27 |
| 734 | 177.61 | 21.20 |
| 736 | 190.25 | 80.40 |
| 737 | 127.66 | 94.06 |
| 775-2 | 146.84 | 13.44 |
| 834 | 82.05 | 82.05 |
| 875-1 | 352.73 | 98.35 |
| 1600 | 1,418.57 | 1,349.83 |
| 1601 | 604.88 | 604.88 |
| 1675 | 1,747.26 | 1,613.02 |
The proposed lease areas described aggregate 4,199.5 acres, according to the official plats of the surveys, on file with the BLM.
A detailed Metes and Bounds description of the lease boundary is shown on the project map found at the BLM ePlanning website, located at: *https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2041028/510.*
**Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action**
The purpose of this action is to support the responsible development of coal resources of metallurgical grade in southern West Virginia by responding to a federal coal lease application submitted by Ramaco to access a total of up to 4,382 project acres of federal lands with surface lands managed by the USACE in Mingo and Wyoming Counties, West Virginia. The approval of the lease application would enable the recovery of an estimated 4.55 million tons of saleable federal metallurgical coal and meet the intent of Executive Order 14241, “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” issued on March 20, 2025.
The need is established by the BLM's responsibility under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended (MLA), the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947, as amended, and the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, as amended. These laws and their implementing regulations require the BLM to respond to federal coal lease applications, including the one submitted by Ramaco (WVES106738235), which would provide access to federal coal reserves via adjacent to existing private facilities.
**Conformance With the Land Use Plan (LUP)**
The USACE R.D. Bailey Lake West Virginia Master Plan approved August 2011, resource use objective 7 allows the extraction of minerals within the Project with a project design that would avoid or minimize impacts to sensitive environmental, natural, and recreational resources.
**Proposed Action and Alternatives**
The Proposed Action is to offer a competitive lease sale for approximately 4,199.5 subsurface acres of Federal minerals for the expansion of Ramaco's existing underground mining operations. This differs from the surface acreage of 4,382 acres due to the environmental analysis assessing the maximum acreage that was eligible to lease, although the decision has been made to lease less than the maximum number of acres. The lands would be offered for lease under lease number WVES106738235 and would be made available for coal mining by underground mining methods; room and pillar mining with limited secondary extraction. The proposed mining would result in the extraction of 4.55 million tons of saleable, Federal metallurgical coal, a fuel source for steelmaking.
The subject coal would be offered for lease with the BLM's standard terms and conditions, special coal lease stipulations identified by the BLM, and any stipulations accepted by the BLM from other federal and non-federal groups for the protection of other surface facilities or natural resources, consistent with applicable laws, policies, and the USACE R.D. Bailey Lake West Virginia Master Plan, August 2011.
The BLM also evaluated the No Action Alternative under which the BLM would deny the LBA and the land would not be offered for lease. Without access to the minerals, Ramaco would be forced to halt operations of their existing facilities.
**Resources Evaluated**
The EA analyzes environmental impacts of several key resources, including air quality, geology and minerals (including subsidence), socioeconomics, water resources, and wildlife resources. The analysis evaluates the potential impacts of the proposed action and the no action alternative on these resources. Additional resources were considered, and rationales are provided in the EA.
**Public Involvement Process**
The notice of intent meets the regulatory requirements of 43 CFR 3425.3,43 CFR 3425.4, and 43 CFR 3422.1 regarding required public hearings for the EA, FMV, and MER.
The meeting location will be at the Larry Joe Harless Community Center, 202 Larry Joe Harless Drive, Gilbert, WV 25621.
**Cooperating Agencies**
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement, the West Viginia Department of Environmental Protection, and the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources are cooperating agencies. BLM is the lead agency for this project.
**Additional Information**
The BLM will continue to consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175, BLM Manual Section 1780 and other Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due consideration. Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Indian Tribal Nations and other stakeholders that may be interested in or affected by the proposed lease for Federal coal that the BLM is evaluating, are invited to participate in the comment period.
Any proprietary information or data that you submit to the BLM must be marked as confidential and mailed directly to the Northeastern States District Office, Attention: Pamela Mathis (see *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT* section) to assure the data will be treated in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information or data. A copy of the comments submitted by the public on the EA, fair market value, and maximum economic recovery for the tracts, except those portions identified as proprietary and that meet one of the exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act, will be available for public inspection at the Northeastern States District Office (see *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT* section) during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Time), Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
Before including 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.
(Authority: 43 CFR 46.435, 43 CFR 3425.3 and 3425.4)
Mitchell Leverette,
Eastern States State Director.