Abandoned Mined Land Project

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Wyoming State Office

P.O. Box 1828

Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003-1828

In Reply Refer To:
3720 (930) P
August 17, 2007
Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2007-034
Expires 9/30/2008
To: Field Managers
From: State Director, Wyoming
Subject: Abandoned Mined Land Project
Following Washington Office directives we have identified a number of abandoned mine sites
statewide which pose significant safety hazards for the public (Table 1). The Office of Inspector
General conducted an initial investigation followed now by a formal audit of the AML program
in various states. Sites posing a significant public safety hazard are a particular issue in this
audit. Informally, the WO Solicitors Office has suggested that Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) take prudent action to control public access to hazardous features at these sites, advise
the public of these hazards, and reduce BLM’s liabilities. To implement these measures the
State Office is letting a task order under an existing contract with HazWaste Technologies
Corporation to: visit listed sites having known public safety hazards (open shafts and adits),
construct buck-and-pole barrier fences around these features, and post warning signs; and, visit
listed sites lacking full inventory data to characterize the nature and significance of hazardous
features at these sites and, as above, construct buck-and-pole fences and post warning signs.
These barrier fences will be temporary in nature as these sites will be reclaimed as funding
allows. The fences will just be set in place on the soil surface and their construction will not
cause disturbance to the soil or vegetation. For that reason, the following guidance is issued for
implementation of this priority project.
The State Office Project Managers and Environmental Protection Specialist have reviewed the
proposed action and the conditions under which it would be implemented. Departmental
Manual 516, Chapter 11.5, Part H, Categorical Exclusions, Paragraph (8) provides that the
proposed action of “Installation of minor devices to protect human life (e.g., grates across
mines)” may be excluded from additional environmental analysis. The BLM has determined
that the proposed action would not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment, and therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an
environmental impact statement is required. The proposed action would provide for public
safety and conforms to all of the Resource Management Plans. Therefore, I have approved this
action under the subject Categorical Exclusion.
As part of that approval, however, the project will still comply with State Historical
Preservation Officer (SHPO) protocol. Pursuant to the Wyoming State Protocol between the
BLM and the State Historic Preservation Office, construction of buck and pole fences to

remediate a health and safety issue around historic mine shafts, will fall under the actions
exempt from case-by-case review found in Appendix B. Specifically item 22 (authorizing or
installing devices to protect human or animal life that do not involve new surface disturbance)
and item 26 (new fence construction and modifications of existing fence lines that do not
require disturbance beyond placement of posts and will not result in concentrations of animals
or creation of two track trails from vehicles) will apply. The SHPO has been contacted and
agrees with this determination. In order to complete the Section 106 process, a records check of
the applicable sections, as well as a CRMTracker entry for each location, should be sufficient.
If an historic property is identified by the records check, it may be necessary to perform a field
check. Enlarging the fenced area may also be necessary to accommodate the site. If additional
mining locations are discovered and designated for fencing after the initial records check is
completed, the Field Office will be notified and allowed time to conduct a subsequent records
check. An additional CRMTracker entry will be necessary as well.
Considering the nature of this project and the issues it is addressing I ask that you give highest
possible priority to completing the Section 106 process as described. Please contact Marty
Griffith (775-6093) if you have any questions.
/s/Jane Darnell
Acting
1 Attachment
1 – AML Site Inspection/Public Protection Project (4 pp.)