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drainage systems and requirements of the vegetation to be established (Regulation <br />4.06.4(2)(a)); and <br />(2) vegetation which supports the approved post-mining land use and which meets the <br />approved success standard for cover pursuant to Regulation 4.15.8 is established <br />(Regulation 3.03.1(2)(6)); and <br />(3) the level of suspended solids being contributed to streamflow or runoff outside the <br />permit azea by the lands to which the release is applicable is less than or equal to <br />(a) levels determined on adjacent non-mined azeas or (b) pre-mining levels as <br />determined by baseline data (Regulation 3.03.1(3)(a)). <br />III. Determination of Amount of Bond Release <br />Up to 85% of the applicable bond amount shall be released by the Division once a <br />permittee demonstrates it has satisfactorily met the criteria for Phase II Bond Release <br />(Regulation 3.03.1(2)(6)). <br />Where a silt dam is to be retained as a permanent impoundment as described in Regulations <br />4.05.6 and 4.05.9, more than 60% may be released only so long as provisions for sound <br />future maintenance by the permittee or the landowner have been made with the Division <br />(Regulation 3.03.1(3)(c)). <br />The Division is required to retain that amount of bond for the revegetated azea which would <br />be sufficient for a third party (the Division) to cover the cost of reestablishing vegetation at <br />any time during the liability period should the operator's vegetation efforts fail, as <br />described in Regulation 3.02.3 (Regulation 3.03.1(3)(a)). <br />The Division is prohibited from releasing any bond amount if such release would reduce the <br />total remaining amount to an amount less than necessary for the Division to complete the <br />approved reclamation plan (Regulation 3.03.1(3)(a)). <br />IV. Evaluation of Mine Site as Compared to Criteria for Phase II Bond Release <br />The azea requested for Phase II release by Slurco in their September 7, 1995 request is a <br />55.13-acre parcel of the permit azea known as Area IV and a 2.06-acre parcel known as <br />Pond 3. These designations aze referenced on the permittee's Figure 2A, "Final Mine <br />Reclamation," received by the Division on August 30, 1990 (A discrepancy in the acreage <br />attributed to Area IV by the permittee on Map 2A as 52.7 acres was resolved, with the <br />Permittce and the Division agreeing to the 55.13-acre figure). <br />Area IV was the subject of an earlier Phase II Bond Release request, submitted to the <br />Division on March 1, 1990. In this request, Slurco requested Phase II release for Areas I, <br />II, III and IV, and for Ponds 1 and 2. The level of suspended solids in the runoff leaving <br />Areas I, II, III and IV was found to be less than or equal to an adjacent non-mined area, as <br />documented in the Division's August 1, 1991 Phase II Bond Release Decision. Topsoil was <br />found to have been replaced in all four areas to the depth required by the Phase II release <br />criteria, also documented in the August 1, 1991 decision document. While Areas I, II and <br />III met the required vegetative cover standard at that time, Area IV did not. On August 1, <br />3 <br />