PERMFILE67186

• Permit No: C1981028
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 6/15/2006
• Doc Name: Revegetation Success Criteria
• Section_Exhibit Name: Appendix TR-37
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• 1.0 INTRODUCTION
As was observed in 2002 (Savage and Savage, 2002a), The Colorado Surface Coal
Mining Reclamation Act (CRS 34-33-120 and 121) performance standards require that
reclamation establish "a diverse, effective, and permanent vegetative cover of the same
seasonal variety native to the area of land to be affected and capable of self-regeneration
and plant succession at least equal in extent of cover to the natural vegetation of the area."
In implementing the provisions of the statute, the constructors of the Colorado regulations
concluded that in order to meet these revegetation success requ'uements, reclaimed and
revegetated areas must have a stabilizing cover of vegetation of the same seasonal variety
as that disturbed, and for those areas that are not cropland or to be developed, herbaceous
production, species diversity, and woody plant density equal to that of the vegetation on
the approved reference area, or derived standards.
The overarching concern with using a reference area in evaluating the success of
revegetation centers on comparison of a native vegetation community with an
anthropogenic vegetation community. There aze two predominant concerns with
comparing native vegetation communities with reclaimed vegetation communities; first,
the revegetated community has been developed on a significantly different (or altered)
physical environment, and second, revegetation success comparisons aze being made
between a mature native vegetation community and an eazly sera) stage vegetation
community.
Commonly, revegeaated communities on mined azeas have a significantly different physical
environment. The geology and stratigraphy of the area has often been altered through
fragmentation, extraction, and replacement. At the Keenesburg Mine, the removal and
replacement of the clay, sand, and clay shale layers, has resulted in a more uniform mixing
and replacement of the overburden. The reclaimed topography has been changed, often
creating a surface reflective of the methods used to reestablish the landscape, rather than
long-term natural processes. Any fragmentation, removal, and replacement of the
overburden materials generally alters the groundwater hydrologic regime in a mine's
disturbance azea, and likely alters the surface water hydrology from the standpoint of
drainage location, drainage pattern complexity, and chemical composition of the water.
Removal, stockpiling, and replacement of topsoil or suitable plant growth media changes
the character of the original soil profile as well as the numbers and character of macro-
and microorganisms within the removed and replaced soil, including the dormant seed
bank. Lastly, the revegetated communities aze young, representing early seral stages in
the development of the vegetation community, with significantly different physiognomy
and species composition than native communities of the reference areas.
Native vegetation communities that are being used as reference azeas for mining
operations have their own set of characteristics. Whether largely unaffected by man's
presence or modified in the last centuries, the native vegetation communities have
• developed over long periods of time, generally hundreds or thousands of years. As a
result of this lengthy development, the vegetation communities are complex, in terms of
Coors Energy Company Keenesburg Mine Paga 2
2005 Addendum to Reviabn aF RavegetaUon 5uccees Crkeria