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The Bear No. 3 mining operation is located approximately ten miles northeast of Paonia, Colorado, and one-quarter mile east of Somerset, Colorado, adjacent to the North Fork of the Gunnison River (North Fork). At the Bear No. 3 Mine, average annual production ranged from 250,000 to 500,000 tons of coal. Coal was extracted from the B and C Seams within Bear fee coal and within Federal Coal Leases D-052501, COC57632, COC57633 and C-0117192. Approximately 8.4 acres were disturbed at the Bear No. 3 Mine. The original permit C-81-033 for Bear No. 1 and No. 2 was issued on July 19, 1982. On July 3, 1985, Bear Coal Company submitted a permit revision for Bear No. 3 which, proposed the addition of Federal Coal Lease No. C-0117192 to the mine plan. This addition involved portions of the C- Seam immediately adjacent to the previously approved permit boundary. The approval decision was issued September 18, 1985. The decision document of September 18, 1985 contains specific details regarding the permit revision process. The first renewal application was received on November 6, 1986. Following the review process, a proposed decision was published on June 25, 1987. Details regarding the renewal finding can be reviewed within the June 18, 1987 decision document. The second renewal application was received on January 16, 1992. The application was complete, as submitted. Renewal adequacy responses were submitted to the Division on August 31, 1992 in the form of a technical revision and were subsequently found to be adequate. The Division's findings of compliance were updated in July 1992. On December 1, 1993, Bear Coal Company submitted Permit Revision No. 1, which proposed the addition of 205 acres to the permit area. The revision originally proposed 11 new panels west ofand adjacent to then current B-seam workings. The expansion area was located in Coal Lease C- 0117192 and a small section of Atlantic Richfield Company fee coal. Poor mining conditions were encountered during the permit revision review process, on the north end adjacent to the proposed mine workings. These conditions forced the proposed mine plan to be revised to include only seven new panels, which would extend the Beaz Mine No. 3 life of mine by 14 months. The proposed permit azea boundazy did not change. Bear Coal Company adequately addressed all ofthe Division's concerns and Permit Revision No. 1 was approved. Permit Revision No. 2 was submitted on September 29, 1994 and proposed expanding the mine plan to include additional B-Seam coal reserves in Sections 16 and 20. After all of the Division's issues were resolved satisfactorily, the revision, with two stipulations, was approved on February 8, 1995. Bear Coal Company applied for a third renewal of their valid, existing permit on January 12, 1997. All of the Division's concerns were answered and Permit Renewal No. 3 was approved. On October 19, 2001, the Division informed the operator that the Bear No. 3 Mine permit was going to expire on July 19, 2002. In order to secure the right of successive renewal, the Bear Coal Company would need to submit a complete Permit Renewal No. 4 application by January 20, 2002. The operator submitted a complete renewal application in submittals dated December 19, 2001 and December 28, 2001. The Division called the Permit Renewal No. 4 application complete on January 2, 2002. Notification letters of the submittal's completeness were sent to the appropriate county, state