Laserfiche WebLink
previous bond release acreages and Table 2 in this document for the previous bond release amounts. <br /> SL-17 Partial Phase I,II and III Bond Release Application <br /> The SL-17 application was received by the Division on September 26, 2019 and deemed complete <br /> on October 22, 2019. Colowyo published notice of the bond release application in the Craig Daily <br /> Press once weekly for four consecutive weeks,beginning September 20, 2019 and ending on <br /> October 11, 2019. Colowyo notified land owners within and adjacent to the mine permit area,the <br /> Office of Surface Mining(OSM),the BLM, Colorado State Land Board(CSLB) and other <br /> interested parties of the application for bond release, as required by Rule 3.03.2(1). No comments, <br /> written objections or requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release application <br /> were received by the Division. <br /> A bond release inspection was scheduled and conducted on September 5, 2019. The site inspection <br /> was conducted in accordance with Rule 3.03.2(2). Inspection attendees included: Zach Trujillo of <br /> the Division and Tom Fry of Colowyo. No representatives from the BLM, CLSB, other State or <br /> local agencies, or adjacent land owners attended the inspection. A summary of the bond release <br /> inspection is presented in Section IV,below. Detailed observations of the inspection are <br /> documented in the inspection report that was issued November 11, 2019. See Figure 1 of this <br /> document for the location of the SL-17 partial Phase I, II and III Bond Release area. <br /> III. CRITERIA FOR BOND RELEASE <br /> Phase I Bond Release <br /> The Division evaluated Colowyo's request for partial Phase I Bond Release on 0.4 acres of the <br /> permanent structure, South Collection Ditch, in the SL-17 application, as shown on Figure 1 of this <br /> document. The process of releasing the reclamation bond for a coal mine site in Colorado is <br /> explained in Rule 3.03 and further described in the Division's 1995 Guideline Regarding Selected <br /> Coal Mining Bond Release Issues. The bond release process involves three phases. At Phase I, <br /> Rule 3.03.1(2) (a) states, "Up to sixty percent of the applicable bond amount shall be released when <br /> the permittee successfully completes backfilling,regrading, and drainage control in accordance with <br /> the approved reclamation plan." <br /> Evaluation and inspection of the reclaimed areas was based on the specific requirements of the <br /> reclamation plan and the functional requirements of the post-mining land use. Criteria for Phase I <br /> bond release includes all or part of the following. <br /> 1. Hillslope and drainage channel gradients and general design compliance; <br /> 2. Performance of the reconstructed topography. Symptoms of failure or instabilities such as <br /> slumping or exposed highwalls were examined; <br /> 3. Hillslope design/function with regard to erosion; <br /> 4. Swales and depressions with regard to numbers of features and effect on post-mining land <br /> use; <br /> Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance December 18,2019 <br /> Partial Phase I,II and III Bond Release SL-17 Page 4 <br />