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• continuous operation since 1934. Annual average production ranges from 250,000 to <br />500,000 tans of coal, which were extracted from the C-Seam within Federal Coal Leases <br />D-052502 and C-0117192, at the Bear No. 3 Mine. C-Seam mining has since ceased. <br />B-Seam mining was approved with Technical Revision No. 3 and has continued to date. <br />Areas of approximately 19 acres and eight acres have been disturbed at the Bear No. 1 <br />and 2, and at the Bear No. 3, respectively. The original permit C-81-033 was issued on <br />July 19, 1982. <br />On July 3, 1985, Bear Coal Company submitted a permit revision which proposed the <br />addition of Federal Coal Lease No. C-0117192 to the mine plan. This addition involved <br />portions of the C-Seam immediately adjacent to the previously approved permit boundary. <br />The permit revision was deemed complete on July 12, 1985. Adequacy concerns were <br />resolved in September 1985, and an approval decision was issued September 18, 1985. <br />The decision document of September 18, 1985 contains specific details regarding the <br />permit revision process. <br />The first renewal application was received November on 6, 1986. Following the review <br />process, a proposed decision was published on June 25, 1987. Details regarding the <br />renewal finding can be reviewed within the June 18, 1987 decision document. <br />The second renewal application was received on January 16, 1992. The application was <br />complete, as submitted. Renewal adequacy responses were submitted to the Division on <br />August 31, 1992 in the form of a technical revision and were subsequently found to be <br />• adequate. <br />On December 1, 1993, Bear Coal Company submitted Permit Revision No. 1, which <br />proposed the addition of 205 acres to the permit area. The revision originally proposed 1 1 <br />new panels west of and adjacent to the current B-seam workings. Proposed mining is <br />located in Coal Lease C-0117192 and a small section of Atlantic Richfield Company fee <br />coal. The permit revision was deemed complete on December 3, 1993. The Division's <br />preliminary adequacy comments of February 1, 1994 were addressed by Bear Coal in their <br />March 4, 1994 submittal. Secondary adequacy comments were sent to Bear Coal on <br />March 28, 1994. Bear Coal submitted its responses on April 22, 1994. The submittal <br />adequately addressed all remaining adequacy concerns. Poor mining conditions were <br />encountered during the permit revision review process, on the north end adjacent to the <br />proposed mine workings. These conditions forced the proposed mine plan to be revised to <br />include only seven new panels, which would extend the Bear Mine No. 3 life of mine by <br />14 months. The proposed permit area boundary did not change. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The Bear Mine No. 1, 2, and 3 permit area lies within the drainage of the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River, which is tributary to the Colorado River system. The mined area consists <br />of rugged topographic relief. Elevations in the area range from 6,000 feet at Somerset to <br />1 2,71 9 feet at the summit of Mt. Gunnison. The North Fork of the Gunnison River has cut <br />a deep canyon through the area and separates high tablelands south of the river from the <br />slopes of the Grand Mesa to the north. The narrow, steep-sided canyon in the vicinity of <br />• the Bear Mine widens into a broad alluvial valley in the vicinity of Paonia. The tableland to <br />3 <br />