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proposed decision to approve the Partial Phase I Bond Release SL -07 on 13 April 2015 and released <br />$97,871.00 <br />Partial Phase I Bond Release SL -08 was received on 18 May 2015 and requested a release of 10.05 <br />acres. The release included the plugging and abandonment of 15 Mine Ventilation Boreholes (MVBs), <br />the backfilling and regrading of 11 drill pads, and the backfilling and regrading of the associated roads <br />and road spurs (eight total). The Division issued its proposed decision to approve the Partial Phase I <br />Bond Release SL -08 on 20 November 2015 and released $110,452.00 <br />The Division received MCC's application for a Partial Phase III Bond Release on 4 November 2015. <br />The application was deemed complete on 29 December 2015, after the Division received proof of <br />publication of the applicant's public notice. MCC published notice of the bond release application in <br />Delta County Independent once weekly for four consecutive weeks, beginning 25 November 2015. <br />Mountain Coal Company, LLC also notified land owners within and adjacent to the mine permit area, <br />and other interested parties of the application for bond release, as required by Rule 3.03.2(1). <br />No comments, written objections, or requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release <br />application were received by the Division. <br />The Division scheduled and conducted a bond release inspection on 20-22 June 2016, which allowed <br />time for snow to melt and roads to dry out. The site inspection was conducted in accordance with Rule <br />3.03.2(2). The inspection was attended by Leigh Simmons and Jim Stark (Division); Tom Medlin <br />(OSMRE); Jessica Loveland, Kathy Welt, Weston Norris and Jim Miller (Mountain Coal Company, MCC); <br />Dan Gray (USFS); Dave Noe, Morgan Rubanow and Alyssa Clarida (Western Slope Conservation Center, <br />WSCC). No representative of the BLM was present, although Dave Lazorchak had been notified by certified <br />mail. <br />During the inspection two sites (on pads 15-01 and 16-01) were identified where the density of Canada thistle, <br />Cirsium arvense, was such that further treatment was deemd to be necessary. MCC contracted with Pestaway <br />to treat these sites twice, completing the work in early July and again in late September. Follow-up inspections <br />were completed by Leigh Simmons (Division) on 27 July 2016 and 4 October 2016. <br />II. CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE FOR BOND RELEASE <br />PHASE III <br />The Division evaluated MCC's application for a partial Phase III Bond Release on 22.1 acres, requested <br />in the SL -09 application. Under Colorado's Permanent Program, the process of releasing the reclamation <br />bond for a mine site is explained in Rule 3.03 and further described in the Division's 1995 Guideline <br />Regarding Selected Coal Mining Bond Release Issues. The bond release process involves three phases. <br />At Phase III, Rule 3.03.1(2)(c) states, "The remaining portion of the bond amount shall be released when <br />the permittee has successfully completed all surface coal mining reclamation operations in accordance <br />with this approved reclamation plan, and the final inspection and procedures of 3.03.2 have been <br />satisfied. This shall not be before the expiration of the period specified for revegetation responsibility in <br />3.02.3" Rule 3.03.1(4) states, "No bond shall be fully released until all reclamation requirements of these <br />Rules and the Act are fully met..." The same rule goes on to state, "No acreage shall be released from the <br />West Elk Mine <br />Partial Phase III Bond Release SL -09 Findings Page 4 of 8 <br />