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• U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <br />OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT <br />SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT <br />For <br />West Elk Mine <br />Federal Coal Lease C-1362 <br />Mining Plan Decision Document <br />A. Description of the Proposed Action <br />The proposed action is a decision by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals <br />Management, to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove a mining plan modification. <br />Mountain Coa] Company, L.L.C. submitted a permit application package for a permit revision <br />(PR-10) for the West EIk mine to the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology on April I, <br />2004, The West Elk underground coal mine is located in Delta and Gunnison Counties, <br />Colorado, approximately two (2) miles east of the town of Somerset, Colorado. <br />The mine has been in operation since 1982. The original mining plan for Federal leases C-1362, <br />C-0117192, and D-044569 at the West Elk Mine was approved on July 15, 1981. Since that <br />approval, there have been eight mining plan modifications for the West Elk mine. Modification <br />of Federal leases C-1362, C-0117192, and D-044569 was approved on August 16, 1985. <br />• Modification of Federal lease C-1362 was approved on September 27, 1995. Modification of <br />Federal leases C-1362, C-0117192, and D-044569 was approved on November 18, 1985 and <br />December 22, 1986. Federal lease COC-54558 was approved on December 21, 1994. <br />Modification of Federal lease C-1362 and new of Federal lease COC-56447 was approved on <br />Apri126, 1996. Modification of Federal lease COC-56447 was approved on June 13, 2000. <br />Federal lease COC-67011 was approved on June ZI, 2005. <br />PR-10 proposes extending underground mining operations into the remainder of Federal lease C- <br />1362, which would add approximately 3,430 acres of Federal coal to the operation. The West <br />Elk underground mine uses a combination of room and pillaz and longwal] mining methods. The <br />average production rate is approximately 7.0 million tons per year from the "B", "E", and "F" <br />coal seams and could reach a maximum production rate of 8.3 million tons per year. PR-10 <br />would increase the State permit area by approximately by 5,250 acres from its present 10,388 <br />acres to a new total of 15,638 acres, and would add an additional 66 million tons of recoverable <br />Federal coal. The life of the mining operations is expected to continue for an additional nine (9) <br />years under Colorado Permit C-80-007 and this proposed mining plan modification. The <br />Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology approved PR-10 on June 2, 2006. <br />Pursuant to 30 CFR Part 746, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement <br />(OSM) is recommending that the Assistant Secretary approve the mining plan modification <br />without special conditions. <br /> <br />-1- <br />