2020-10-27_PERMIT FILE - C1981035 ‎(20)‎

• Permit No: C1981035
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 10/27/2020
• Doc Name: Page 251-303
• Section_Exhibit Name: KII Appendix 18 Lease Modification Final EA ‎(Page 251-303)‎
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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United States Department of the Interior
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE aIn
Q c 31A Ecological Services
Colorado Field Office
P.O. Box 25486-DFC MS 65412
IN REPLY REFER TO: Denver, Colorado 80225-0486
ES/CO: USFS/PSICC
TAILS: 06E24000-2017-I-1053 AUG 16 20V
Memorandum
To: Gretchen Pinkam, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSMRE), Denver, Colorado; Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Dolores,
Colorado.
From Drue DeBerry, Colorado Field Office, Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Lakewood, Colorado,
Re: FWS section7 concurrence with the biological assessment for the King II Mine
Expansion in La Plata County, Colorado.
The U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) received your letter and biological assessment on
July 10, 2017, regarding the proposed King H Mine Expansion for GCC Energy, LLC, in La
Plata County, Colorado. You requested concurrence with your determination that the proposed
action may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the Rio Grande silvery minnow
(Hybognathus amarus) and its critical habitat, greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii
stomias), Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus luscious) and its critical habitat, and the
razorback sucker(Xyrauchen texanus) and its critical habitat. These comments have been
prepared under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et. seq.).
The proposed action consists of approvals by OSMRE and BLM that would provide for four
additional tracts of land in the King II Mine. In 2014, the King II Mine was authorized to
produce up to 1.3 million tons of coal annually through federal, State of Colorado, and private
mineral leases, with the majority of production under Federal Coal Lease COC62920. At the
present mining rate, it is estimated that the coal in the current lease area would be exhausted in
less than three years. The four additional tracts would extend the life of the current mine by an
estimated five to seven years.
Specifically, the proposed action consists of the following proposed federal actions:
1. The BLM must decide whether to: 1) approve, 2) approve with modifications, or 3) deny
a modification of existing Federal Coal Lease COC62920 for the King H Coal Mine. If
approved, the lease modification would result in the modification of Federal Coal Lease
COC62920 by approximately 950 acres on four tracts adjacent to the current operation.
Most of the lease area consists of split estate, in which the federal government manages
the subsurface mineral estate, but not the surface lands.
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