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<br />PHASE III <br />Rule 3.03.1(4) states that, "No bond shall be fully released until all reclamation requirements of <br />these Rules and the Act aze fully met, and in no case shall the total bond amount applicable to a <br />permit area be less than $10,000, in accordance with 3.02.2(3), until bond for the entire permit <br />area is fully released. No acreage shall be released from the permit area until all surface coal <br />mining and reclamation operations on that acreage have been completed in accordance with the <br />approved reclamation plan." <br />The portion of the mine known as Area 41 is requested for Phase III (final) bond release. This <br />area consists of 224.4 acres. A 4.5 area portion was seeded in 1990. This 4.5 acre parcel is not <br />eligible or under consideration for Phase III bond release at this time and is not reflected in the <br />224.5 acres requested for Phase III bond release. <br />II. OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS <br />Topsoil Renlacement <br />Topsoil was replaced over the Eckman Park Mine and Energy Mine No. 1 areas from 1976 to <br />1991, (Maps 41, 42, Permit Renewal Map 7, dated 7/17/90, and Permit Renewal Map 8 dated <br />6/12/86). The Division of Minerals and Geology verified topsoil replacement thickness throughout <br />the Eckman Park Mine and Mine No. 1 area during an inspection conducted July 29, 1996. <br />Replacement topsoil thickness vazies throughout the permit area depending upon the volume of <br />soil salvaged in an area. Instead of CYCC replacing one uniform topsoil thickness through out the <br />mine site, CYCC calculated the volume of soil salvaged from mining units, then replaced the <br />designated volume of topsoil within that reclaimed mining unit (Permit page No. 816-17 and Map <br />42). Required topsoil laydown depths were calculated from Permit Table No. 7, Permit Renewal <br />Map No. 7, and Annual Reclamation Report Map, date 1/1/93. The following table shows the <br />calculated laydown depth, along with the measured topsoil depth: <br /> REQUIRED <br />LAYDOWN DEPTH AVERAGE <br />MEASURED DEPTH NO. OF HOLES <br />Area 2 8.6 inches 11 inches 8 <br />Area 51 E 18.0 inches 17.2 inches 26 <br />Area 51 W 14.6 inches 15.7 inches 16 <br />Area 61 15 inches 16.9 inches 18 <br />All azeas were near or exceeded the topsoil laydown thickness. Topsoil thickness was measured <br />years after laydown occurred allowing for topsoil consolidation to occur since the soil laydown. <br />Vegetation in the 51 E area does not appear to be adversely affected due to the 0.8 foot deficit. The <br />Division does not find the 0.8 ft. deficit to adversely impact the establishment of successful <br />vegetation in the 51 E area. <br />Colorado Yampa Coal Company SL07 Findings I I/00 page 5 c\jhb\COBI071\SL07fnd doc <br />