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Mining operations that, in the year preceding August 3, 1977, 1) produced coal in <br />commercial quantities and were located within or adjacent to alluvial valley floors, or 2) <br />obtained specific permit approval from the State to conduct surface coal mining and <br />reclamation operations within an alluvial valley floor, are exempted under Rule <br />2.06.8(5)(a) from the alluvial valley floor provisions prohibiting mining in or adjacent to <br />certain alluvial valley floors. On November 12, 1980, Empire Energy Corporation, one <br />of the previous permit holders, submitted a request to exempt their existing and <br />proposed mining operations from these alluvial valley floor provisions. (See Exhibit 4 <br />of the permit application.) <br />After reviewing that submittal, the Division determined that both the No. 5 Mine and the <br />No. 9 Mine were eligible for the exemption. Materials on file with the Colorado Office <br />of Active and Inactive Mines ( "Operator's Monthly Coal Report ") indicate that coal was <br />produced in commercial quantities from the Wise Hill No. 5 Mine (now called the No. 5 <br />Mine) in the year preceding August 3, 1977. Specific permit approval was granted for <br />the Wise Hill No. 9 Mine (now called the No. 9 Mine) by the Mined Land Reclamation <br />Board on March 24, 1977. <br />Stratigraphic extent of the exemption is limited to the actual extent of the mine workings <br />on August 3, 1977, and adjacent lands for which there existed demonstrable financial or <br />regulatory commitment to mine in the future. Mine maps on file with the Colorado <br />Office of Active and Inactive Mines determine the geographical extent of the area <br />exempted for the No. 5 Mine. The geographical extent of the area exempted for the No. <br />9 Mine was determined from the No. 9 Mine Projection Map dated August 1976 <br />(Exhibit M of the November 1980 Alluvial Valley Floor Exemption request). <br />Surface coal mining operations conducted within the geographic extent of the area <br />eligible for the exemption are not required to comply with the requirements of Rule <br />2.06.8(5)(a)(i) and (ii). Operations eligible for the exemption, however, are required to <br />restore the essential hydrologic functions of affected alluvial valley floors as a part of <br />the reclamation plan. <br />Williams Fork Alluvial Valley Floor <br />The approximate boundary of the Williams Fork Alluvial Valley Floor is shown on Map <br />25 of the permit application. Presently, a local farmer hays the field to the north and <br />south of the Eagle No. 5 and 6 surface mine facilities. To the south of the mine facilities <br />is a hayfield east of the railroad tracks. To the north of the mine, there are hayfields <br />surrounding the train scale and paralleling the railroad track spur. These hayfields are <br />flood irrigated. The Worthington Ditch provides water to the hayfields. The essential <br />hydrologic function of this alluvial valley floor is the capacity for flood irrigation, <br />coinciding with the regional practice. Subirrigation may also occur, but it is considered <br />secondary to flood irrigation. <br />The No. 5 Mine and associated facilities were established on the Williams Fork River <br />valley floor during the early 1970s. Mine entries were developed into the F coal seam, <br />which outcropped above the valley floor. All surface facilities were constructed near <br />Williams Fork Mines 37 Permit Renewal 06 <br />C- 1981 -044 December 8, 2014 <br />