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United States Department of the Interior OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING Reclamation and Enforcement BROOKS TOWERS 1020 1 STH STREET DENVER, COLORADO 80202 ~SEP 2 a 1985 MEMORANDUM T0: Direc~to4r9,pOf~f a urface Mining FROM: Alle3f~'.""lz 3e a, A niatrator, Western Technical Center SUBJECT: Recommendation for Approval of Weat Elk Coal Company's Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine Mining Plaa Modification, Gunnison County, Colorado, Federal Lease: C-1362 I. Recommendation I recommend approval with conditions of the West E11c Coal Company's Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine mining plan modification. Thin is a mining plan modification for an sainting underground mine. The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division (NERD) has reviewed the permit revision application under the approved State program and cooperative agreement and hoe recommended approval of the mining plan modification. The Mt. Gunnison `• No. 1 mine has been previously permitted under the approved State ' permanent regulatory program. My recommendation ie based on the complete permit application package, updated to September 12, 1985, and a technical analysis and environmental assessment of the proposed mining and reclamation operations. Approval of this mining plan modification will authorize mining of approximately 19,445,000 tone of additional Federal coal, of which approximately 48 percent is recoverable within the approved mining plan modification area covering 1,450 acres within Federal coal lease C-1362, as shown on the maps included with this memorandum. The mining plan approval document included with this memorandum will be is conformance with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), the applicable Federal regulations, and the Colorado cooperative agreement. I recommend that you advise the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, under 30 CFR Part 746, that the West Elk Coal Company's Mt. Gunnison No. 1 mining plan modification is ready for approval. I concur with Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division that a bond in the amount of $4,202,700.00 is adequate. The Colorado MLRD and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) identified elements of the applicant's proposal which require conditions to comply with State and Federal law. The special conditions are incorporated into Colorado permit C-007-80 sad the mining plan approval document. The Colorado MLRD will issue its permit at the end of the public comment period ending on September 26, 1985 for its proposed decision to approve the permit with conditions.