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News Media, Steamboat Pilot once weekly for four consecutive weeks,beginning 27 October 2019. Seneca <br /> Property LLC also notified land owners within and adjacent to the mine permit area,and other interested <br /> parties of the application for bond release,as required by Rule 3.03.2(1). <br /> No comments,written objections,or requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release <br /> application were received by the Division. <br /> The Division scheduled and conducted a bond release inspection on 21 July 2020. The site inspection was <br /> conducted in accordance with Rule 3.03.2(2). The Division notified the operator, surface owners,Bureau of <br /> Land Management(BLM),the Office of Surface Mining(OSM),and the Colorado State Land Board of the <br /> inspection via certified mail. Attendees included: <br /> o Miranda Kawcack, Seneca Properties LLC (SPL) <br /> o Christine Belka, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement(OSMRE) <br /> o Ana Lash,Hayden Library Director <br /> o Christine Epp,Hayden Library Board <br /> o Robin Reilley, GISP; Colorado Division of Reclamation,Mining,and Safety(DRMS) <br /> DRMS conducted the bond release inspection with available sister agencies in attendance on 21 July 2020 <br /> and provided the associated inspection report to SPL,BLM,and OSMRE via electronic transmission on 30 <br /> July 2020. DRMS received the OSMRE inspection report from Christine Belka on 3 August 2020. <br /> Reclamation for the requested Phase II,and phase II/III SL6 bond release areas was conducted between 1990 <br /> and 2007. The reclamation parcels selected for the SL6 bond release were seeded between 2003 and <br /> 2007. The requested lands comprise bond release block 3 (BRB3),totaling 804.1 acres, and an additional <br /> 12.5 acres of permanent roads,bringing the total to 816.6 acres. The phase II/III areas represents the <br /> southern portion of the BRB while the phase III represents the northern portion. Map 1 submitted with <br /> the application illustrate the parcels associated with each requested phase. Reclamation activities are <br /> documented in the Annual Reclamation Reports submitted to DRMS. All areas in this application <br /> received formal phase I bond release through permitting action SL3. A portion of the phase II/III request <br /> received formal phase II release through permitting action SL5. The remainder is requested for phase II <br /> in the SL6 permitting action. A map of the bond release parcels was provided in the application. <br /> Adequacy Review <br /> Adequacy questions were provided to SPL on 20 August 2020 requesting a sediment demonstration,water <br /> quality information and additional data on TSS for ponds and outfalls. Updates to application pages were <br /> also requested to assure that the correct year of data had been submitted. The sediment demonstration and <br /> additional water quality information was received by DRMS on 12 January 2021. <br /> II. CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE FOR BOND RELEASE <br /> The Division evaluated Seneca Coal Company's request for Phase II and II/III bond release on 816.6 acres in <br /> the SL6 application. Under Colorado's Permanent Program,the process of releasing the reclamation bond for <br /> a mine site is explained in Rule 3.03 and further described in the Division's 1995 Guideline Regarding <br /> Selected Coal Mining Bond Release Issues. The bond release process involves three phases. At Phase II, <br /> Rule 3.03.1(2)(b) states: <br /> "Up to eighty-five percent of the applicable bond amount shall be released upon the establishment of <br /> Permit Number C1982057 Prepared by: R.Reilley NIS,GISP <br /> SL6 Phase II and III Page 4 of 16 <br />