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~+ <br /> <br />Page two <br />Letter to James <br />RE: Permit No. <br />January 26, 1981 <br /> <br />D. Rent, Esq. <br />79-177 <br /> <br />The MLRB also included eight specific stipulations to <br />its approval of permit No. 79-177. We have enclosed with this <br />letter a copy of the permit with its stipulations. All of <br />these stipulations have been complied with as of this time. We <br />believe that this information, which you can independently cor- <br />roborate through your files and by listening to the tape re- <br />cording of the January 29, 1980, Board meeting, should be more <br />than adequate to demonstrate that the Board did in fact find <br />permit No. 79-177 to be in compliance with the Federal Perma- <br />nent Program Regulations. <br />With regard to federal determinations of cro mpliance <br />with the Permanent Program Regulations, an examination of the <br />documents comprising the decision package by which the Depart- <br />ment of the Interior approved the major modification to EFC's <br />Mine Plan for permit No. 79-177, indicates a finding of <br />compliance with the Permanent Program Regulations, with only one <br />exception. This determination is reflected most clearly at page <br />one of the Environmental Assessment prepared by OSM in support <br />of its decision to approve the mine plan major modification. <br />There, OSM stated as follows: <br />"The plan has also been reviewed and found <br />in compliance with the performance standards of <br />*he Permanent Program Regulations pertaining to <br />Federal Lands, with the exception of the <br />standards for contemporaneous reclamation (30 <br />C.F.R. 816.100)." <br />This sole exception to the determination of permanent <br />program compliance pertains to EFC's request for a variance un- <br />der 30 C.F.R. §785.18 to allow for a section of highwall to <br />remain open (i.e, delay backfilling) in order to allow for the <br />excavation of portal areas for a proposed underground mining <br />operation. The limited nature of this exception to the finding <br />of compliance by OSM can be confirmed by examination of the <br />narrative at page 13 of the Environmental Assessment, examina- <br />tion of pages 73-76 of the Technical Analysis and by examination <br /> <br />