2018-04-13_REPORT - C2009087 (2)

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WILDLIFE MONITORING Wildlife monitoring was conducted in cooperation with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) during 2017. The work included: Monitoring of Golden Eagle nest sites A total of 6 sites were identified for monitoring as part of the original permit approval. Three were believed to have been destroyed by natural causes. The remaining three nests were monitored. The only nest that appeared to be in active use was Site GOGA 2A, and observations indicated that Site GOGA 2F was being used by a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura). Monitoring four known Columbian sharp -tailed grouse leks and checking for new ones The following summarizes the grouse counts at the 4 established leks on the PSCM reclaimed area. These numbers represent a significant decrease in the number of grouse observed from the 2015 numbers, however, grouse counts were down throughout Northwest Colorado, possible due to weather conditions during the previous winter. Seneca Mine 1 Lek 3 males Seneca Mine 2 Lek 16 males Seneca Mine 3 Lek 19 males Seneca Mine 4 Lek 6 males CDPS PERMIT UPDATE A renewal application for the CDPS permit for the Sage Creek Mine property (Permit CO -0048275) was filed on April 9, 2011. A draft permit was issued on July 18, 2014. The draft permit included a number of significant changes from the original permit, and PSCM provided extensive comments on the draft permit on August 15, 2014. After a significant delay, the CDPHE-WQCD issued the final permit on November 16, 2015. The final permit did not reflect any significant modifications from the draft permit and continued to include provisions which would represent ongoing and future compliance concerns for permit implementation. Given this situation, PSCM filed a formal permit appeal on December 14, 2015. Subsequent to a series of associated legal actions, a hearing before an administrative law judge on the permit appeal was held on July 31, 2017 through August 2, 2017. The judge issued an initial decision on September 7, 2017, which is currently under appeal. PSCM has also pursued site-specific standards reflecting naturally degraded ambient conditions for several water quality parameters, due to geologic and other considerations. In a hearing before the Water Quality Control Commission on December 11, 2017, PSCM presented information and documentation in support of the proposed site-specific standards. After hearing testimony from PSCM and other interested parties, the Commission elected to apply temporary modifications for the parameters of concern (iron and selenium) to allow for additional data collection and resolution of some other related regulatory issues. LITERATURE CITED 2008 Annual Reclamation Report, Seneca II Mine, Routt County, Colorado. Submitted to the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety in March 2008 by Seneca Coal Company, Hayden, Colorado. Seneca II Mine. Permit Application Package, Permit No.0-80-005 2016 ARR