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SUMMARY History of the Review Process, Description of the Environment, and Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plan Historv of the Review Process Grand Mesa Coal Company, a Colorado General Partnership involving Tremont Coal Corp., Eagle Mining Inc. and Pine Brook Mining Company, has submitted a mining and reclamation application for the Red Canyon No. 1 and Red Canyon No. 2 Mines. The managing agent for the partnership is Western Associated Coal Corp. The Red Canyon No. 1 is an existing underground mine with an anticipated annual production of 160,000 tons. The Red Canyon No. 2 is a proposed underground mine with a projected annual production of 400,000 tons. The workings of the Red Canyon No. 2 mine will underlie the workings of the Red Canyon No. 1 mine. Additional surface disturbances associated with the development of the No. 2 portals will result in a total surface disturbance of 41 acres. The area to be permitted at the mine is approximately 610 acres; all privately owned surface. The "E" coal seam, which is the seam presently mined via the Red Canyon No. 1 portals, is 100X private coal, while approximately 4Y. of the "D" seam coal to be mined this first permit term via the No. 2 portals is from Federal Lease D-036906. The leased federal coal is located in the SW 1/4 SW 1/4 of Section 12, T13S, R95W. The Red Canyon application was submitted to the Division on February 17, 1981 and deemed complete on February 27, 1981. A joint preliminary adequacy letter conveying concerns identified by the Office of Surface Mining and the Division was sent to Grand Mesa on May 8, 1981. Resolution of the deficiencies noted during the review was required in order to make determinations of compliance. The preliminary adequacy comments were discussed and clarified at a meeting on June 10, 1981, between MLRD and OSM staff members and Grand Mesa Coai Company representatives. Grand Mesa's responses to the preliminary adequacy letter were received on August 31, 1981. A number of significant hydrologic and alluvial valley floor (AVF) concerns were discussed by the Division in a review letter of January 13, 1982. In order to address the Division's concerns, Grand Mesa implemented field investigations and analyses during the spring and summer of 1982. Determinations and conclusions of the hydrologic study, entitled "Hydrology and Alluvial Valley Floor Report, Red Canyon Mines" were submitted to the Division on September 9, 1982, as Volume 8 of the permit application.. A draft findings document identifying remaining adequacy issues was prepared on March 14, 1983. The applicant's final responses were received by the Division from November, 1983, through March, 1984. The technical analysis has been completed by the Division of Mined Land Reclamation and the Office of Surface Mining, with the assistance of other Federal and State agencies. -6-