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II. CRITERIA FOR BOND RELEASE Since mining began at Seneca II in 1972 prior to Colorado's permanent regulatory program, affected lands within Seneca II Mine fall within pre-law, interim program and permanent program categories. The criteria used for bond release varies for each of these categories. The regulatory programs and the lands pertaining to these categories aze described below. Pre-Law Areas Pre-law refers to those lands that are mined prior to the passage of the Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act and the Federal interim rules which took effect on May 5, 1978. The pre-law azeas aze those lands where coal was removed prior to May 5, 1978. For the lands mined prior to the passage of SMCRA, the Colorado Open Mining Land Reclamation Act of 1973 as amended in 1976, regulated coal mining activities. On Exhibit B, Chronology of Mining of the Phase I bond release application, SCC identified pre-law lands with a coal removal limit date of August 3, 1977 and May 3, 1978. These azeas correspond to the yellow and green shaded azeas, respectively on Exhibit B. The DRMS evaluated the pre-law reclamation using the criteria from the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act of 1976, C.R.S. 1973, 34-32-101 et. seq., as amended. The rules were promulgated in May 1977. The reclamation criteria considered during this bond release inspection for those azeas evaluated as Pre-Law included backfill and grading, site stability, drainage control, and erosion features. Interim-Law Lands At the Seneca II Mine these aze lands where coal was removed between May 3, 1978 (the date that the initial rules of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 became effective) and September 23, 1981. The Seneca II Mine was permitted under the Colorado permanent program on September 23, i 981. For the Phase I bond release inspection, these lands were evaluated using the performance standazds from 30 CFR Part 715. A summary of the initial regulations includes the following. • Disturbed azeas aze returned to pre-mining land use or better; • Regraded land shall achieve approximate original contour; • Spoil is to be placed in a controlled manner; • Topsoil is to be salvaged and replaced; • Protection of the hydrologic balance; and • Dams constructed of or impounding waste requires regulatory approval. The interim-law lands aze shown on Exhibit B of the Phase I bond release application as those azeas shaded in orange.