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II. CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE FOR BOND RELEASE Rule 3.03.1(2) allows final bond release when the permittee has successfully completed all surface coal mining reclamation operations in accordance with the approved reclamation plan, and the Ynal inspection and procedures of 3.03.2 have been satisfied. Final bond release cannot occur before the expiration of the ten year liability period specified in Rule 3.02.3. As discussed in Section I above, the East Ridge Area was initially mined between 1961 and 1973, prior to any reclamation laws. Part of the Center Ridge Area was disturbed by pre-law mining and the coal was removed in 1979 during the interim period and under the Colorado Mined Land Act of 1976. Remediation of the slide damage in the South=of-shop area was required by the Division and P&M posted an additional $50,520 in bond for the remediation activities. Remediation activities were completed in 1988. The bond release success standards for East Ridge, Center Ridge and the South-of--Shop aze described in Section 4.4.2 of the pernilt application package. The applicable vegetation standazd for these areas is vegetative cover. For East Ridge, the success standard is 47%, for Center Ridge the success standazd is 42% and for South-of-Shop, the success standazd is 61%. Surface drainage from all these reclaimed lands flows into the Center Ridge pond, which is part of the active permit. III. OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS A site inspection was conducted on July 21, 1999. Participating in the inspection were: Brian Gontarek of P&M, Randy Pair of OSM and Sandra Brown of DMG. Each area was walked. East Ridge was well vegetated. Dotinant species were: wheatgrasses, smooth brome and alfalfa. Rubber rabbitbrush is common throughout the area. One gully was observed on the north facing slope. It appears stable with no evidence of recent erosional activity. The reclaimed East Ridge Area is a small drainage area that drains into the Center Ridge pond. There were no signs of off-site drainage or erosion from this azea. A small herd of mule deer were observed directly adjacent to the reclaimed East Ridge Area, and there were many droppings observed in the azea. The Center Ridge Area is a north facing slope just east of the powerlines. The soil surface was fairly rocky as observed during the site visit . Topsoil depths were measured during a site inspection on September 15, 1999. Depth of topsoil from the two holes was thirteen and fifteen inches. The vegetative cover is good and there is no evidence of erosion off of the slope. Dominant species were cicer milkvetch, alfalfa, smooth brome and wheatgrasses. Edna Mine 4 Bond Release No.S C-80-001 Revised April 7, 2000