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agreement specifically provided for the right (upon 180 days <br />written notice) to Blue Ribbon to surrender their right, title <br />and interesr_ in the property back to the .Allen Brothers, it is -- <br />specifically noted in paragraph 11 that this surrender of the <br />agreement interests included the duty to deliver the properties <br />"in light of the use and appropriation which is to be made of <br />those properties". When read with the following phrasing of this <br />paragraph which concludes with, "but shall not remove any props <br />or timbers in place necessary for the protection of the property <br />and the future operations of the workings" it is clear that the <br />Allen Brothers intended, upon surrender of this agreement, to <br />protect the future operations of the Blue Ribbon mine. Sunflower <br />Energy Corporation and its partners, or successors in interest, <br />cannot now disclaim the duties provided in this agreement, their <br />implications upon the surrender of this property, and its pro- <br />posed post-mining use and reclamation requirements. <br />As noted above, Section 111(c) of the Act requires that <br />each reclamation plan submitted as part of a permit application <br />shall include the comments of any owner of the surface <br />...". This particular statutory requirement is implemented in <br />Rule 2.05.5(2)(a)(iii) and (b). These statutory and regulatory <br />requirements mandate (1) the description of the consideration <br />which has been given to the making of all of the proposed surface <br />mining activities consistent with the surface owner plans and (2) <br />the description of the reclamation plan shall be "accompanied by <br />a copy of the comments concerning the proposed use by the legal <br />or equitable owner of record of the surface of the proposed <br />permit area .. ". It should al-so be noted that a 1981 edition of <br />the CMLR Division's booklet entitled "Permit Manual of the <br />Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division for Coal Mining" <br />specified on page 85 that if the operator does not control the <br />surface within the permit boundary, then written consent must be <br />obtained from the surface owner prior to the extraction of coal. <br />It is the Allen Brothers' firm belief that they were <br />acknowledged, as evidenced in the original application, that they <br />held a surface ownership interest and that the Blue Ribbon Coal <br />Company had a legal duty to submit to them in writing their <br />proposed post-mining land use and reclamation plan for comment by <br />the Allen Brothers. It is our understanding that there are no <br />such comments identified or consideration given to the Allen <br />Brothers' interest in the permit application, nor in the files of <br />the CMLR Division. It is the position of the Allen Brothers <br />-2- <br />a~ <br />