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The SCC mine complex currently employs 89 people; this includes 18 non-represented (company) management and 71 represented )union) employees. No additional employment is expected within the • next five years. The general type of mining to be employed at Yoast is the area surface mining method. The typical mining sequence would begin with the removal of all suitable soil in an area prior to mining disturbance. These soils are either stockpiled for future use or redistributed directly on graded spoils. After soil removal, an electrically powered dragline will remove the overburden. The overburden from the pit presently being worked is cast into the previous open pit. Following overburden removal, the coal is removed with the aid of large backhoes, end loaders, and off-road coal haulage trucks. SCC plans to mine one coal seam (Wadge) at the Yoast Mine over the first five-year permit term and potentially two seams (Wadge and Wolf Creek) during [he second permit term. The Wadge coal seam is typically nine to thirteen feet thick while the Wolf Creek seam ranges from twelve to eighteen feet thick. The coal will be hauled about two miles from the pit by off-road vehicles and stockpiled near the facilities area. Subsequently, the coal will be transported directly to the powerplant by a contract hauler. After the coal is removed, the spoil material is graded to the approximate original contour, soil is replaced, and the land seeded per the approved reclamation plan. As shown in the original application, SCC has had contractors study all the environmental disciplines li.e., soils, geology, vegetation, wildlife, hydrology, and archaeology) at the Yoast Mine. Additionally, coal exploration at Yoast began in 1963 and continued during four major periods from 1963-1965, 1980, 1988, and 1990-1992. The information gained from these studies aided in the development of both an economical and environmentally acceptable mining and reclamation plan. There are a varied number of land uses adjacent to the Yoast Mine, the most dominant being rangeland lin terms of acreage). Rangeland includes lands which are being used for domestic livestock grazing, but also includes use by big game (particularly deer and elk), small mammals, herptiles, avian species, and invertebrates. Irrigated cropland is closely associated with the floodplain of the Yampa River. Dryland cropland occurs on the sloping uplands between the floodplain and more mountainous areas. Other adjacent land uses include residential development, the Yampa Valley Airport, surface and underground coal mining, electric power generation, oil production and storage, and recreation )including big game hunting and fishing along the Yampa River). The environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with this mine will be minimal, especially since the Seneca Mine complex has been operating at the same level of production for 30 years. Nevertheless, the mining and reclamation plan attempts to further minimize these impacts by incorporating up-to-date techniques for protecting and/or reclaiming the water, land, air, and wildlife • resource. 3 Revised 2/99