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<br />' INTRODUCTION <br />' Colorado Yampa Coal Company (CYCC) is submitting this information as a request to the <br />Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (CDMG) for approval of year 2000 sampling event <br />' data (year 9+ since initial seeding) for proposed Phase [II bond release on CYCC's Mine 1 and <br />Eckman Park Reclaimed Areas (Permit No. C-81-071). An area is eligible for Phase III bond <br />release when Phase I and Phase II bond release has been granted; the fiilfillment of the ten year <br />' liability period since initial seeding; documentation of revegetation success; proof of post mining <br />land use capability; and a minimum of five years since the last seeding, fertilization, and rill and <br />gully repair which proves that erosion has been demonstratively controlled. CYCC believes it <br />' has met all these conditions excepting fulfillment of the ten year liability period which will be <br />satisfied in the year 2001. <br />CYCC's Mine l and Eckman Park areas covered an expansive surface coal mine located in Routt <br />County at the convergence of Routt County Roads 27 and 33, approximately 23 miles southwest <br />of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The reclamation areas under consideration for this Phase III <br />' Bond Release Application are in: Section 2>, Township d North, Range 87 West (Pond K); <br />Sections 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, and 34, Township 5 North, Range 86 West; Section 13, Township 4 <br />North, Range 87 West; and Sections 7. 8, 9, l6, 17, 18, and 19, Township 4 North, Range 86 <br />' West. Refer to Figures 1, 2, and 3 for the mapped boundaries of the reference area and each <br />reclaimed area sampling unit. <br />' Figures 2 and 3 present the division of reclamation areas with each corresponding date of <br />seeding and acreage. Drainage patterns were established on individual reclaimed parcels and <br />there have been no erosion problems on the reclaimed aeeas as a whole. Final reclamation work <br />for the Eckman Park area was completed in November 1991. <br />The following sections provide information that supports approval of Phase III bond release for <br />the Mine I and Eckman Park Reclaimed Areas. The discussion focuses on documentation of <br />revegetation success criteria, capability of reclaimed areas for post mining land use, and a <br />surface and groundwater quantity and quality impact analysis. This report describes site <br />' conditions as of the first year (year 9) of the end of the ten year liability period. <br />EVALUATION OF RECLAMATION SUCCESS FOR <br />PHASE III BOND RELEASE <br />' The requirements for Phase III bond release are aten-year minimum liability period since initial <br />seeding, documentation of revegetation success criteria, proof of post mining land use capability, <br />and analysis of effects to surface and groundwater quantity and quality (CDMG; Guidelines <br />Regarding Selected Coal Ivtine Bond Release Issues, 1995). No alluvial valley floors or prime <br />farmlands were present within the active mining ares prior to mining so these criterion do no[ <br />apply to the Mine ] and Eckman Park Reclamation Areas. The year 2000 sampling event <br />initiates the first of the last two years of the ten-year liability period. Sampling to be conducted <br />~I <br /> <br />