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Permit Number C-1994-082 Page 3 of 17
<br />I. PROCEDURES AND SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS
<br />
<br />Seneca Property, LLC (SPL) applied for a partial Phase I and partial Phase III bond release (SL-6) under
<br />the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act following reclamation of the Yoast Mine. The
<br />mine is located in Routt County in:
<br />
<br /> Township 6 North, Range 87 West
<br /> Section 28: Portions of SE/4 NW/4,SW/4NE/4, NW/4 SW/4
<br /> Section 29: Portions of E/2 SE/4, W/2 SE/4, NE/4 SE/4
<br /> Section 32: Portions of W/2 E/2
<br />
<br /> Township 5 North, Range 87 West
<br /> Section 5: Portions of W/2 E/2
<br /> Section 8: NW/4, SW/4, W/2 NE/4, W/2 SE/4
<br /> Section 16: SW/4 NW/4, NW/4 SW/4, and portions of SW/4 SW/4,
<br /> NW/4 NW/4, SE/4 NW/4, NE/4 SW/4, NW/4 SE/4
<br /> Section 17: All
<br /> Section 18: NE/4 SE/4, S/2 SE/4
<br /> Section 19: E/2 and portions of E/2 W/2
<br /> Section 20: SW/4 NW/4, W/2 SW/4, N/2 NW/4, and portions of N/2 NE/4
<br /> Section 29: NW/4 NW/4
<br /> Section 30: N2 NE/4
<br />
<br />The Division has processed five previous bond release applications for the Yoast Mine (SL-1, SL-2, SL-
<br />3, SL-4, and SL-5). SL-1 was submitted on July 28, 2006 and found complete on September 13, 2006.
<br />The Division approved SL-1 on March 6, 2007, which released $11,862.00 of Phase I liability on 173.02
<br />acres of the North Pit. SL-2 was submitted on August 31, 2007 and found complete on October 15,
<br />2007. The Division approved SL-2 on June 15, 2010, which released $790,205.00 of Phase I liability on
<br />456.7 acres in the South Pit and Neck Pit areas. SL-3 was submitted on February 28, 2011 and found
<br />complete on April 19, 2011. The Division approved SL-3 on January 18, 2012 and released
<br />$1,693,918.00 of Phase II liability on 592 acres in the North and South Pit areas. SL-4 was submitted on
<br />June 1, 2012 and found complete on July 13, 2012. The Division approved SL-4 on November 9, 2012
<br />releasing $452,336.00 of Phase I liability on 115.5 acres associated with the Yoast Access road, light use
<br />road LU-1, Pond 010, light use road LU-2, topsoil stockpile I, the dragline assembly/disassembly pad,
<br />the YPM-8 drainage channel, YPM-8 watershed, light use roads LU-3A and LU-3B, and Stock Tank
<br />ST-1. SL-5 was submitted on August 26, 2013 and found complete on December 3, 2013. The Division
<br />approved SL-5 on March 5, 2014 and released $1,493.63 of Phase I, II, and III liability on 6.25 acres.
<br />
<br />Submittal of Bond Release Application and Completeness Determination by the Division
<br />
<br />This SL-6 application for partial Phase I and partial Phase III bond release was received by the Division
<br />on December 28, 2016. SL-6 initially requested Phase I release of 94.9 acres of reclaimed land at the
<br />Yoast Mine. The number of Phase I acres was revised to 76.5 acres during the review process. SL-6
<br />initially requested Phase III release of 277.2 acres of reclaimed lands that received Phase I bond release
<br />under SL-1 and SL-2 and SL-4 and Phase II bond release under SL-3. The number of Phase III acres
<br />was revised to 275.4 during the review process. The application was deemed complete on January 24,
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