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i i amphibians and reptiles. Two golden eagle nests are located on sandstone cliffs adjacent to the disturbed area within the permit boundary for CYCC Permit No. C-81-071. There is critical winter habitat for elk, an elk migration corridor and elk calving grounds and critical sage grouse habitat within and adjacent to the proposed permit area. Sage grouse critical habitat ie located outside of the disturbed area. Cultural and historic resources within the permit area include three historic sites and one prehistoric or protohistoric site. Two of the historic sites are undistinguished homesteads with no important architectural features and which are not associated with persona important in history. The other historic site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Foidel Canyon Schoolhouse, and is located in the general area of the main facilities along Foidel Creek. It will not be undermined or subsided and is protected appropriately. The prehistoric site (SRT345) is a rock art site located on the outcrop of the Twentymile Sandstone directly above the mine office area. PR-02 proposes to undermine and subside this area which could potentially damage this Bite. Stipulation 33 ie therefore attached to this finding to insure appropriate measures are taken prior to undermining this site. Land uses within the proposed permit area are cropland, pastureland, and rangeland. Some of the surface was previously disturbed by surface mining methods under the Mine No. 1, Mine No. 2, and Eckman Park Mine, ,¢'C-81-071. Prior to mining, moat of the land associated with the surface disturbance was classified as cropland. Description of the Operations and Reclamation Plan The originally permitted Foidel Creek Mine was an underground operation employing room and pillar mining on privately owned coal within a 924 acre permit area. TCC referred to the original permit ae a pilot project designed to evaluate the technical and economic feae ib ility of underground mining operations on the Wadge coal seam, which previously was surface mined in the portal area, and on dip elopes to the south and southwest by TCC~e sister company, CYCC. Existing surface disturbance along Foidel Creek consist of portals, surface support facilities, office, low-quality coal stockpiles, conveyors, tipple facility, ROM coal stockpile, rock duet tank, explosives magazine, rail spur, and sediment control ditches and ponds. A large area of the main facility area was within a disturbed area called the Area 2 pit within the CYCC permit ~ C-81-071. Since the completion of mining associated with the ,OC-81-071 permit moat facilities were transferred to the Foidel Creek permit. A variance from contemporaneous reclamation was approved to accommodate the underground mine portals and associated surface facilities. The Life of Mine (LOM) permit revision (PR-O1) application was approved in 1986 to expand the project into a 35 year mining operation utilizing both room and pillar and longwall techniques, with a peak production of approximately 3.5 million tone per year. The proposed LOM permit boundary encompassed 13,114 acres and involves both federal and privately owned coal. New and expanded surface facilities were required due to the LOM permit revision and included an office/bath house complex, new conveyor facilities, transfer building and 150,000 ton open coal stockpile and loadout facilities. The existing waste disposal Bite within the Area 2 pit was expanded. In addition, approximately 5 acres was disturbed by construction of a dewatering borehole and associated facilities on Fieh Creek, approximately 2 miles north east of the existing facilities on Foidel Creek. in 1992, a large bathhouse building replaced the existing bath house trailers and a low quality coal stockpile was approve + ^.=^:'Tdjacent to the area 2 pit. This pile will be added to until t end of 1994 when a permanent waste pile will be operational and thereafter accep in a low quality coal and waste rock material. ~ 'l~ 1 l fn~~ r~ ~1 1