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III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE Below aze comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. An old USGS weather station is still in place on the reclaimed Pre-Law lands near the south end of the bond release request area above Road E1. The site is obviously no longer in use. It was undetermined during the inspection whether or not the USGS will reuse the site in future. There is equipment in place at the surface surrounded by a fence. The site does not pose a problem for the reclamation, and is stable with good vegetative cover. Topsoil The Reclamation Board Rules became effective February 25, 1976 and required all available topsoil was to be removed and replaced on the backfilled and graded area. The Colorado Open Mining Land Reclamation Act of 1973 required that whenever possible, the operator was to retain topsoil for reclamation and prior to this there was no requirement for topsoil salvage. It is unclear from the bond release application materials or other prior documentation to determine the exact timeframe of disturbance, mining and reclamation. As stated in the bond release application, the area of mining within the Pre- Law parcel was disturbed prior to February 25, 1976 and therefore no topsoil was salvaged or replaced on the Pre-Law disturbance. However there was a haul road constructed across the center of the pre-law mined area to provide access to ongoing mining. This haul road, approximately 8.2 acres, was regraded and topsoil replaced at a depth of one foot. This topsoil came from areas disturbed after August 3, 1977 (the date the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act passed). A portion of this haul road is shown in Photograph Number 3 as previously described. Reveeetation The site is well vegetated with no significant rills or gullies identified anywhere in the bond release azea. There were relatively few bare spots. Two small areas of coal outcrop were located in higher elevations near the east end of the bond release area. The bare spots associated with coal outcrop are shown in Photograph Numbers 4 & 5. There were also several Marmot holes where the animals have burrowed. One of the Marmot hole locations is shown in Photograph Number 6. The amount of disturbance is minimal at these locations. None of the bare spots identified during the inspection were deemed a significant feature in the overall reclaimed landscape. Weed control efforts in this area have been successful. The only weed identified was limited to houndstongue located on the lower slopes of the bond release area. All of the houndstongue identified had been recently sprayed.