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requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release application were received by the <br />Division. <br />A bond release inspection was scheduled and conducted on September 7, 2016. The site inspection <br />was conducted in accordance with Rule 3.03.2(2). Inspection attendees included: Zach Trujillo of <br />the Division; Tom Medlin of OSM; and Tony Tennyson, Angela Aalbers and Kurtis Blunt of <br />Colowyo. No representatives from Bureau of Land Management (BLM), State or local agencies, <br />or adjacent land owners attended the inspection. A summary of the bond release inspection are <br />presented in Section IV, below. Detailed observations of the inspection are documented in the <br />inspection report that was issued September 27, 2016. See Figure 1 of this document for the <br />location of the SL -10 partial Phase III Bond Release area. <br />III. CRITERIA FOR BOND RELEASE <br />Phase III Bond Release <br />The Division evaluated Colowyo's request for partial Phase III Bond Release on 202.4 acres in the <br />SL -10 application, as shown on Figures 1 of this document. The process of releasing the <br />reclamation bond for a coal mine site in Colorado is explained in Rule 3.03 and further described in <br />the Division's 1995 Guideline Regarding Selected Coal Mining Bond Release Issues. The bond <br />release process involves three phases. At Phase III, Rule 3.03.1(2) (c) states, "The remaining <br />portion of the bond amount shall be released when the permittee has successfully completed all <br />surface coal mining reclamation operations in accordance with the approved reclamation plan, and <br />the final inspection and procedures of 3.03.2 have been satisfied. This shall not be before the <br />expiration of the period specified for revegetation responsibility in 3.02.3." <br />Evaluation and inspection of the reclaimed areas was based on the specific requirements of the <br />reclamation plan and the functional requirements of the post -mining land use. Criteria for bond <br />release included the following. <br />1. The reclaimed logical management unit (LMU) met the vegetative cover standard for two <br />out of the four years of sample data (Rule 4.15.8(3)(a)); <br />2. The reclaimed LMU met the herbaceous productivity standard for two out of the four years <br />of sample data. (Rule 4.15.8(4)); <br />3. The reclaimed LMU met the approved species diversity standard for two out of the four <br />years of sample data. (Rule 4.15.8(5)); <br />4. On area reclaimed prior to 2008, woody stem density shall be 150 stems per acre on 3% of <br />the reclaimed area (Permit section 4.15.8 and Rule 4.15.8(7)); <br />5. The reclamation supports the approved post -mining land use (Rule 4.16.1); <br />6. Sample adequacy and revelation success for cover and productivity shall be made with one <br />of the following statistically valid approaches in Rule 4.15.11(2)(a), (b), or (c). <br />Demonstrations of sample adequacy and revelation success for woody plant density shall be <br />made with one of the following statistically valid approaches in (a), (b), or (c), or with one <br />of the alternative approaches specified in 4.15.11(3); and <br />Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance January 2017 <br />Partial Phase III Bond Release SL -10 Page 4 <br />