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7 <br />Division shall be final. If a valid request for an adjudicatory hearing on the proposed decision to <br />release be requested, the Board will proceed in due process on the Application [Rule 3.03.2(6)]. <br />III. OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS <br />Phase I <br />Backfilling, grading and drainage reconstruction in the areas requested for Phase I release are in <br />accordance with the approved reclamation plan. The areas requested for Phase I release are areas of <br />reclaimed (partial) pits, locations of former sediment control structures, and former facility/support <br />areas (including demolished conveyor, tipple, coal load-out, and stockpile areas). These areas are <br />delineated on the drawing Coors Site Plan Vegetation Sampling Locations, 951025C, dated 1/18/96, <br />submitted to the Division within the Application. <br />The approved reclamation plan for the Keenesburg Strip Mine calls for disturbed areas to be brought <br />to approximate original contours, inclusive of eight feet of cover (six feet of spoil and two feet of <br />topsand). Reconstructed drainage patterns must conform to the approved reclamation plan. <br />Except as waived for disposal of flyash, backfilling and grading was contemporaneous with mining <br />operations. The progression of work is reported in CEC's Annual Reclamation Report(s). Slopes of <br />azeas within the Phase I release request (measured by clinometers) were determined to be in <br />compliance with the Permit (February 6, 1997 bond release inspection). <br />Drainage features of the Phase I work consists of swales within the overall landscape of the azeas. <br />Ditches beyond the azeas requested for Phase I release are used to transport runoff from the areas <br />requested for release, as well as contiguous areas, to the sediment pond. Drainages within the Phase <br />I bond release areas blend with adjacent undisturbed areas drainage patterns and densities. <br />Phase II <br />Areas identified for Phase II Bond Release have been reclaimed to required standards. Areas requested <br />for Phase II release consistof approximately 22 acres reseeded in 1985, 46 acres in 1986, and 43 acres <br />in 1987, a total of 111 acres. Phase II areas of the Application are portions of reclaimed pits. These <br />areas are delineated on the drawing Coors Site Plan Vegetation Sampling Locations, 951025C, dated <br />1/18/96. <br />Premining land use was, and the approved postmining land use is, rangeland (Permit, Paragraph <br />2.05.5, Page 124). The Division considers whether the types of vegetation of reclaimed areas <br />contribute to the approved postmining land use [12~(9)(b) of the Act, Rule 3.03.1(2)(b)]. Evaluation <br />of vegetation is based on statistically valid data collected during a single year of the liability period. <br />11 August 98 <br />