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~. ~~ WELBORN, DUFFORD, BROWN £~ TOOLEY Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division May 8, 1986 Page Two 2. Seriousness With regard to seriousness, the NOV alleges mining outside the approved D-pit boundary shown on Map M10-F. There is no allegation that any performance requirements were violated or that any environmental harm occurred. Therefore, consideration should be limited to "the extent to which enforcement was obstructed" under Rule 5.04.5(2)(b)(ii). Trapper submits that there was no such obstruction and, consequently, no assessment should be made in this category. First, all of the mining at issue occurred within the permit area, so there is no impact on enforcement resulting from mining outside the permit area. Second, we understand the Division's concern is not that the mining occurred in 1986 rather than 1985, but rather the allegation is that it occurred beyond the areas for which detailed plans were shown on Map M10-F. The purpose of such detailed plans is to demonstzate the sequence of mining (e.g., topsoil and then overburden removal, coal extraction, backfilling, regrading and retopsoiling). This information is used primarily to calculate the bond amounts appropriate for the prescribed sequence and total disturbed area. The mining at issue involved no changes from the permit terms in any of these respects. The sequence was the same as shown for D-Pit in the permit. The total disturbed area was also the same since the permit clearly permitted topsoil removal in the area at issue. The only variance, if any, was in the degree of disturbance resulting from overburden removal, which relates to the bond amount. But, there was no change in the bond with respect to D-pit when the technical revision for this area was approved (see next paragraph). This fact reflected that D-pit's length is decreasing as it proceeds east. Third, Trapper submitted a technical revision which the Division received on February 18, 1986, and which included the same detailed plans as were followed in mining the area at issue. By letter dated February 28, 1986, Trapper committed to following all terms of the permit in mining this area and stated that all baseline data for it had been found complete by the Division previously. The Division's adequacy letter of March 25, 1986, confirmed that the technical revision with regard to the D-pit was acceptable in all respects, including the adequacy of Trapper's bond with regard to that area. The only points raised concerned other matters unrelated to the D-Pit extension.