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r Savage and Savage praciica! soJntioas for env6ot>m°nraJ problems 464 Wrest Sumac Court Louisville, Colorado 80027-2"27 Land Restoration and Rcelamation Servicts 303 6667372 ~elcphone 303 665-6808 facsimile March 30, 1993 Ms. Vicki Bryan, Program Specialist Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Western Support Center Brooks Tower 1020 Fifreenth St. Denver, Colorado 80202 Re: Clarification of Requirements for SMCRA Phase II Bond Release on Federal Lands Dear Vicki: I appreciate your assistance in discussing the OSMRE's interpretation of SMCRA Phase II bond release requirement as they pertain to release of portions of a mine site or permit 2*ea last week on the phone. Your interpretation was consistent with what I had described to my client. My client would like to obtain written confirmation of the interpretations we discussed for a measure of reassurance in future discussions with OSMRE and state regulatory agencies. If you (or other OSMRE professional as appropriate) could respond and confirm the points and conclusions my client and I would appreciate the assistance. Within 30 CFR Ch. VII Section 800.40 it is stated, "The permittee may file an application with the regulatory authority for the release of all or part (emphasis added) of a performance bond." In our discussions, I believe we agreed that this language meant that a perrnittee ;,Quid apply for all or part of the moneys contained in the bond based on the phase of reclaration and age of fire site (with regard to the bond liability period). This language also allows the permittee to seek release of all or part of a performance bond on all or portions of the permitted area. The logic behind allowing bond release on a portion of a permit area is that all reclaimed azeas may not have been reclaimed at the same time during the course of mining operations, with the result that different reclaimed areas will mature and achieve reclamation success at different times. You pointed out that all areas which have been released or are to be released must be clearly delineated both in the permit documents and in the field for the protection of the permittee and the regulatory authority. Further, if "problem" areas (those which would not meet bond release criteria) exist within azeas which would qualify for bond release, the permit[ee would need to ensure that access to the "problem" area would exist and not impact those areas which were already released from liability andlor bond. We agreed that the regulations allow for the separate bonding of such "problem" areas.