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r III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 999 STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Dupanmenl of Natural Rewurces 1 } 13 Sherman SI.. Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80207 Phone. 13031 H66-7561 FAX. (,071 87?-8106 August 27, 1999 Ms. Sandra Higman P.O Box 1461 Paonia, CO 81428 RE: Bowie No. 2 Mine (C-96-083); Permit Revision No. 2 Dear Ms. Higman: DIVISION O F MINERALS GEOLOGY REC IAM ATION MIN ING•SAFE77 Bill Ovens Governor Creg E. Walther Execulwe Oveaor Michael B. lung Divivon Dveclnr The Division received your letter dated August 25, 1999 in which you forwarded several comments about Permit Revision No. 2 (PR-02) for the Bowie No. 2 Mine. As discussed at the August 5 informal conference regarding PR-02, the Division must respond to comments received following the informal conference and then, issue a proposed decision on the PR within 60 days of the conference. This letter includes responses to the comments in your letter. Your comments are repeated below in italics and the Divisions responses follow. 1 still object to the approval of PR 2. It thwarts the process to separate out the longwall approval from increased production levels. As I discussed at the August 5 informal conference, the Division considered this point when determining whether to deem PR-02 administratively complete. Because the permit revision application addressed the topics necessary for a determination of regulatory compliance and, because a permit revision discussing increased mining rates was submitted by Bowie Resources Ltd. (BRL) almost concurrently and, because coal production rates are not directly regulated by the Act or regulations giving this Division jurisdiction, the PR-02 application was deemed complete. I understand your concern and hope that the Division has done everything we could to keep all of the facts associated with BRL's mining plans before you and the public. However, we feel that BRL's PR-02 application meets the regulatory requirements relevant to mining methods and anticipated production rates. Specifically, Rule 2.05.3(1) of the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining requires applicants to provide, "A narrative description of the specific type and method of coal mining procedures and proposed engineering techniques, anticipated annual and total production of coal by tonnage, and the major equipment to be used for all aspects of those operations." (emphasis added)