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<br />PROPOSED DECISION <br />As required by Rule 3.03.2(5)(a), this document constitutes written notification of the Division <br />of Minerals and Geology (Division) decision to approve the Phase II/III Bond Release request <br />for Block C (SL-03) for Mine 1, Mine 2, and Eckman Park, permit no. C-81-071, submitted <br />by Colorado Yampa Coal Company (CYCC) on October 4, 1993. The rationale for this <br />approval are as outlined below. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Block C is comprised of 173 acres of reclamation in the upper Eckman Park area of permit <br />C-81-071, as shown on attachment A. Specifically excluded from this request are any portions <br />of the permanent drainage channels identified on Map 9A of the permit as PG 31-1A, <br />PG 31-lAl, PG 31-1A2, and PG 31-1B. These drainage channels and 25 feet on either side, <br />as measured from the channel center, are to be retained under reclamation liability until such <br />tithe that the upper areas of the watershed which drain to these ephemeral channels (specifically <br />the 9.6 acre parcel and the 68.8 acre parcel, as shown on the Block C bond release map) are <br />successfully released from final reclamation liability. <br />Block C acreage was included in the 2,397.9 acre Phase I bond release application approved by <br />the Division and the Office of Surface Mining in September of 1987. The approved post-mining <br />land-use for all areas included in Block C is pastureland and all acreage within Block C is <br />privately owned by CYCC. Federal coal was mined in Block C. <br />RECLAMATION BOND HISTORY <br />The 1987 Phase I bond release reduced the required bond amount for permit no. C-81-071 by <br />$1,705,393 from $10,585,393 to 8,880,000. Approval of this Phase II/III application for <br />Block C would reduce the bond $34,600 to $8,845,400. This reduced amount of bond held by <br />the Division following the release of Block C bond monies is significantly in excess of the <br />amount necessary to revegetate the entire site, reclaim three sediment ponds (ponds H, M, and <br />K), and topsoil and re-seed the 5 acre area at the dragline dismantling site. <br />HYDROLOGIC FINDINGS <br />Rule 3.03.1(2)(a) allows for up to sixty percent of the applicable bond to be released when the <br />petmittee successfully completes backfilling, grading and drainage control. All Block C acreage <br />was included in the Phase I bond release granted as per the final publication dated September <br />17, 1987. Rule 3.03.1(3)(b) does not allow more than sixty percent of the applicable bond to <br />be released as long as the lands subject to the release are contributing suspended solids to <br />streamflow outside the permit area in excess of levels determined on adjacent non-mined areas. <br />The operator submitted computer modelling simulations with the bond release application <br />comparing sediment production from reclaimed areas of Block C to sediment production from <br />approved reference areas. Input to the computer model was based on information specific to the <br />