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Virginia Brannon, <br />Office of Mined L; <br />Division of Reclamation, <br />1313 Sherman Street, Ro, <br />Denver, CO 80203 -2273 <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />DICE OF SURFACE MINING m <br />Reclamation and Enforcement v <br />Western Region Office �94 <br />1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 <br />Denver, CO 80202 -3050 <br />APR 2 8 2015 <br />RECEIVED <br />ping and Safety APR 3 0 2015 <br />215 <br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, <br />MINING AND SAFETY <br />RE: Approval of SL -7 artial Phase I Bond Release, West Elk Mine, Permit No. C -1980- <br />007, DRMS Proposed D cision and Findings of Compliance, April 13, 2015 <br />Dear Ms. Brannon, <br />This letter acknowledges he Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ( OSMRE), <br />Denver Field Division's ( FD) receipt and review of the above Phase I Bond Release Proposed <br />Decision document prepa ed by the Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety dated April 13, <br />2015. DFD agrees with tl ie findings and decision document and hereby provides OSMRE <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, E ection 24, of the State - Federal Cooperative Agreement. <br />DRMS's Proposed Decisi n documents the applicant's compliance with the approved Colorado <br />regulatory program at Rut 3.03.2. <br />This Phase I bond release pplies to 19.23 acres associated with the proper plugging and <br />abandonment of 22 drill h les (both exploration holes and MDW's), the backfilling and <br />regrading of 22 drill pads d the backfilling and regrading of the associated roads and road <br />spurs. The release also in udes the backfilling and regrading of the Monument Dam Borrow <br />Area. All of these sites are located in the West Flatiron and Dry Fork of the Minnesota Creek <br />areas. This land is federally owned and the coal mined was federally owned. Reclamation for <br />which the bond release had been requested was conducted in 2011 and 2013. <br />OSMRE participated in th <br />bond release inspection on July 9 -10, 2014. The U.S. Forest Service <br />(USFS) also participated t <br />ut the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not attend this <br />inspection. By letters date <br />April 22 and April 27, 2015, the USFS and BLM provided their <br />concurrence with SL -7 (at <br />ached). OSMRE interprets the BLM's concurrence to mean that <br />Mountain Coal Company, <br />LLC (MCC) is in compliance with all applicable BLM coal lease <br />stipulations. <br />Based on available docum <br />ntation, OSMRE agrees with DRMS's determination that MCC has <br />met or exceeded the requi <br />men for Phase I bond release on the 19.23 acres of land as <br />described above. The cu <br />nt reclamation liability at the West Elk Mine, prior to SL -07, is <br />$14,244,472.00, while the <br />ivision currently holds a performance bond in the form of two <br />