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Mr. Fred Banta Page Three Mr. Floyd Johnson March 24, 1982 provides employment to many miners who otherwise would not find work in the North Fork Valley since other mines are not hiring. A layoff of employees would be very disheartening to the Bear Coal Company, as many good employees and long-time residents of the area would be forced to leave or resort to unemployment compensation for survival. Steps Remaining for Division to Approve Permit Revision The Division is in the final stages of preparing a findings document for the Bear Coal Company permit revision. This document will be finalized in the near future and will contain a summary of plans along with an assessment of impacts. Once the findings document is finalized to the satisfaction of the Division, a notice of proposed approval must be published for four consecutive weeks in the North Fork Times, the local newspaper in Paonia, Colorado. If no one requests a formal hearing, the Division will be able to issue final approval within five days following the 30-day notice time as required under Section 2.07.4(2). The Division expects several stipulations to be placed on the Bear Coal Company for mining; however, there appears to be no major issues that cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. Remaining for OSM to Approve Permit Revision OSM is currently preparing a decision package regarding the permit revision of the Bear Coal Company. The decision document being prepared by OSM will contain the following: • Letters of concurrence (sign-off) from the USGS, BLM, SHPO, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service • Environmental Assessment (EA) • Finding of No Significant Impact • Independent review of every environmental discipline • Statement of Concurrence with stipulations of the Division • Letter from Acting Director of Western Region (Mr. Richard Daws) requesting approval of the permit revision to Washington, D.C. office Once the decision package is completed by the Denver office, it must be sent to the OSM office in Washington, D.C. h1r. Floyd Johnson of the Denver office will notify personnel in Washington weeks before the package is to arrive so that Washington personnel can be geared up to review and approve the decision document once it arrives.