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TELEPHONE CONVERSATION RECORD Date: March 14, 2000 Call From: Sandy Vana-Miller, Wildlife Biologist, PSD, OSM, Denver, CO, 303-844-1400 Call To: Terry Ireland, USFWS - Western Colorado Office, Grand Junction, CO, 970-243- 2778 x16 Subject: Informal Section 7 Consultation for Mountain Coal Company's West Elk Mine, Permit Revision No. 8 I called Terry Ireland, Biologist, to discuss the potential effects of the proposed action on threatened or endangered species, including an eazlier consultation on the West Elk Mine's Apache Rocks PR No. 6 and TR No. 77 Project. In an October 31, 1995 memorandum from the USFWS to OSM, the USFWS waived the depletion fee for the proposed action's estimated average annual water depletion of 76.4 acre-feet to the North Fork of the Gunnison River in the Upper Colorado River Basin. I relayed to Terry the following information about the proposed action: • West Elk Mine, a deep mine operation, is in Gunnison and Delta Counties, near the towns of Somerset and Paeonia. • PR No. 8 involves adding the remainder of the Box Canyon Federal coal lease (COC- 56447) azea to the current permit area, or 1,410 acres of additional Federal coal. • There will be no additional surface disturbance/facilities added as a result of this action. • There will be no change in coal production as a result of this action. The same mining methods (longwall and room-and-pillaz) will continue to be used. • There will be no additional increase in the current water depletion estimate. Based upon the above information, Teny concurred with my determination that the proposed West Elk Mine -Permit Revision No. 8 will have no effect on threatened or endangered species or their critical habitat. Any additional water depletion, however, would necessitate reinitiating consultation with the USFWS for endangered Colorado River fishes, in accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. ~) GG/L~ ~ ~l/~ - j G~ 3 / y a o (Signature) (Date)