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IV. PROPOSED DECISION <br /> Based on the observations above,the Division proposes to approve BRL's request for a Phase III bond <br /> release for the Bowie No. 1 Mine. This proposed decision for SL-09 will release the applicant from <br /> liability for a large part of the reclamation work in the East Mine. The SL-09 area does not include four <br /> ponds (Ponds 1 —4), a pipeline corridor, and some drillhole pads. The released area is 58.84 acres. <br /> When determining the amount to be released under a bond release request,the Division considers two <br /> factors (listed below) and the proposed release amount is the smaller of the two values. <br /> 1. The first consideration is the amount that can be released based on the Reclamation Cost Estimate <br /> using the Division's CIRCES software. This estimate ensures that the release amount does not result <br /> in the Division holding less bond than would be required to complete reclamation of the site in the <br /> event of a forfeiture (Rule 3.03.1(3)3(d)). <br /> 2. The second consideration is Rule 3.03.1(2) discussed in detail below. <br /> The amount that can be released based on the Reclamation Cost Estimate (see enclosure)is $280,090, <br /> which is the estimated cost to seed the East Mine,with the exception of the bin wall ponds (Ponds 1 —4). <br /> (Note that the task description in the enclosure includes outdated information,including the word <br /> "ROM." This will be removed when the cost estimate is updated with the midterm in 2025.) <br /> Rule 3.03.1(2) allows for a percentage of release of liability for three phases: <br /> • Phase I release allows for a maximum of 60 percent of the total liability for the subject area. <br /> • Phase II release allows for an additional 25 percent(for total of 85 percent). <br /> • Phase III release allows for an additional 15 percent(for total of 100 percent). <br /> For a given bond release application, the amount is also limited by the size of the subject area. The <br /> Division uses a straight percentage of area requested for release divided by total area. For SL-09,this <br /> application requests Phase III release on 58.84 acres out of a total of 97.5 total acres for the East Mine. <br /> The result is 60.3 percent of the total area. <br /> The reclamation liability for the Bowie No. 1 Mine prior to any approved bond releases was calculated <br /> with Permit Renewal No. 4 (RN-04)to be $6,879,590.12. Additional MRs and TRs added $118,677.31 <br /> for a total of$6,998,267.43. The breakdown between the three areas (East Mine, West Mine, and <br /> Loadout) shown in Table 1 is based on details within the Reclamation Cost Estimate for RN-04. The <br /> values for each area/phase combination (e.g., West Mine/Phase III) are the maximum amounts that <br /> should be considered when assessing the appropriate release of liability for a particular bond release. <br /> SL-09 Findings,Permit C-1981-038 Page 10 of 12 <br />