APPCOR13309

• Permit No: C1992081
• IBM Index Class Name: Application Correspondence
• Doc Date: 1/29/1993
• Doc Name: COAL PERMIT REVIEW COORDINATION
• From: DMG
• To: USFWS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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STATE OF COLORAi~U
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY oi.~
Depanment of Natural Resources
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1313 Sherman St., Room 21 5
Denver,C08020J ••`' e~•
Phone:[phone]
FAX: [phone] Rw Romer
Governor
Michael B. Long
January 2 9 , 19 9 3 Division oueaur
Mr. Lee Carlson, State Supervisor
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
730 Simms Street, Suite 290
Golden, CO 80401
RE: Coal Permit Review Coordination
Dear Mr. Carlson:
The Office of Mined Land Reclamation, Coal Program, of the Division of
Minerals and Geology, is the state agency responsible for implementing
the "Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act" (the Act). Through
the Act, and by virtue of state program approval and a Cooperative
Agreement with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement (OSM), we are responsible for issuing and enforcing coal
mining and reclamation permits on both federal and non-federal lands
in the state as required by the federal "Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977" (SMCRA). OSM has an oversight role as
defined by SMCRA, and additional responsibilities with respect to
issuance of mine plan approvals for operations on federal lands.
The Act and associated regulations, as well as the Cooperative
Agreement, require that we solicit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
review and recommendations concerning the potential impacts of
proposed permitting actions to threatened and endangered species of
plants and animals, and federally protected wildlife species. In
order to ensure that the appropriate level of protection is afforded
to these species, we have attempted to modify our requests for USFWS
evaluations. This proposed approach should greatly enhance
interagency coordination and communication.
We are planning to modify the completeness notifications which we
forward to your agency upon our receipt of complete applications for
new permits, permit revisions, technical revisions and permit
renewals. The revised notices will include pertinent information from
the submittal, a specific request for your evaluation regarding
potential impacts to threatened and endangered species or other
federally protected wildlife species, and the date by which we need
responses in order for this office to comply with its regulatory
requirements (the time frame varies depending on the type of
permitting action; for technical revisions, a response is needed
within 30 days of the date of completeness, for all other permitting
actions, a response is needed within 60 days of the completeness
date) .