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COLORADO <br />Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />April 20, 2018 <br />Mr. Howard Strand <br />Denver Field Branch Manager <br />OSMRE — Denver Field Division <br />1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 <br />Denver, CO 80202-3050 <br />RE: Response to Citizen's Complaint — Tri-State Generation and Transmission <br />Association's Self -Bonds in Colorado <br />Dear Mr. Strand: <br />The Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (Division) is providing this information to the <br />Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) in response to a citizen's <br />complaint from WildEarth Guardians (Complaint) dated April 2, 2018. Amoung other things, the <br />complaint alleges that mines owned and controlled by the Tri-State Generation and Transmission <br />Association (Tri-State) do not meet the requirements for self -bonding. See, Colorado Surface <br />Coal Mining Reclamation Act C.R.S. §34-33-113(3) and Regulations of the Colorado Mined <br />Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining (Rule) 3.02.4(2)(e). The Tri-State mines included in <br />the Complaint are the New Horizon Mine (C-1981-008), the Colowyo Mine (C-1981-019), and <br />the New Horizon North Mine (C-2010-089). <br />The possible violations alleged in the Complaint are considered to be admininstrative by the <br />Division, therefore a site inspection pursuant to the Rule 5.02.5 was not performed. <br />In response to the Complaint and subsequent discussions with OSMRE, and given the <br />information the Division currently has regarding Tri-State, there is good cause that the possible <br />violations against Tri-State do not currently exist under either Colorado's approved program or <br />OSMRE's self -bonding Rules. <br />As outlined below, the Division is properly administering the self -bonding Rules for Tri-State <br />with regards to the Tri-State operations detailed in the Complaint. Therefore, pursuant to 30 <br />C.F.R. §842.11(b)(1)(ii)(B)(4)(i), the Division believes no violations exists and no further action <br />by OSMRE is necessary. <br />COLORADO'S SELF BONDING RULES <br />The Complaint alleges Tri-State is in violation of Rule 3.02.4(2)(e)(i)(C). This Rule sets forth the <br />financial criteria that must be met in order to allow a company to self -bond. Rule 3.02.4(2)(e) <br />states: <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, CO 80203 P 303.866.3567 F 303.832.8106 http://mining.state.co.us <br />John W. Hickenlooper, Governor I Robert Randall, Acting Executive Director I Virginia Brannon, Director <br />