The public comment period for the draft environmental assessment and unsigned finding of no significant impact for Farrell-Cooper Mining Co. Inc.'s proposed Bull Hill No. 2 mining plan ends at 5 p.m. May 31.

The Oklahoma Department of Mines has permitted Farrell-Cooper to recover leased federal coal using surface mining methods at the 429-acre site, located near the town of Red Oak in Latimer County.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on March 29 announced that the moratorium on new federal coal leases has been lifted, calling the programmatic review of coal leasing "costly and unnecessary."