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III. CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE FOR PHASE lI BOND RELEASE Postminins Land Use and Reve~etation Success A Phase l[ bond release is allowed by Section 3.03.1(2)(b) which says. "Up to eighty-five percent of the applicable bond amount sh;tll be released upon the establishment of vegetation which supports the approved postmining land use and which meets the approved success standard for cover based on statistically valid data collected during a single year of the liability period". Trappers approved postminine land use is rangeland. Three different ramzeland vetetative communities are designated on reclaimed areas of the Trapper iVline; these are called A, B, and C. The vegetative cover success standard for rangeland A is ~2 percent, with at least 33 percent herbaceous cover and no more than l9 percent litter. For rangeland B, the cover standazd is also ~2 percent, but herbaceous cover has to be at least 29 percent while litter cannot exceed 23 percent. For rangeland C, the cover standard is 47 percent; the herbaceous cover must be at least 2~ percent and the litter cannot be greater than 22 percent. When counting the plants in the field which comprise cover, the Division's guideline on bond release prohibits counting any noxious weeds. Also any annual or biennial species which comprise more than 10% of the total cover should not be included in the count (Guideline Reeardine Selected Coat Kline Bond Release /ssue.s, dated .April 18, 1995, page 7). Trapper's bond release submittal addresses revegetation success with revegetation data that Trapper has collected. Sediment Yield Limitation The amount of bond that can be released in a Phase II release is limited by Section 3.03.1(3)(b) if the released lands aze contributing excessive sediment to adjacent lands. The ]imitation is: " No more than sixty (60) percent of the bond shall be released so long as the lands to which the release would be applicable aze contributing suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit azea in excess of premining levels as determined by baseline data or in excess of levels determined on adjacent nonmined aeeas". Trapper addresses this requirement by including in the bond release submittal a computation (using the SEDCAD+ computer program) of the amount of sediment that the released lands yielded before and afrer mining as a result of a 10-year, 24-hour precipitation event. Special Conditions Section 3.03.1(2)(b) of the Regulations imposes special conditions on a Phase II release if mining operations have impaired the use of prime fatmland or an alluvial valley floor. Those special conditions do not apply in Trapper's bond release request because there is no prime farmland or alluvial valley floor affected by the bond release parcels. [n addition, Trapper's postminin~ rangeland use exempts the bond release from the special conditions required by Section 3.03.1(3)(e) for a Phase [1 release which involves industrial, commercial or residential postmining land uses. Trapper Mine Page 4 12/14/98 Phase II Bond Release