The Powder River Regional Coal Team (RCT), made up of state and federal officials in Wyoming and Montana, will meet June 19 at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission office in Casper, Wyo.
The RCT will review current and proposed activities in the Powder River Coal Production Region of Wyoming and Montana including pending coal lease applications. The meeting is open to the public, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said in a June 4 statement.
Specific coal-related topics planned for the RCT meeting include:
- Update on U.S. Geological Survey coal inventory work.
- Update on progress in processing existing coal lease by applications (LBAs) in the PRB.
- Consider and vote on processing a new LBA filing, for the Spring Creek LBA II Tract, which was filed by Spring Creek Coal LLC on Feb. 15. The Spring Creek LBA II Tract is adjacent to Cloud Peak Energy’s (NYSE: CLD) Spring Creek mine located in Big Horn County, Mont.
- Presentation on potential exchange of Preference Right Lease Applications (PRLAs) in New Mexico held by the Ark Land unit of Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI), for competitive bidding rights in Wyoming. PRLAs, which gave a company a perpetual right to lease a coal reserve by just doing exploration, were eliminated years ago, but then-existing ones were grandfathered into the system.
- Discuss updating the Data Adequacy Standards for the Powder River Coal Region.
- Update on BLM land use planning efforts in the PRB of Wyoming and Montana.
- Other coal-related issues that may arise prior to the meeting.
