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a competitive sale is held. BLM conducts a public hearing before a competitive sale is held to ailora public comment on the effects of mining on the proposed lease. BLM must evaluate lease proposals !• with respect to the unsuitability criteria developed by the Department of the Interior in compliance with Section 522 of the Surface Minim Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) and 43 CFR 361. This evaluation was done in conjunction vtrith the San Iuat>/San Miguel Resource Management Plan. Unsuitability decisions affecting the lease application area have been reviewed and are determined to be adequate. Following completion of the final EA on competitive coal lease application COC 62920, the San 7uan Field Office ofBLM will forward [he competitive lease application, EA, Maximum Economic .Recovery report (MER), Record of Decision (ROD), Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), proposed lease terms and conditions, and preliminary recommendations to the BLM State Director in Denver. The State Director will make a determination on the leasing action, the proposed lease terms and conditions and bonding requirements, and the adequacy of the FONSI or the need for an environmental impact statement. The State Director then prepares newspaper and Federal Register notices of the sale and posts a notice of the proposed sale in the Public Room. The notice of the proposed sale is then distributed to the public and advice of sale is sent to the Attomey Generai..4 sales panel consisting of the Deputy State Director for Mineral Resources, a BLM mining engineer, a BLM geologist, and a BLM mineral economist is then designated. ~ y Once the sale has been held, qualified bidders are evaluated and ranked by the sale panel which would then make recommendations of acceptance to the State Director. The successful bidder is • then notified of additional requirements and requested to submit data and information necessary for a review by the Attomey General. Once the Attorney General has completed the review, the lease documents aze then transmitted to the successful bidder for signature and submission of the bond. The State Director then makes the decision approving the bond and issuing the lease. Copies of the decision are then distributed to the BLM District Office, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), and the Minerals Management Service (MMS). The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) has agreed to cooperate in preparing this EA. OSM has jurisdiction in recommending approval of any mining plan modifications related to Federal lands and issuing any coal mining permits related to Indian lands that might result from BLM's leasing decision. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) gives OSM primary responsibility to administer programs that regulate surface coal mining operations on federal and Indian lands and the surface effects of underground coal mining operations on federal artd Indian lands. Pursuant to Section 503 of SMCRA, the Colorado Division ofMinerals and Geology (DMG) developed, and the Secretary of the Interior approved, a permanent program authorizing Colorado DMG to regulate surface coal mining operations and surface effects ofunderground coat mining on non-federal and non-Indian lands within the State of Colorado. In September 1982, pursuant io Section 523 (c) of SMCRA, Colorado DMG entered into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Interior authorizing Colorado DMG to regulate surface coal mining operations and surface eifects of underground ,:tiriirtg on federal lands within the state. OSM retained u'le autisorit'y to • regulate surface coal mining operations and the surface effects of underground mining on Indian