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Reasonably Foreseeable Mining Plan and Foreseeable Surface <br />Use on the Lease Modifications for COC -1362 and COC -67232 <br />tracts. <br />To facilitate analyzing potential surface impacts due to underground mine subsidence, this <br />analysis assumes a reasonably foreseeable mine plan (RFMP) for this leasing decision. In order <br />to effectively analyze potential cumulative impacts, and potential post -lease activities on the land <br />surface, the analysis also assumes a scenario of potential surface use. It must be noted however, <br />that decisions pertaining to surface use and disturbance, with the exception of subsidence <br />impacts, are not made at the leasing stage. Rather, the decisions related to permit -related surface <br />activities are made when and if site-specific surface uses are proposed, and are evaluated through <br />the State permitting process based on their own merits. <br />Reasonably Foreseeable Mine Plan <br />The lease modifications for COC -1362 and COC -67232 (hereafter referred to as the lease mods, <br />or tracts) contain an estimated 10.4 million tons of federal coal reserves in the E coal seam. For <br />this analysis, it is assumed that the coal would be recovered using the longwall method of <br />underground coal mining. The tracts are bounded on the north by currently leased federal coal, on <br />the east by inferred mineable coal (unleased) (BLM 2004), on the west by private land, and on the <br />south by wilderness. Therefore, it is assumed that access to the coal reserves in the lease mods <br />would most easily be achieved from the existing underground workings at the West Elk mine and <br />surface facilities near Somerset, Colorado. <br />Production from the existing West Elk mine approximates 6.5 million tons per year (tpy) using <br />the longwall mining method, and is capable of peaking at a 7.0 million tpy rate. It is assumed for <br />this analysis that the coal would be extracted at a 6.5 million tpy rate. No increase in coal <br />production is assumed, and it is assumed that the coal would be transported to market using the <br />existing coal handling facilities and existing spur rail line. <br />The RFMP for the lease modifications assumes the coal in the E seam would be extracted from <br />portions of five longwall panels trending northwest -southeast. The panels in the lease <br />modifications would include the start lines and the first few thousand feet of five panels that <br />would extend west off the FS lands and into coal reserves under private land. The mining would <br />"retreat" to the main entries of the mine. The continuous miner would be used to drive <br />development entries for the longwall panels, with the primary coal production being achieved <br />using the longwall machine. <br />Sunset Lease Modification Biological Assessment 4 <br />