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• II. Background The Eagle Mines No. 5 and No. 6 underground coal mine is located in Moffat County, Colorado, 7 miles southwest of Craig, Colorado. The mine has been in operation since 1971. Approximately 427 acres have been affected by the surface disturbance to date. The mining plans for the Eagle Mines No. 5 and No. 9 mine were originally approved under the Federal lands program on November 2, 1983 and July 16, 1984. Since the original approval of these mining plans, there have been no mining plan modifications. The Eagle Mines No. 5 and No. 6 mine total permit area will contain approximately 6,840 acres, of which 1,100 acres will be leased Federal coal in the approved mining plan area for Federal leases C-30656, D-056298, and C-0126480. Mine production in the mining plan area will be 4,000,000 tons of coal per year, and mining is expected to continue for 20 years. 'The underground mining operations will utilize longwall and room and pillar mining methods. The Williams Fork Formation E and F coal seams in the mining plan modification area will be mined at a production rate of approximately 4,000,000 tons per year. This mining operation will not affect any environmentally-sensitive areas. During the review of the PAP, one major issue was identified. EEC requested approval of mining activities for the life of the mine, but Colorado MI.EtD granted approval of mining operations scheduled to occur only during the 5-year term of the permit. EEC's mining plans showed that future coal extraction could potentially subside the alluvial valley floors of the Yampa and Williams Fork Rivers and certain surface structures (e. g., Colorado Highway 13 and a railroad spur). None of these areas will be undermined during the permit term. Colorado MLRD stated that no coal mining will be approved which might potentially materially damage any of these structures or renewable resource lands until EEC has demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the Division, that no material damage will result. The public was notified of the availability of the PAP for review by publication of newspaper notices for four consecutive weeks ending September 29, 1986. No public comments on the PAP were received during the 30-day public comment period after the public notice was published. A technical analysis of the proposed mining and reclamation operations was prepared by Colorado MLRD and was included in the documentation provided by Colorado MLRD to OSMRE pursuant to the cooperative agreement. The Environmental Assessment of the proposed action and alternatives was prepared by OSMRE. These documents, other documents prepared by Colorado MLRD, the company's PAP, and other correspondence developed during the completeness and technical reviews are part of OSMRE's administrative record. •