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Natural hazard lands <br />The permit area contains portions of and is adjacent to other <br />portions of several stabilized landslides. <br />• Disturbance from facilities construction has destabilized one slide <br />and coupled with subsidence has the potential to affect another. <br />Conditions on the Colorado MLRD approval of the permit are designed <br />to ensure that the area is monitored and that the slides are <br />stabilized. This approval will allow mining on lands away from the <br />slide areas further to the south. No effects on the landslides are <br />expected from this approval. <br />There are no areas subject to frequent flooding in the permit and <br />adjacent areas. <br />B. Impacts of Alternative 1, Disapproval <br />Disapproval of the mining plan modification would result in the <br />immediate loss of 19,445,000 tons of Federal coal. Disapproval <br />would also cause WECC to begin proceedings with the Department of <br />Interior to relinquish coal lease C-1362. Without this approval, <br />required due diligence wi•11 not be possible and the company will <br />either have to give up the lease or have it taken away. These will <br />both lead to mine shutdown. The impacts described for the proposed <br />action would not occur. Additional impacts would occur with this <br />alternative including loss of jobs, reduced taxes going to the <br />county, State and Federal government and loss of income to the <br />residents and service industries in the area. <br />• C. Impacts of Alternative 3, Approval with Conditions <br />The preferred alternative 1s approval with conditions. The impact <br />analysis of the proposed action identified certain impacts that <br />could and should be mitigated by the addition of special conditions <br />to the mining plan approval. Those special conditions are discussed <br />below. <br />Subsidence is being studied at the Mt. Gunnison No. 1 mine to <br />determine how 1t will affect the surface at this site. Impacts to <br />cultural resources on the surface were assessed using predicted <br />subsidence effects. Condition number 1 protects cultural resources <br />from unanticipated subsidence so that potentially disturbed sites <br />can be mitigated. <br />Conditions 2, 3, and 4 are conditions requested by BLM to protect <br />the important wildlife habitat and species along the riparian areas <br />of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. This is to prevent impacts <br />on those habitats. <br />• 5 <br />