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Environmental Assessment <br /> 1.3 Lead and Cooperating Agencies <br /> The BLM and OSMRE are co-lead agencies in this NEPA process and are both recognized as having <br /> jurisdiction by law of the King II Mine. The CDRMS and the La Plata County Planning Commission are <br /> cooperating agencies for this project because of their special expertise and jurisdiction. <br /> The King II Mine is an underground, "room-and-pillar"type coal mine with surface facilities that cover <br /> approximately 25 acres regulated by CDRMS, and underground mining operation regulated by the Indian <br /> Programs Branch of OSMRE that cover approximately 565 acres, as of July 2015. Collectively, the BLM, <br /> OSMRE, and CDRMS are responsible for managing the coal mine permitting and mining plan approval <br /> processes,which occur after leasing. Thus, if the King II lease modification is approved by the BLM,the <br /> lessee or operator is required to submit permit application package (PAP)revisions to CDRMS and <br /> OSMRE for required approvals before any mining could occur in the lease modification area. <br /> Bureau of Land Management <br /> Federal coal regulations 43 CFR§ 3432 and 3400 require the BLM to consider leasing federally owned <br /> minerals for economic recovery. The BLM decision to lease lands is the necessary first step in the process <br /> before a mining plan can be authorized and mining commences. Ongoing management of the existing <br /> leases require the BLM to follow coal regulations at 43 CFR§ 3400. <br /> Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement <br /> Most of the land encompassed by both the existing lease COC-62920 and the proposed lease modification <br /> area are "split-estate"lands where the federal government has retained ownership of the subsurface coal <br /> (and other minerals),but has disposed of the surface estate. The Ute Mountain Ute (UMU) Tribe owns <br /> much of the split-estate surface in this area.While the split-estate surface owned by the UMU Tribe is not <br /> within a designated Indian Reservation,it does meet the definition of"Indian Lands"as defined by the <br /> SMCRA, and thus the primary regulator of coal mining operations pursuant to SMCRA for those lands is <br /> the OSMRE. Therefore,the OSMRE and CDRMS are jointly responsible for issuing permits for mining <br /> at the King II Mine. <br /> OSMRE Indian Programs Branch <br /> This branch of OSMRE,Western Region is responsible for reviewing plans to conduct coal mining and <br /> reclamation operations on lands classified by SMCRA as Indian Lands. The OSMRE is the regulatory <br /> authority for coal mining that occurs on Indian lands and is recognized as having jurisdiction by law to <br /> approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve federal permit renewal and revision applications under <br /> SMCRA for the Federal Mine Permit CO-0106A. OSMRE reviews the PAP for Federal Mine Permit CO- <br /> 0106A for the surface overlying King II Mine on Ute Mountain Ute (UMU) surface lands to ensure <br /> compliance with SMCRA permitting standards. GCC submitted a significant revision to Federal Mine <br /> Permit CO-0106A in March 2017 to include the proposed lease modification area. OSMRE will issue a <br /> decision on the permit renewal and revision after the NEPA process is complete. <br /> DOI-BLM-CO-S010-2011-0074-EA <br /> September 2017 <br /> -16- <br />