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United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Ecological Services 764 Horizon Drive, Building B Grand Junction, Colorado 8106-3946 IN REPLI' REFER TO: ES/GJ-6-CO-04-F-012-YP016 TAILS 65413-2006-F-0178 March 9, 2007 Memorandum .,, - .. F .F . ,.~; To: Natural Resources Specialist, Office of Surface Minim, Reclamation and Enforcement, Denver, Colorado From: Western Colorado Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, Grand Junction, Colorado Subject: Final Biological Opinion for Colowyo Coal Company, L.P., Colowyo Mine Permit C-81-019, Revision 02 In accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) transmits this correspondence to serve as the final biological opinion A Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin v,~as initiated on January 22, 1988. The Recovery Program was intended to be the reasonable and prudent alternative for individual projects to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy to the endangered fishes from impacts of depictions to the Upper Colorado River Basin. In order to further define and clarify the process in the Recovery Program, a section 7 agreement was nnplemented on October 1~, 1993. by the Recover}~ Program participants. Incorporated into this for Revision 02, to Permit C-81-019, proposed by Colowyo Coal Company, L.P., for the Colowyo surface coal mine in Moffat and Rio Blanco counties, Colorado. The mine is approximately 28 miles south of the town of Craig, Colorado on State, private, and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Colowyo Coal Company, L.P. estimates the cun-ent operations at the project result in a depletion of 527.48 acre-feet per year to Che Yampa River, and that Permit Revision 02 will result in an additional annual depletion of 27.0 acre-feat due to the conshuction of 4 new sediment ponds - for a total net annual water depletion of 554.48 acre-feet. The applicant made a payment of $1270 in 1988 for a depletion of 127.43 acre-feet/year, and a payment of $29.90 in 1992 due to an additional depletion of 2.6 acre-feet: therefore, the new depletion is 554.48 minus 130.03 = 424.45 acre-feet. The new one-time payment was calculated by multiplying the project's average annual new depletion of 424.45 acre-feet by the Fiscal Year 2007 charge of $1724 per acre-foot, which equals a total contribution of $7,317.52 for this projects share of the Recovery Program costs. In a letter received by the Service on February 30, 2007, Rio Tinto Energy America notified the Service that Colowyo Coal Company, L. P. has submitted a payment of $7,317.52 to the 1v'ational Fish nod Wildlife Foundation.