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Environmental Assessment • Colorado Westmoreland, Incorporated Orchard Valley Mine. Novew~4arr l`t~~ Introduction Colorado Westmoreland, Inc. (CWI) has applied for a Colorado State permit revision and a modification of the mining plan for its Orchard Valley mine. The Orchard Valley mine has been in operation since 1975, mining Federal coal in leases D-036955, C-25079, C-27432 and C-37210. CWI's proposed mining plan modification will ezpand the area of approved coal recovery to include all of these leases, as increase of 4,956 acres. Purpose and Need CWI applied in August of 1984 for a modification to the approved mining plan and to revise its State permit for its Orchard Valley mine. A previous mining plan modification, approved in August, 1964, allowed operations in all of Federal coal leases D-036955, C-25079, C-27432 and 42.5 acres ia'C-37210. The proposed modification incorporates the remainder of Federal coal lease C-37210 into the mining plan area. The State permit revision area proposed by CWI includes all of the proposed mining plan modification area (4,956 acres) and 763.35 acres beyond the outside boundaries of the Federal coal leases, to include the area that would be affected by subsidence. • Alternatives Altetuative number 1, Approval without special conditions - The Assistant Secretary for Land and Hinerals Management may approve the modification of the ezistiag mining plan, without special conditions. Alternative number 2, Disapproval - The Assistant Secretary for band and Minerals Management may disapprove the modification of the eaisting mining plan. Denial of the mod ificatioa of the ezisting mining plan would have the same effect as taking no action, because disapproval of the modification would disallow mining outside of the ezisting mining plan area. Alternative number 3, Approval with special conditions - The Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management approve the modification of the ezisting mining plan, with special conditions. Description of the Ezisting Environment The Orchard Valley mine permit and mining plan areas have bees described in the following references: the Bureau of Land Management's "Uiatah-Southwest Utah Coal Region-Round Two" environmental impact statement, 1983. Site specific impacts of the existing operations were discussed in the 1985 BLM EA for coal transportation alternatives at the Orchard Valley mine, stipulated in Federal coal lease C-37210; 1983 BLM • FA for readjustment of Federal coal lease D-036955; 1982 BLM EA for modification of Federal coal lease C-27432; and the 1979 BLM EA for CWI's Federal emergency lease C-27432.