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United States Department of the Interior <br />OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING <br />Reclamation and Enforcement <br />Western Region Office <br />1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 <br />Denver, CO 80202 -3050 <br />RECEIVED <br />David Berry, Director OCT 0 2 2014 <br />Office of Mined Land Reclamation <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety Division of Reclamation <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Mining & Sal* <br />Denver, CO 80203 -2273 <br />RE: Partial Approval of SL -5 Phase II Bond Release, Seneca II -W Mine, Permit No. C- <br />1982 -057, DRMS Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance, August 27, 2014 <br />Dear Mr. Berry, <br />This letter acknowledges the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ( OSMRE), <br />Denver Field Division's (DFD) receipt and review of the above Phase II Bond Release Proposed <br />Decision document prepared by the Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety dated August <br />27, 2014. DFD agrees with the findings and decision document and hereby provides OSM <br />concurrence for the above bond release action in accordance with 30 CFR 740.15 (d) (3), and 30 <br />CFR 906.30, Article IX, Section 24, of the State - Federal Cooperative Agreement. <br />DRMS's Proposed Decision documents the applicant's compliance with the approved Colorado <br />regulatory program at Rule 3.03.2. <br />This Phase II bond release applies to 800.9 acres associated with northern and southern extension <br />areas of the Seneca II -W mine. The land associated with this release is state and privately <br />owned, the coal was federally owned. <br />Neither OSMRE nor BLM participated in the bond release inspection on August 12, 2014. <br />However, OSMRE has conducted a thorough review of the permit records, inspection reports <br />and the proposed findings made by DRMS. Furthermore, OSMRE received a letter dated <br />September 9, 2014 from the BLM providing its concurrence with SL -5. OSMRE interprets the <br />BLM's concurrence to mean that Seneca Coal Company, LLC is in compliance with all BLM <br />coal lease stipulations. <br />OSMRE agrees with DRMS's determination that Seneca Coal Company has met or exceeded the <br />requirements for Phase H bond release on the 800.9 acres of land as described above. The <br />Division currently holds a performance bond in the amount of $5,818,456.00 for the Seneca II -W <br />Mine. The Division most recently calculated the reclamation liability associated with this site to <br />be $5,016,991.00and now proposes to release $87,927.00. DRMS has determined that the <br />remaining reclamation liability amount of $4,929,064.00 is sufficient to assure completion of the <br />