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Biological Assessment <br /> Federal Coal Lease Modification(COC-62920)and Federal Mine Permit(CO-0106A)Revision and Renewal <br /> and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402). The correspondence was in regards <br /> to impacts of the existing King II underground mine on Colorado River fishesspecifically, on <br /> the Proposed Action's average annual depletion of 34.07 acre-feet from the San Juan River. On <br /> April 30, 2015, the USFWS responded stating they issued a biological opinion (BO) <br /> (USFWS 1999a) determining that depletions of 100 acre-feet or less would not limit the <br /> provision of flows outlined in the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program <br /> (USFWS 1992). Therefore, the proposed 34.07-acre-foot depletion would not limit the provision <br /> of flows identified for the recovery of Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker and, thus, <br /> would not likely jeopardize the endangered fish species or result in the destruction or adverse <br /> modification of their critical habitat. <br /> Also in 2015, the USFWS issued a BO (Consultation #02ENNM00-2014-F-0064)for the Four <br /> Corners Power Plant(FCPP) and Navajo Mine Energy Project(NMEP) in northwestern New <br /> Mexico. The project included OSMRE's consideration of a coal mining permit for the NMEP <br /> and the BIA's consideration of a lease renewal for the FCPP facility and associated transmission <br /> line rights-of-way (ROWS). Reasonable and Prudent Measure (RPM) #1 of the BO, requires <br /> OSMRE to evaluate and consult with the USFWS on all discretionary OSMRE permitting <br /> actions within OSMRE's authority that have the potential to deposit mercury in the San Juan <br /> River. The GCC Proposed Action analyzed in this BA would result in deposition of <br /> approximately 0.25 pound per year of mercury and 10.4 pounds per year of selenium along the <br /> Animas River in Colorado, a tributary of the San Juan River. This BA completes OSMRE's <br /> reporting requirements as outlined in RPM#1 of the subject BO. <br /> July 2017 <br /> 6 <br />