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United Slates Department of the. Interior
<br />liV, REPLY RGU-ER TO:
<br />135 -�-RO-9S-P-0p1-GJ418
<br />TAILS 061324100-2012-F-0009
<br />65413 2011-B-0022
<br />FISH AND WIL.•D�JFE SERVICE
<br />ficolpgg"icA Services
<br />C61drgdo field,:. gp .
<br />P..O. Box 25486 DFC :(6SA:1.2)
<br />Denver, Colorado 80225=04�
<br />November 16, 2011
<br />APPENDIX P
<br />REcEIVED
<br />NOV 17 2011
<br />OPAND JUNG I It•::' MUD OFFICE
<br />RECLAMAT)ON MINI GF& SAFETy
<br />Memorandum
<br />To: Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, Denver, Colorado (Attn: Dawn Pacula, Natural
<br />Resources Specialist)
<br />From: Colorado Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, Lakewood, Colorado
<br />Subject: McClane Canyon Coal Mine and Fruits Loadout Facility � R
<br />In accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the
<br />Interagency Cooperation Reguiaiiatrs (56 CFR 402), the "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) reviewed your
<br />September 26, 2011., biological assessment (BA) regarding the impacts of the _McClane Canyon Coat Mine tmine) and
<br />Frulta Loadout Facility (Loadout Facility) Project ori the endangered bonytai! (Gila ele$cn4), Colorado- plkeniinnow
<br />{Ptychoc7aellus ,Lucius}, hutnliback chub (Gila cyphg), razotbacic suoker (Xyl°atiehett texarius), and their designated critical
<br />habitat. The Mine is owned and operated by CAM -Colorado !,Ld. {CAM). The Mine- and siirroundirig lease area is
<br />located off_ of Highway 139 iri T. 7S, R. -102W, sections 14, -21, 23, and 726 Garfield Count)+, Colorado. The Loadout
<br />Faei[icy is located approximately 18 miles sooib of the Muie in T. -IN, R. 3W, sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, Mesa County,
<br />Colorado. The Loadout Facility is less than . 2 niile.frorn the mainstem Colorado River. The proposed'action Will cause a
<br />total average annual depletion 'of 35:acie-feet; 25.3 acre-feet to the J ast Salt Creek drai-n�wge (from operations at tUe Mine)
<br />and 9.7 acre-fee'.t to the'IReed Wath drainage (frbm operations at ibe Loadout Facility), ,Wlich are tributary to the Colorado
<br />River in tbe�U,pppr Colorado River Basin.
<br />CAM filed Permit Revision application No. 2 (PR -2) in November,2010 to expand surface facilities and increase
<br />underground coal production from 240,000 toils per year to 500,000 tons per year. Existing Mine features hlo?ude an
<br />office complex; a portal bench area, topsoil storage area, artd a road. Proposed features,tit the Mine irichide a coal
<br />cleaning plant, a coal waste disposal area, expanded "stockpile area, roads, and a new sediment pond. Proposed features at
<br />the Loadout Facility include 'hanl roads, tin access road, light iise toads, a coal truck off-load area, a coal stockpile, -a
<br />loadurg syste'mr and a rail loop and spur track. The project alsq includes a Lease Modif<cation from the Bureau of Land
<br />Managomeht (BLM) to exp`aud the Mine lease area by 320 acres.
<br />OSM concluded there would be no effect to the Canada lynx (Lynx c<ti:adgn.Ti), Mexican spotted owl (5trix occidentalis
<br />lrrcidar), greenback cutthroat trout (Qrjeorhynchus cicirO sro ntasj, Sclerocgcius gioticirs (Uinta $asin hookless etictus),
<br />Spic gdbes diluvigU4 (Ute Indies' -tr'es'ses), Phacella m6niutica (l_e i1eque phacelia), and Penstemon.debilis (fiarachute
<br />beardtorzgue)• Thereforee species will not be addressed further in this consultation.
<br />The Service concurs wits 08M's ddterminatian that tiie prbposed average aminal depletion associated vfth the Mine and
<br />Loadout Facility may affect, 'and is likely to adversely affect the endangered Colorado River fishes. Therefore, the
<br />PR -02 10/12
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