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~/ ~ ,, Mr. Al Klein, Administrator Page 2 • All indications are that the waste, which had minimal combustible content, was ignited by the pre-existing underground fire. The area near the highwall affected by the mine fire shows all indication of having been present for some time and certainly predating the place- ment of the waste. The fire had apparently been smoldering and somewhat dormant since the underground workings were abandoned. Suddenly, in July, 1982, the fire began to intensify and the areal extent increased greatly. A fire cutoff trench has been excavated around part of the fire by GEC Minerals, Inc. They have done so to safeguard coal resources, the ground surface, vegetation, existing structures such as the City of Florence waterline, and at the express request of Dr. W.D. Corley, Jr., the landowner and lessor. This endeavor has now exceeded the financial resources of the company, and they have ceased the firefighting efforts. If action is not taken immediately to seal off existing vents and air. supplies, the fire will be difficult, if not impossible, to extinguish. Finally, the mine fire is within a permit area but is not a result of permitted surface coal mining operations, including the back- filling of the adjacent pit. This means that, even though the fire is within a permit area, it is not the result of coal mining opera- tions permitted in accordance with Title V of P.L. 95-87, or the stateh counterpart, C.R.S. 1973, 34-33-101 et seq. Our advice has been requested on two questions which have arisen in connection with the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program, 30 U.S.C. 1231 et seq. The first question is whether the lands upon which the mines are located are eligible for reclamation under the provisions of 30 U.S.C. 1234 (Section 404, Surface Mining Control and Reclama- tion Act of 1977, hereinafter, "the Act"). As to this question, we advise that since, based on the information available to us~the fire is not the result of:.coal mining operations permitted in accordance with Title V of the'Act or the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclama- tion Act and no mining has taken place in the captioned mine since 1968, the mine fire disturbance is not subject to State reclamation laws. Consequently, the State of Colorado has no legal recourse to compel reclamation, and there is no statutory reclamation respons- ibility under State law on the part of anyone. The second question is whether the mine qualifies under the provisions of 30 U.S.C. 1240(a)(2)(Section 410(a)(2) of the Act). In this connection, we advise that there is no State agency which will act expeditiously to restore, reclaim, abate, control, or prevent the adverse effects of coal mining practices at the captioned mine. Based on information provided by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division, the emergency situation consists of a sudden flare-up of a pre-existing, dormant, underground mine fire which was not hereto- fore of great concern. The current situation presents .a high prob-