2015-06-12_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1980007

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[Section 3.031(2)(c)]; 3. When all reclamation requirements of the Rules and the Act are fully met [Section 3.03.1(4)]; and 4. When the final inspection and evaluation procedures of Section 3.03.2 have been satisfied [Section 3.03.1(2)(c)]. The Phase III Bond Release is the only phase of bond release applicable to the SL -06 application. III. OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS The bond release inspection was conducted on 24 June 2014. The areas included the Lone Pine facilities area (waste development pile, power line corridor, borrow area and portal area), the thermal event area (the "main" area and holes B, D, I and G) and methane drainage well pads and roads along the West Point Road (pads 14-06, 14-07 and 14-08 and the road spur from pads 15-07 to 14-09). All of the areas requested for Partial Phase III Bond Release are contained in the SL -06 application package. Although not a Phase III Bond Release criteria, the Division still observed the backfilling and grading of the requested sites to ascertain the prospect for long-term stability. For specifics on the approximate original contour and other Phase I Bond Release criteria, please see the SL -01, SL -02 and/or SL -03 bond release inspection reports, as necessary. There was no slumping, settling or cracking observed on any of the reclaimed areas. Based on the Division's inspection, it is believed that all of these areas will remain stable following final bond release. The vegetation at the main thermal event area was very good. There was good cover and there appeared to be good diversity. There was some hound's tongue and musk thistle noted on all of the bench areas. Although they appeared to make up well less than 3% of the total cover. There were many shrubs coming in at the margins of the disturbance on all of the benches, including snowberry, serviceberry and Gamble's oak. Dominant species on these areas included western wheatgrass, bluebunch wheatgrass and basin wild rye. Forbs present included bluebells and yarrow. The vegetation on the drill pads (B, D, I and G) was also very good. Similar to what was seen on the main area, the dominant species were western wheatgrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, mountain brome and basin wild rye. There was also yarrow and blue bells present. Again, as with the main area, there were a lot of shrubs starting to grow along the margins. These included Gamble's oak, snowberry and serviceberry. The vegetation at the Lone Pine facilities area (including the waste development area, the power line corridor, the borrow area and the portal area) was very good. There was good cover and West Elk Mine 5 12 June 2015 Partial Phase III Bond Release SL -06 Findings