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-Q- <br /> <br />SUMPlARY <br />The Review Process, Description of the Environment <br />and <br />The Operations and Reclamation Plan <br />Ni store of the Review Process <br />Colowyo Coal Company, a partnership of Gracoal, Inc. and Western Hanna, Inc. <br />has submitted a mining and reclamation permit application to mine Federal <br />coal at the Colowyo Mine. The Colowyo operation, including the pit, <br />the general offices, and a rail Ioadout facility, is located in Moffat <br />County, approximately 28 miles southwest of Craig, Colorado on State <br />Highway 13/789. The mine is an existing, open pit, multiple seam <br />operation with an anticipated annual coal production of 4.5 million tons. <br />Operations at Colowyo began in 1976, under Extraction and Development <br />Permit Number 76-15 C/A issued by the Colorado hfined Land Reclamation Board. <br />Colowyo currently produces coal from Federal Lease D-039365. The permit <br />area proposed by the applicant encompasses 5,550 acres in Sections 2, 3, 4, <br />9,.10 and Z1 of T3N, R93w and Sections 13, 22, 23, 24, 26, 33 and 39 of <br />T4N, R93W. Approximately 960 of the surface acreage of the proposed permit <br />area is owned by Colowyo Coal Company, the remainder is Federal land managed <br />by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). <br />The Colowyo application was submitted to the Division on February 5, 1981 <br />and deemed complete on February 13, 1981. A joint preliminary adequacy <br />letter conveying concerns identified by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) <br />and the Division was sent to Colowyo on April 9, 1981. Resolution of <br />the deficiencies noted in the letter was required in order to make determin- <br />ations of compliance. Colowyo's responses to the preliminary adequacy letter <br />were received on May 19, 1981. On July 9, 1981, the Division sent Colowyo <br />another letter identifuing concerns which had not yet been adequately <br />resolved. Further responses have been submitted by Colowyo since that <br />time, allowing the preparation of the Findings Docunent. The technical <br />analysis has been completed by the Division and OSM, with the assistance <br />of the Minerals Management Service, the Colorado Division of wildlife, <br />and the Colorado Division of water Resources. <br />Previous analyses of Colowyo's minino and reclamation operations have included <br />a number of permit and permit revision applications including a modification <br />to Colowyo's existing mine plan to allow production at the 9.5 million <br />ton/year level. Environmental analyses of Colowyo's operations are included <br />in the final Northwest Colorado Coal Regional Environmental Statement and the <br />Northwest Colorado Supplemental Report. <br />