Laserfiche WebLink
SL-19 1 II 1 7/22/20 1 10/26/20 <br /> See Exhibit 2 of the Colowyo Mine Annual Reclamation Report for the locations of the previously <br /> reclaimed areas at the Colowyo Mine. See Table 1 in this document for the previous bond release <br /> acreages and Table 2 in this document for the previous bond release amounts. <br /> SL-20 Partial Phase I Bond Release Application <br /> The SL-20 application was received by the Division on April 6,2021 and deemed complete on <br /> April 13,2021. Colowyo published notice of the bond release application in the Craig Daily Press <br /> once weekly for four consecutive weeks,beginning March 13,2021 and ending on April 2,2021. <br /> Colowyo notified land owners within and adjacent to the mine permit area,the BLM, and other <br /> interested parties of the application for bond release, as required by Rule 3.03.2(1). No comments, <br /> written objections or requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release application <br /> were received by the Division. <br /> A bond release inspection was scheduled and conducted on May 6,2021. The site inspection was <br /> conducted in accordance with Rule 3.03.2(2). Inspection attendees included: Zach Trujillo of the <br /> Division, Tony Tennyson of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association,Inc. (Tri-State), <br /> and Tom Fry of Colowyo. No representatives from the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), BLM, <br /> other State or local agencies, or adjacent land owners attended the inspection. A summary of the <br /> bond release inspection is presented in Section IV, of this document. Detailed observations of the <br /> inspection are documented in the inspection report that was issued May 10, 2021. See Figure 1 of <br /> this document for the location of the SL-20 partial Phase I Bond Release area. <br /> III. CRITERIA FOR BOND RELEASE <br /> Phase I Bond Release <br /> The Division evaluated Colowyo's request for partial Phase I Bond Release on 18 acres of the East <br /> and West Pit in the SL-20 application, as shown on Figure I of this document. The process of <br /> releasing the reclamation bond for a coal mine site in Colorado is explained in Rule 3.03 and further <br /> described in the Division's 1995 Guideline Regarding Selected Coal Mining Bond Release Issues. <br /> The bond release process involves three phases. At Phase I,Rule 3.03.1(2) (a) states, "Up to sixty <br /> percent of the applicable bond amount shall be released when the permittee successfully completes <br /> backfilling,regrading, and drainage control in accordance with the approved reclamation plan." <br /> Evaluation and inspection of the reclaimed areas was based on the specific requirements of the <br /> reclamation plan and the functional requirements of the post-mining land use. Criteria for Phase I <br /> bond release includes all or part of the following. <br /> 1. Hillslope and drainage channel gradients and general design compliance; <br /> Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance May 28,2021 <br /> Partial Phase I Bond Release SL-20 Page 4 <br />