2016-04-17_REVISION - C1981008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Apr 171612:00p Haul roads should not have a ten year bond period in a farming community and I will explain why. p.2 In the rules and regulations for the removal of haul roads, there is no specific time frame for the reclamation of that haul road regarding a bond period. It is just an" implied" or understood time frame because of historical factors_ But, 1 was told to be creative and instead of the normal "implied" understanding, to give another side to look at. First let's do a little background. Prior to Western Fuels taking over the Peabody Coal operations, studies were made and documented regarding the "land use" prior to mining. Land use as referred to in the rules and regulations is not the vegetation cover but what the land was actually used for. (1.04) Reports made by the investigting party and statements made by farmers were sometimes used to determine"land use" documentation but the REAL meaning of what was being said was not what the meaning meant that was used in the coal mine rules and regulations. For example: When Peabody investigated, if the property was all covered with vegetation and green and had a cow on it, it was sometimes classified as pasturelands. This being a very contradictory and totally untrue statement as per definitions in the rules and regulations. Pasturelands per 1.04 are lands used for grazing and very seldom harvested. This land should have not been classified as pasturelands and has caused many disturbing factors The documents were re -copied over and over and past down year after year and the state nor the operator ever changed the terminology to reflect the definitions in the rules and has caused much confusion and misconceptions. The operator was at fault and also the fault of the State because the people that were put in charge knew nothing about farming. They did not understand irrigation sysytems nor did they understand property descriptions. This was to be expected because these were people who were miners and dealt in mining and gravel pits and more on the construction side and none of them knew anything about farming or farms because this was the very first mine in Colorado that an operator mined individual farms with many different owners and with many different varieties grown on their farms and many different ways of farming and irrigating. In fact, the land is harvested every summer producing two to three cuttings of hay which is fed throughout the winter months. In the fail, this land is used for grazing until spring time when the cows head for BLM and Forest. The lands should have been classed as croplands.. Prime farmlands must be cropland but crop land does not have to be prime. (1.04 and 4;25) But, because per Colorado statues, it is illegal to revisit, re -open, or re-enter past permitting, it is very hard to move forward in the right direction to get all these lands back on the right track. Most , of which, are going to be up for phase three bond release. The haul roads were made through portions of these farmlands. This is the only mine in the state of Colorado that mines many different little farms with many different owners, so every farm that had a haul road is effected in an adverse way. The haul roads have all been reclaimed in areas East of 2700 Road and will soon be up for bond release. There has not been any farms that have been returned to any landowner since 1992, that being 24 years. Most of the original landowners have all died and now are in the hands of the kids. According to the "implied" rules regarding haul roads, once they are reclaimed, there is still a ten year bond period. This is very wrong and the implication of this rule does not refer to these small farms and should not be allowed. Here are some rules why: There is an exemption in 3.03.1 (5) for drainage and sediment control facilities. This is very similar to the haul roads that affect each and 1