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II. Background <br />• The Foidel Creek Mine underground coal mine is located in Routt <br />County, Colorado, about 15 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs. <br />The mine has been in operation since 1983. About 338 acres have <br />been affected by surface disturbance to date. Including the 1,289 <br />acre proposed permit area, the total permitted area of the Foidel <br />Creek Mine would contain about 14,812 acres. Mining ie expected to <br />continue for 35 years under Colorado Permit No. C-82-056 and the <br />approved mining plan. <br />The Foidel Creek Mine mining plan for Federal leases C-20900, <br />C-0128433, C-081330, C-16284, and D-052547 was initially approved <br />on January 16, 1987. Approval of the current proposal would <br />increase the number of approved mining plan acres to 3,667 for all <br />leases. <br />The underground mining operations utilize room and pillar and <br />longwall mining methods. The Wadge coal seam would be mined at a <br />maximum production rate of about 4 million tons per year. No <br />additional surface disturbance in the mining plan area would result <br />from this action. <br />A chronology of events related to the processing of the PAP is <br />included with the decision document. The information in the PAP, <br />as well as other information identified in the decision document, <br />• has been reviewed by Colorado DMG staff in coordination with the <br />OSM Project Leader. During the review of the PAP, no major issues <br />were identified. <br />The public was notified of the availability of the PAP for review <br />by publication of newspaper notices for four consecutive weeks, <br />with a last publication date of June 18, 1993. No public comments <br />on the PAP were received after the public notice was published. <br />Colorado DMG determined that a bond in the amount of $4,177,000 is <br />adequate for the Colorado Permit No. C-82-056 associated with this <br />mining plan action. The bond is payable to the State and the <br />United States. <br />The PAP submitted by TCC and updated through February 10, 1993, <br />Colorado DMG's permit provided to OSM under the cooperative <br />agreement, the EA and FONSI of the proposed action and alternatives <br />prepared jointly by BLM and OSM, other documents prepared by <br />Colorado DMG, and correspondence developed during the review of the <br />PAP are part of OSM's administrative record. <br />R and L. Lowrie Date <br />• Attachments <br />