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Sunmrar~r llisto.ry of the Review Process, Uescription of the En vit'onment and Description of The Operations and Reclamation Plan llis tort' of the Review Process The Bear Coal Company operations currently consist of a complex of twe small underground mines (Fear No. 1 and~NO. 2) located approximately ZO miles north- east of Paonia, Colorado and one-half mile east of Somerset, Colorado nn the North Fork of the Gunnison River, adjacent to Colorado Nighway 133. Operations began at the Bear mine in 1939 and have been continuous since that time. Presently, 250,000 to 300,000 tons of coal per year are produced from t.Ir~~ "C" scam on 7'cderal Coal Leases D-0445G7 and C-0117192. An area of approxim~t~•ly 19 acres has been disturbed by portals, a haul road, and office and shop facilities south of the river, and loadout facilities north of the river. The Bear Coal Company operations are currently covered by Extraction and Develop- ment Permit No. 77-244, issued by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board ("F1LRB") . The applicant, as part of this permit application, is proposing to open the Bear No. 3 mine, to be located approximately one-half mile west of the existing operations at the site of the abandoned Edwards mine (also known as the anchor mine), immediately southeast of the town of Somerset, on the south side of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Dear Coal Company proposes to mine the "C" seam in Federal Coal Lease No. D-052501, immediately adjacent to their existing workings. The surface disturbance associated with the proposed Bear Ne. 3 mine will be approximately 9 acres, with a total affected area of 287 acres. The permit application which is being proposed for approval by the Division was submitted in two parts. The first part was submitted on February Z7, 19R1 and included the Bear No. 1 and Bear No. 2 mines. A completeness letter was sent to the applicant on February 27, 1981. The applicant began publishing public notice of filing of the application in the North Fork Times on March .12, 1JR1. A joint preliminary adequacy letter conveying the concerns of the Office of Surface Mining and the Division was sent to the applicant on May 15, 178.1. The applicant responded to those concerns on November Z9, 1981. The second part of this application was submitted on Povember 12, 1981 as a revision to the pending permit application which included the Bear No. 1 and Bear No. 2 mines. This second submission addressed tare Dear No. 3 mine. The Division sent a notice of Completeness to the applicant on lJovem}~er 13, 1.981.. The applicant began publishing public notice of this revision on Novernbcr 19, 1981 in the North Fork Times. The notice was published for four consecutive weeks. The Division sent the applicant a preliminary adequacy Letter ad:7re.ssing the Bear No. 3 proposal on January I8, I982. The applicant responded to those deficiencies, as well as remaining deficiencies in th~~ Bear No. 1 and B~•rr llo. 2 application, through several meetings and letters during February and 1•;arc/~ 1982. TheTechnicaZ Analysis and Findings Document have been completed by thr nr~.~i :ion and OSM, with the assistance of other federal and state agencies.