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Mining is expected to continue for 15 years at the Bear No. <br />3 mine. The C and B coal seams will be mined at an average <br />production rate of approximately 275,000 tons per year. <br />The Bear No. 3 mine mining plan was originally approved <br />under the Federal lands program in July of 1982 and was <br />later modified in December 1985. These earlier mining plan <br />approvals authorized development, secondary, and retreat <br />mining of the C seam at the Bear No. 3 mine. The current <br />mining plan proposal, if approved, would authorize only <br />development mining of the B seam in Federal leases D-052501 <br />and C-42481. Development mining of the B seam will account <br />for approximately 130,000 tons of additional Federal coal to <br />be mined under this proposal. The B seam in the Federal <br />leases contains approximately 6,175,800 tons of recoverable <br />coal at a 65 $ recovery rate. The remainder of the B seam <br />coal will be proposed to be mined under a second mining plan <br />(secondary and retreat mining) to be submitted at a later <br />date. <br />The company felt it was necessary to submit the two mining <br />plan proposals separately because of timing and economics. <br />BCC recently initiated a geotechnical study resulting from <br />an MLRD stipulation to their mining permit. Colorado MLRD's <br />stipulation indicated that only development mining would be <br />allowed on the permit area until a geotechnical study was <br />completed on a large slide area above the adjacent town of <br />Somerset, to show the potential impacts of subsidence on the <br />slide. The study is still incomplete and only identifies <br />the subsidence impacts to the slide as a result of only <br />development mining in the B seam. Therefore, this mining <br />plan proposal only deals with development mining. <br />The geotechnical study data to date indicates that the <br />mining and reclamation operations proposed (development <br />mining) will not substantially endanger life and property <br />because of the effects of mining and reclamation operations <br />on the landslide area. <br />A chronology of events related to the processing of the PAP <br />is included in the decision document. During the review of <br />the PAP, no major issues were identified. <br />The public was notified of the availability of the PAP for <br />review by publication of four consecutive weekly newspaper <br />notices ending on December 22, 1988. No public comments on <br />the PAP were received during the public comment period after <br />the fourth public notice was published. <br />