GENERAL33252

• Permit No: C1982056
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Name: MINING PLAN DECISION DOCUMENT FOIDEL CREEK MINE FEDERAL LEASE COC 53560
• Permit Index Doc Type: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

lease COC 53560 was pending at the time, and the permit revision
approval required TCC to submit a copy of the Federal coal lease to
Colorado DMG prior to mining Federal coal. The coal lease was
issued January 1, 1994.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) has
consulted with other Federal agencies for compliance with the
requirements of applicable Federal laws, and their comments and
concurrences are included in the decision document. The resource
recovery and protection plan was reviewed by the BLM for compliance
with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, and 43 CFR Part
3480, and BLM recommended approval of the mining plan in a
memorandum dated January 7, 1994. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) provided final consultation comments under Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act in a memorandum dated June 14, 1993.
At that time, the FWS concurred with OSM's "no effect" conclusion
for Federally listed species. The FWS reaffirmed their concurrence
in a phone call on January 6, 1994. Based upon independent review,
OSM has determined that the proposed mining operations will have no
adverse effect on cultural resources, and the State Historic
Preservation Officer concurred with this determination in a letter
dated May 5, 1993.
I have determined that the proposed area of mining plan approval is
not unsuitable for mining in accordance with section 522 (b) of
SMCRA.
The permit revision area is not on any Federal lands within the
boundaries of any national forest.
OSM has determined that approval of this mining plan would not have
a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. The
impacts of approval of this mining plan and alternatives are
described in the environmental assessment (EA) attached to the
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) included with the decision
document. BLM and OSM jointly prepared the EA, which analyzed the
impacts associated with leasing and subsequent development of
Federal lease COC 53560. Surface subsidence was determined to
possibly cause adverse impacts upon cultural resource site SRT345.
A special lease stipulation was attached to Federal lease COC 53560
to mitigate the possible impacts, and a stipulation was attached to
Colorado DMG'e permit revision approval to support the special
lease stipulation. In addition, although no proposed activities
would impact the Fish Creek alluvial valley floor or floodplain, a
special stipulation was included in lease COC 53560 to inform the
lessee of the restriction of activities along Fish Creek. A
special stipulation was also included in lease COC 53560 to require
approval of a mitigation plan prior to any surface disturbance of
cultural site 5RT32. The site would not be disturbed under the
proposed mining plan.
The mining plan approval document included in the decision document
is in conformance with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended,
and applicable Federal regulations. I recommend that you advise
the Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, under 30 CFR
Part 746, that TCC's Foidel Creek Mine mining plan for Federal
lease COC 53560 is ready for approval.