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PeabjLGY <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mining, LLC <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mine <br />29515 RCR 27 <br />Oak Creek, CO 80467 <br />Aquatic Habitat Restoration, Establishment, and Enhancement Activities, to the ACOE Grand Junction <br />Regulatory Office. The NWP 27 authorizes activities including the installation, removal, and <br />maintenance of small water control structures, dikes, and berms; installation of current deflectors; filling, <br />blocking, or reshaping of drainage ditches to restore wetland hydrology; the installation of structures or <br />fills necessary to restore or enhance wetland or stream hydrology; and activities needed to reestablish <br />vegetation including planting of appropriate wetland species. Under their applicable regulatory <br />guidelines, the ACOE will need documentation from CDRMS indicating that the enhancement work is <br />part of the mine reclamation covered in the mining permit as described by Notification Condition 3 of <br />NWP 27: <br />Notification: The permittee must submit a pre -construction notification to the District <br />Engineer prior to commencing any activity (see General Condition 32), except for the <br />following activities: <br />(3) The reclamation of surface coal mine lands, in accordance with an SMCRA permit <br />issued by the OSMRE or the applicable state agency. <br />However, the permittee must submit a copy of the appropriate documentation to the <br />District Engineer to fulfill the reporting requirement. (Authorities: Sections 10 and 404) <br />The ACOE NWP 27 also specifies that an ecological reference be chosen as the target aquatic habitat <br />type. The ACOE Regional Supplement for the Western Mountains states that wet meadows support <br />herbaceous plant species and develop on mineral soils that are seasonally ponded or saturated and often <br />lie below snowbeds that supply water during the snowmelt season. These systems are often dominated <br />by sedges, rushes, grasses, and herbaceous dicots. The ACOE Regional Supplement for the Western <br />Mountains describes shrub dominated wetlands as those occurring on mineral soils in floodplains and <br />riparian zones with dominant species that vary with location, elevation, and other factors but generally <br />consist of willow species. The enhancement of these areas will target a mix of riverine shrub dominated <br />wetlands with palustrine emergent wet meadows along the perimeters. Adjacent undisturbed drainages <br />also contain these wet meadows within the alluvial valleys and often at the base of surrounding steep <br />slopes, with willow species within the immediate riparian area. <br />At Pond 004, PSCM intends to restore a palustrine emergent wetland consisting of a mix of wet meadow <br />and shrub wetland species. As shown in the vegetation survey, the primary wetland plants that inhabit <br />this valley are Nebraska sedge and foxtail, which fall within the wet meadow vegetation type. Selective <br />planting of willows within the channel and riparian areas will resemble the shrub dominated wetlands. <br />The steeper slopes in this area will likely prevent ponding of water for extended periods of time. At <br />Pond 002, the primary wetland plant species were shown to be sedges and rushes, again indicative of a <br />wet meadow vegetation type. Planting of willow root balls will also create stream segments dominated <br />by shrubs within the immediate channel and riparian area. Laterally from the channel, the increase in <br />seasonal surface flow and soil moisture will enhance the palustrine emergent wetland areas. Because <br />Pond 002 is an area with shallower slopes, it is likely that some surface water ponding will occur <br />seasonally. In the case of both Ponds 002 and 004, the enhancements are generally targeting expansion <br />of the existing wetland types by rectifying the channelization that has occurred in these areas. Because <br />