2014-03-21_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1996084

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Public notice announcing the filing of a complete renewal application was published in the local newspaper, The Chronicle -News, on May 14, 21, 28 and June 4, 2012. The Division received proof of publication on June 11, 2012. The Division queried the Applicant Violator System (AVS) on June 19, 2012 for permittee New Elk Coal Company. The query returned no records of violation. On June 18, 2012, the Division of Water Resources stated that they had no concerns about the renewal. The Division conducted a preliminary adequacy review of the renewal application and a review of the reclamation cost estimate. These were sent to NECC on July 5, 2012. On August 27, 2012, the Division received a response to the preliminary adequacy review, including an acceptance of the revised reclamation cost estimate. The Division sent a second adequacy review letter to NECC on October 23, 2012. A response was received on February 15, 2013. The response was discussed during a meeting on March 6, 2013, which led to a follow up submission from NECC received by the Division on June 12, 2013. Meanwhile, the Division queried the AVS on February 28, 2013 for permittee New Elk Coal Company, using a revised list of officers and directors. The query returned two problems: i. an inconsistency between the list of officers and directors submitted by NECC and that held in the AVS database ii. violations associated with the name "David Stone" (Chief Operations Officer of NECC at the time) On March 6, 2013, NECC provided a letter stating that the David Stone in the AVS was a different David Stone to the Chief Operating Officer, and updating the list of officers and directors. Due to changes to the board of directors of Cline Mining (the parent company of NECC), the information was out of date before a follow up AVS query was made. The Division sent a third adequacy review letter to NECC on July 16, 2013. A response was received on September 13, 2013. The Division sent a fourth adequacy review letter to NECC on October 29, 2013. A response was received on December 9, 2013. All issues identified during the review were addressed and resolved. During this period extensions to the proposed decision due date were requested and approved multiple times. The Division queried the AVS on December 12, 2013 for permittee New Elk Coal Company, using another revised list of officers and directors. The query returned inconsistencies between the AVS record and the list of officers and directors provided by NECC. The information was updated by NECC and the process was repeated on March 10, 2014, again showing inconsistencies. NECC revised the list again, and on March 21, 2014, the record in AVS was shown to be consistent with the information in the permit application packet.