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2 - 37 <br />2.3 TOPSOIL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM <br />Topsoil is defined in Section 701.5 of the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations <br />Permanent Regulatory Program, March 13, 1979, as meaning "the A soil horizon layer of the <br />three major soil horizons:' Topsoil in the Rules and Regulations, Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board, July 1978 is defined to mean "the material at the surface of the earth which <br />has been so mod~ed and acted upon by physical, chemical, and biological agents that it will <br />support rooted plants necessary to achieve reclamation goals." The primary goal of the topsoil <br />management program incorporates the first and is based upon the latter definition and is to <br />realize effective conservation and utilization of plant growth medium for the postmining land use. <br />No topsoil was salvaged prior to the bench excavation, road construction and/or <br />improvement discussed in Section 2.2. As described in Section 4.4.•1, and in accordance with <br />• criteria existing at the time of disturbance, no salvable topsoil existed at the bench area and <br />along the excavated portion of the road route, especially on steeper slopes, but portions of the <br />route did exhibit some weed and grass growth. A great portion of the access road located within <br />an area exhibiting marginal topsoil, was established over the existing road on the canyon floor. <br />All suitable topsoil materials from future areas to be affected will be removed as a separate <br />operation and stockpiled prior to effecting a disturbance, as discussed in Section 2.3.2. Topsoil <br />will be stockpiled in the vicinity of the disturbance, mulched and seeded to wheat grasses in <br />order to minimize erosion, and adequately marked to preclude disturbance prior to reclamation. <br />(See Section 3.2) <br /> <br />M~ Volume 1 4-29-96 <br />