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Defendants Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board ( "Board ") and Colorado Division <br />of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety ( "Division "), by and through the Office of the Colorado <br />Attorney General, file this Joint Answer Brief and state: <br />I. ISSUE ON APPEAL <br />Whether substantial evidence on the record from the Board's November 17, 2010 hearing <br />when considered as a whole supports the Board's Order affirming the Division's proposed <br />approval of Permit Revision No. 6. <br />II. INTRODUCTION <br />The extensive administrative record demonstrates that the Board properly affirmed the <br />Division's proposed approval of Permit Revision Number 6 ( "PR -6 "). Defendant Western Fuels <br />Colorado, LLC ( "WFC "), submitted PR -6 in November 2009 to revise its coal mining Permit <br />( "Permit ") issued for the New Horizon Mine. <br />The Division required WFC to submit PR -6 because in early 2008 the Division became <br />aware that Permit Revision No. 5 ( "PR -5 ") may have incorrectly designated certain lands in the <br />Permit boundary as not being "Prime Farmland." The negative prime farmland determination in <br />PR -5 was based upon a typographical error contained in the Colorado Important Farmland <br />Inventory publication. The Division took immediate action in response to notification that prime <br />farmland exists within the Permit boundary, requiring WFC to submit PR -6 to correct any <br />incorrect designations as well as adjust the reclamation plan to comply with newly - applicable <br />prime farmland standards. The Division's technical review of PR -6 was replete with <br />participation by the public, including the Plaintiffs, and other State and Federal agencies, <br />11 <br />