2020-06-25_REVISION - C1981019 (6)

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RULE 2 PERMITS 2.06.5 (2) (e) Owner Approval The owners of the property within the revision area are Colowyo and the Bureau of Land Management. A letter requesting that the variance from Approximate Original Contour for Steep Slope Mining be granted from BLM is included as Figure 2.06.5-1. 2.06.5 (2) (f) Compliance with Limited Variances The operations will be completed in compliance with the requirements of limited variances as outlined in Section 4.27.4 of this permit document. 2.06.6 Prime Farmlands Prime farmlands do not exist within the South Taylor/Lower Wilson permit revision boundary (see Section 2.04.12). 2.06.7 Reclamation Variance There will be no delay in contemporaneous reclamation due to underground mining activities; therefore, this section is not applicable. 2.06.8 Alluvial Valley Floor (AVF) General Both a field investigation and technical evaluation of the Wilson Creek drainage was conducted in accordance with this Section and draft OSM Technical Guideline, "OSM Alluvial Valley Floor Guidelines", dated June 11, 1980. The investigation resulted in no identification of alluvial valley floors in the area to be mined; however, some of the floodplains of Good Spring Creek,West Fork Good Spring Creek,Wilson Creek, lower Taylor Creek, and lower Jubb Creek may conform to the geomorphic criteria of alluvial valley floor(AVF) surface landforms because they are underlain by unconsolidated material of Quaternary Age (Map 11B). None of these floodplains are located in the area to be mined as shown on Map 23A. The Gossard Loadout is located in an area between Wilson Creek and Taylor Creek near the junction of these two drainages; however, no major subsurface disturbance has occurred in this area that might adversely affect the possible subsurface hydrologic system with regards to potential alluvial valley floors. The actual area to be mined is located well above the flood plain of Wilson, Taylor, and Good Spring Creeks, both topographically and hydrologically. As discussed in Section 2.04.7, the existence of groundwater in the mining area is limited to perched systems that primarily discharge small amounts of water in the canyon walls near the mine on a seasonal basis and in some of the unconsolidated alluvium. Very little water is found in the current active mine; and, based on existing geological and hydrological evidence, the areas to be mined provide no or only minor amounts of recharge to local surface water features. Therefore,the flood plains of Wilson Creek, Good Spring Creek, lower Taylor Creek, and their tributaries will not be directly impacted except at road crossings (discussed elsewhere in the application) and should not be adversely affected by mining operations. South Taylor/Lower Wilson—Rule 2,Page 86 Revision Date: 6/22/20 Revision No.: MR-220