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Phase II <br />Topsoil replacement is required to be completed as part of either a Phase I or Phase H bond release <br />application. Following permit revocation and bond forfeiture in February of 1996 and the site's <br />reclamation later that year, topsoil replacement was verified (Division Inspection of 10/18/1996). <br />Rule 3.03.1(2)(b) requires establishment of vegetation that supports the approved post -mining land <br />uses (grazing and wildlife habitat) and which meets the approved standard for cover. The approved <br />cover standard is "at least 45% perennials excluding noxious weeds". This has been achieved. Total <br />perennial cover was measured at 63.83% in 2015 and at 54.83% in 2016. Species supporting grazing <br />included Kentucky bluegrass, mountain brome, smooth brome, and intermediate wheatgrass. Species <br />supporting wildlife habitat were the re-established grasses plus forbs such as yellow sweet clover, <br />rocky mountain penstemon, and showy goldeneye, and shrubs such as sagebrush, snowberry, and <br />yellow rabbitbrush. <br />Rule 3.03.1(3)(b) requires that the level of suspended solids from the reclaimed area to either <br />streamflow or runoff outside the permit area be no greater than pre -mining levels of the reclaimed <br />area or no greater than levels from adjacent non -mined areas determined at the time of bond release. <br />Because the Ohio Creek Mine No. 2 began operations in the 1940s, the 3.22 acres of surface <br />disturbance permitted in 1982 are considered pre-SMCRA disturbances. Baseline cover data <br />collected in 1980 for this pre-SMCRA disturbance indicated a cover value of 73%; however, this was <br />from a single species of annual mustard (Thlaspi arvense or field pennycress), and the high cover <br />value is considered suspect. Therefore, the level of suspended solids from the reclaimed area was <br />compared against the level from present adjacent unmined areas. <br />Presently, the unmined areas adjacent to the 3.22 -acre disturbance are being grazed (Photo 2 on the <br />next page), while the reclaimed area was fenced to protect it from grazing. As such, a direct <br />suspended -solids comparison would be somewhat inappropriate. Nevertheless, given the level of <br />total perennial cover of the reclaimed area (63.83% in 2015 and 54.83% in 2016) and the level of <br />vegetation of adjacent unmined areas visually observed by the Division during the 2015 and 2016 <br />vegetation sampling, it is likely that the level of suspended solids leaving the reclaimed area is less <br />than the level leaving adjacent unmined areas. <br />OHIO CREEK TERMINATION OF JURISDICTION DEC 2016 12 <br />AUTHOR: R. REILLEY <br />