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application was deemed complete on November 29, 2021, after the Division received proof of <br /> publication of the applicant's public notice and maps showing the boundaries of the parcels included in <br /> the application. Oxbow published notice of the bond release application in Delta County Independent <br /> once weekly for four consecutive weeks,beginning November 3, 2021. Oxbow also notified land <br /> owners within and adjacent to the mine permit area, and other interested parties of the application for <br /> 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 April 5,2022, allowing time for <br /> snow to melt. The site inspection was conducted in accordance with Rule 3.03.2(2). The inspection was <br /> attended by Doug Smith of Oxbow, and Dan Mackinnon and Brook Zeller of the Office of Surface <br /> Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement(OSMRE). The Bureau of Land Management,Uncompahgre <br /> Field Office(BLM)was notified but no representative attended the inspection. <br /> The final list of sites to be Phase II released with SL-6 is given in Table 1, below. All of the sites in the <br /> table were Phase I released with SL-1 and SL-2. <br /> Table 1 <br /> Reclamation Phase I <br /> Phase Site Landowner/manager Date Release Acreage <br /> Lower and middle <br /> pads of Elk Creek <br /> II Mine facilities area, Oxbow 2018 SL-1 19.4 <br /> including part of <br /> East Refuse Pile <br /> West Valley Fill, <br /> II including haul road Oxbow 2002-2018 SL-2 12.9 <br /> west of the fill <br /> II II West Valley Fill Oxbow 2002-2018 SL-2 3.33 <br /> Total Acreage for <br /> 35.63 <br /> S L-5 <br /> II. CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE FOR BOND RELEASE <br /> PHASE II <br /> Rule 3.03.1(2)(b) states, "Up to eighty-five percent of the applicable bond amount shall be released upon <br /> the establishment of vegetation which supports the approved postmining land use and which meets the <br /> approved success standard for cover... based on statistically valid data collected during a single year of <br /> the liability period". In regard to Phase II bond release, Rule 3.03.2(3)(b) also states, "No more than <br /> sixty(60)percent of the bond shall be released so long as the lands to which the release would be <br /> applicable are contributing suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area in excess of <br /> premining levels as determined by baseline data or in excess of levels determined on adjacent nonmined <br /> areas". <br /> C-1981-022,SL-6 Page 5 of 9 <br />