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and federal agencies. A public notice that informed the public of the submittal was published in the <br />Delta County Independent on January 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2002. <br />The Division sent its preliminary adequacy review questions and comments in a letter dated March <br />6, 2002. In that same letter, the Division also forwarded to the operator comments that the Division <br />received from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Colorado Historical Society. hi a letter dated <br />July 22, 2002, the Division informed the Bear Coal Company that they had the right of successive <br />renewal. The Division sent the Division's reclamation cost estimate to the operator in a second <br />adequacy review letter dated August 19, 2002. <br />Beaz Coal Company responded to the Division's adequacy review questions in a submittal dated <br />November 15, 2002. The Division reviewed the operator's submittal and responded with additional <br />concerns in a letter dated January 10, 2003. Except for the reclamation cost estimate, all remaining <br />concems were answered in the operator's submittal dated January 31, 2003. The reclamation cost <br />estimate was agreed upon after the Division's adequacy review letter dated August 29, 2003 and the <br />operator's response letter dated September 3, 2003. <br />The Division is proposing a decision to approve, with one stipulation, Permit Renewal No. 4 for the <br />Bear No. 3 Mine. <br />Descrintion of the Environment <br />The Bear No. 3 Mine permit azea lies within the drainage of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, <br />which is tributary to the Colorado River system. The mined area consists of rugged topographic <br />relief. Elevations in the area range from 6,000 feet at Somerset to 12,719 feet at the summit of Mt. <br />Gunnison. The North Fork of the Gunnison River has cut a deep canyon through the area and <br />separates high tablelands south of the river from the slopes of the Grand Mesa to the north. The <br />narrow, steep-sided canyon in the vicinity of the Beaz No. 3 Mine widens into a broad alluvial valley <br />in the vicinity of Paonia. The tableland to the south of the North Fork is deeply dissected by <br />tributary streams, and is bounded on the south and east by the West Elk Mountain Range. <br />Land Use -Rules 2.04.3, 2.05.5 and 4.16 <br />The Beaz No. 3 portal and facilities area was undeveloped land prior to mining disturbance in 1934. <br />The Edwazds Mine was developed at the site of the current Bear No. 3 portals in 1934. The Edwazds <br />Mine was operated by several operators until the mine went into bankruptcy in 1966. <br />The current facilities azea site involved limited residential use until the opening of the Bear No. 3 <br />Mine in 1982. The area above the workings was, and is, wildlife habitat. Small areas designated as <br />cropland are located along the North Fork of the Gunnison River including just below the mouth of <br />Gribble Gulch, approximately 1'/z miles downstream of the town of Somerset and the Bear No. 3 <br />Mine. <br />Post-mining land use information for the Bear No. 3 Mine is located in Sections 2.05.5 and 4.16 and <br />Map 8 of the permit application. The proposed post-mining land use for the Bear No. 3 Mine is <br />consistent with the pre-mining land use. The facilities azea of the Beaz No. 3 Mine is to be reclaimed <br />4 <br />