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<br />• these conclusions. Disapproval would be necessary, if the special <br />stipulations were not accepted by the applicant. These special stipulations <br />are required to insure compliance with SMCRA and other Federal laws. <br />Alternative 3 <br />No action would be a viable alternative if additional investigations were <br />required to assess the impacts of the proposed mining operation. However, OSM <br />has been able to assess the impacts with existing data. In addition, the <br />Federal mineral leasing laws and the existing lease agreements require the <br />Secretary of the Interior to respond to applications to conduct operations on <br />valid Federal leases, provided all terms and conditions of the leases have <br />been met. <br />Affected Environment <br />The following is a summary of material presented in OSMs technical <br />analysis (Feb. 1980); the applicant's mine plan (Sept. 1979), BLMs <br />regional and site specific EIS, Northwest Colorado Coal (FES 77-1, <br />Jan. 1977) and supplemental environmental report (Dec. 1978); and BLMs <br />environmental assessment report, "Short-term Coal Lease Application <br />(C-22644, C-26913, C-2267) Routt County, Colorado" (Jan. 1979). <br />Energy Fuels' mining operation is located in an area that contains high- <br />quality, low-sulfur coal beds in the Iles and William's Fork Formations of <br />the Mesa Verde Group. The two coal seams that will be mined are primarily the <br />Wadge (4 ft) and the overlying Lennox (18 in). <br />The permit area has a semi-arid climate with an annual precipitation of 14.6 <br />inches. Approximately 45 percent of this precipitation occurs during the <br />growing season of April through September. Temperatures are generally <br />extreme, ranging from 85° F in July to 3.6° F in January. <br />Two streams drain the area. Foidel Creek, an intermittent stream that is a <br />tributary to the Yampa River, drains Energy Mine 1 and the Eckman Park area, <br />and Fish Creek, a perennial stream, drains runoff from Energy Mine 2. The <br />Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) has classified Foidel Creek as a nonsport <br />fishery and Fish Creek ae a cold-water fishery. Trout and Middle Creeks in <br />the area have also been classified as cold-water fisheries by DOW. A 73-foot <br />thick confined overburden aquifer underlles the entire Twentymile Park <br />ground-water basin. This ground-water system is a major aquifer within the <br />basin. The area to be disturbed by mining comprises approximately 5 percent of <br />the total recharge area for the overburden aquifer. <br /> <br />Vegetation in the expansion area comprises four major communities--grassland, <br />sagebrush, mountain shrub, and cropland-and two subtypes-aspen and mountain <br />shrub-rock outcrop. The vegetation provides habitat for elk, mule deer, black <br />bear, cougar, rabbit, coyote, bobcat, red fox, rodents, insectivores, bats, <br /> <br />- 6 - <br />