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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 />David Berry, Director MAR 12 2015 <br />Office of Mined Land Reclamation <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 -2273 <br />O\�pF SURFgCF�2ZG1 <br />i <br />m <br />9 <br />D <br />RECEIVED <br />MAR 17 2015 <br />Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining & Safety <br />RE: Termination of Jurisdiction, Hawk's Nest Mine East and West Portals. Revoked Permit No. <br />C- 1981 -016 (SL -01), DRMS Proposed Decision and Findings Dated February 24, 2015 <br />Dear Ms. Brannon, <br />This letter acknowledges the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ( OSMRE), Denver <br />Field Division's (DFD) receipt and review of the above Termination of Jurisdiction (TOJ) document <br />prepared by the Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) dated February 24, 2015. The <br />revoked permit for the Hawk's Nest E &W Mine encompassed 2,050 acres of which 513 were affected <br />and 29.4 were disturbed by underground coal mining activities and subsequently reclaimed. The surface <br />ownership is both Federal and private, with 1,537 Federal acres and 513 private acres. The mineral <br />ownership is Federal and includes all 2,050 acres of the mineral estate. DRMS reclaimed the site in <br />phases between 1990 and 2000 using private contractors and funds acquired through a forfeited <br />performance bond in the amount of $625,000 after the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board revoked <br />the permit due to a pattern of violations. All available funding was expended to complete the reclamation <br />plan for this site. <br />DRMS has monitored the reclamation at Hawk's Nest for over ten years and conducted a final site <br />inspection on October 24, 2013. OSMRE and an adjacent landowner to the permit boundary participated <br />in the inspection. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not attend this inspection. By letter dated <br />March 10, 2015, the BLM provided its concurrence with DRMS's Proposed Decision to terminate <br />jurisdiction. In addition, U.S. Forest Service confirmed in an e-mail message dated March 6, 2015, that <br />since no surface disturbance occurred on National Forest System Lands, there is no reclamation liability. <br />This Termination of Jurisdiction applies to all portions of the Hawk's Nest E &W Mine permit <br />revocation/bond forfeiture site. OSMRE agrees with DRMS's decision to terminate jurisdiction at <br />Hawk's Nest and hereby provides its concurrence with this action. <br />Thank you and your staff for coordinating this Federal mine termination of jurisdiction action through the <br />DFB. Please direct any questions concerning this action to Howard Strand, Management/Program <br />Analyst at hstrand @osmre.gov or (303) 293 -5026. <br />Sincerely, <br />Alan Boehms, Manager <br />Denver Field Branch <br />