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( i <br />Juan/San Miguel Resource Management Plan. Unsuitability decisions <br />affecting the lease application area have been reviewed and are <br />determined to be adequate. <br />• Following completion of the final EA on competitive coal lease <br />application COC 49465, the Montrose District Office of BLM will <br />forward the competitive lease application, the EA, maximum economic <br />recovery report (MER), Record of Decision (ROD), Finding of No <br />Significant impact (FONSI), proposed lease terms and conditions, and <br />preliminary recommendations to the BLM State Director in Denver. <br />The State Director will make a determination on the leasing action, <br />the proposed lease terms and conditions and bonding requirements, <br />and the adequacy of the FONSI or the need for an environmental <br />impact statement. The State Director then prepares newspaper and <br />Federal Register notices of the sale and posts a notice of the <br />proposed sale in the Public Room. The notice of the proposed sale <br />is then distributed to the public and advice of sale is sent to the <br />Attorney General. A sales panel consisting of the Deputy State <br />Director for Mineral Resources, a BLM mining engineer, a BLM <br />geologist, and a BLM mineral economist is then designated. <br />Once the sale has been held, qualified bidders are evaluated and <br />ranked by the sale panel which would then make recommendations of <br />acceptance to the State Director. The successful bidder is then <br />notified of additional requirements and requested to submit data and <br />information necessary for a review by the Attorney General. once <br />the Attorney General has completed his review the lease documents <br />are then transmitted to the successful bidder for signature and <br />submission of the bond. The State Director then makes the decision <br />approving the bond and issuing the lease. Copies of the decision <br />• are then distributed to the BLM District Office, the Office of <br />Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), and the Minerals <br />Management Service (MMS). <br />The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has <br />agreed to cooperate in preparing this EA. In addition, OSMRE has <br />jurisdiction in recommending approval of any mining plan that might <br />result from BLM's leasing decision. The BLM, though, must concur <br />with OSMRE's recommendation to the Assistant Secretary concerning <br />the mining plan submitted to OSMRE by a successful bidder (lessee). <br />SMCRA gives OSMRE primary responsibility to administer programs that <br />regulate surface coal mining operations on federal lands and the <br />surface effects of underground coal mining operations on federal <br />lands. Pursuant to Section 503 of SMCRA, the Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Division (MLRD) developed, and the Secretary of the <br />Interior approved, a permanent program authorizing Colorado MLRD to <br />regulate surface coal mining operations and surface effects of <br />underground coal mining on non-federal lands within the State of <br />Colorado. In September 1982, pursuant to Section 523(c) of SMCRA, <br />Colorado MLRD entered into a cooperative agreement with the <br />Secretary of the Interior authorizing Colorado MLRD to regulate <br />surface coal mining operations and surface effects of underground <br />mining on federal lands within the state. <br />CJ <br />5 <br />