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III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII <br />999 <br />STATE OF COLORAL~U <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Depa rtmenl of Natural Resources <br />131 } Sherman St., Room 21 5 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FA%: (307) 832-8106 <br />DATE: October 14, 1993 <br />TO: NOV C-93-112; File No. C -007 <br />FROM: Christine Johneto <br />RE: Phone convereat ion <br />of iota <br />tid= <br />v''ie ~ O <br />• `~~ <br />~B ]6 ~ <br />Roy Romer <br />Governor <br />Michael B. Long <br />Division Director <br />I called Mike Ward with the USFS in Paonia on October 13, 1993, to find out how <br />or what part they play in regulation of a coal mine. He said the USFS first does <br />a Leasing Suitability Criteria and gives consent to lease the coal and then the <br />BLM auctions off the lease. The lease is then obtained by the company who then <br />submits an application to DMG and OSM. The Forest Service also receives a copy <br />of the application. They also receive all revieione regarding any changes on <br />USFS land. Mr. Ward et ated that they are concerned with subsidence impacts and <br />access for drilling projects. Mr. Ward believes that the Forest Service has been <br />regularly noticed of any activity at the Weet Elk Mine. <br />In eome of the correspondence with the Forest Service, i found that the USFS had <br />stated that they concur with the mine application. I asked him what they meant. <br />He said basically, they have reviewed the application (in this case an <br />application for two different permit revieione) and ~recommende that the <br />application be approved. I also asked Mr. Ward when the USFS would issue a <br />special uee permit. He said a special use permit would be issued if they wanted <br />to install something that varies from the normal activities associated with coal <br />mining. For example, if they wanted to build a radio tower, a special uee permit <br />would be issued. For roads outside the permit area, a road-use permit would be <br />issued. Right-of-entry ie synonymous with road uee permit. The permits usually <br />last ae long as the project. They do not issue any sort of permit for road uee <br />if they will be using the roads to access subsidence or hydrologic monitoring <br />sites. <br />I called Mr. Ward back on October 14, 1993 to ask him if MCC does utilize the <br />USFS roads, who is responsible for maintenance. He said for special projects, <br />i.e., drilling, a road uee permit ie issued and road maintenance ie included. <br />For monitoring, the USFS does not require MCC to maintain the roads. The Forest <br />Service maintains eome roads every year, others less often. He said that they <br />are not too concerned about MCC's use of the roads because they are using light- <br />weight vehicles which will not damage the roads. I also asked him to FAX ue the <br />letter he writes to MCC and he said he would. (MCC has asked the USFS to write <br />a letter stating they are satisfied with the notice they have received.) <br />Mr. Ward called me back later on the 14th, to make sure that the letter he was <br />writing would not jeopardize any relationships. I said no, that if the USFS felt <br />comfortable with the notice from Weet Elk, that we would not have any problems. <br />MCC had sent him a copy of the rule 4.20.2, and I suggested that he address each <br />of the requirements in hie letter with dates of notification if possible. <br />007NOV.PH2 <br />