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United States Department of the Interior <br />C: <br />OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING <br />Reclamation and Enforcement <br />Brooks Towers <br />1020 15th Sveet <br />Denver, Colorado 8020? <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Director <br />THROUGH: <br />FROM: <br />Deputy Director <br />Operations and Technical Services <br />Assistant Director <br />Western Support Center <br />SUBJECT: Recommendation for Approval of the Somerset Mining <br />Company's Somerset Mine Mining Plan for Federal Lease <br />COC-53510, Delta and Gunnison Counties, Colorado <br />I. Recommendation <br />I recommend approval of the Somerset Mine mining plan for <br />• Federal lease COC-53510. This is a new mining plan for the <br />Somerset underground coal mine being permitted under the <br />Federal lands program and the approved Colorado State <br />program and cooperative agreement. My recommendation to <br />approve the Somerset Mine mining plan is based on: (1) <br />Somerset Mining Company's (SMC) complete permit application <br />package (PAP), (2) compliance with the National <br />Environmental Policy Act of 1969, (3) documentation assuring <br />compliance with applicable requirements of other Federal <br />laws, regulations, and executive orders, (4) comments and <br />recommendations or concurrence of other Federal agencies, <br />and the public, (5) the findings and recommendations of the <br />Bureau of Land Management with respect to the resource <br />recovery and protection plan and other requirements of the <br />Federal lease and the Mineral Leasing Act, and (6) the <br />findings and recommendations by the Colorado Division of <br />Minerals and Geology with respect to the PAP and the <br />Colorado State program. <br />Approval of this mining plan will authorize mining of about <br />10,000,000 tons of Federal coal within 1340 acres of Federal <br />lease COC-53510, as shown on the map(s) included with this <br />decision document. The review of the PAP indicated that <br />SMC's proposal would not require special conditions to be <br />included in the mining plan approval document to comply with <br />• Federal law. <br />