2007-08-17_PERMIT FILE - C1981035 ‎(21)‎

• Permit No: C1981035
• IBM Index Class Name: PERMIT FILE
• Doc Date: 8/17/2007
• Doc Name: Environmental Assessments
• Section_Exhibit Name: KI Appendix 13
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• The total proposed COC-60941 modification area is 160 acres. The application area is located
in La Plata County, Colorado (see maps 1 and 2). The surface is privately owned and the coal
rights are reserved to the United States.
Authorizing Actions and Agency Involvement
In response to the modification application submitted by National King Coal, LLC the Bureau of
Land Management is responsible for the following actions:
1. The authorized officer may modify the lease to include all or part of the lands applied for
if it is determined that: (a) the modification serves the interests of the United States; (b) there is
no competitive interest in the lands or deposits; and (c) the additional lands or deposits cannot
be developed as part of another potential or existing independent operation.
2. The lands applied for shall be added to the existing leases without competitive bidding,
but the United States shall receive the fair market value of the lease of the added land.
3. A lease modification shall not be made until the authorized officer has complied with the
43 CFR 3425.3 requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact
statement of the proposed lease area.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) has agreed to cooperate in
• preparing this EA. In addition, OSM has jurisdiction in recommending approval of any mining
plan modifications that might result from BLM's leasing decision.
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) gives OSM primary
responsibility to administer programs that regulate surface coal mining operations on federal lands
and the surface effects of underground coal mining operations on federal lands. Pursuant to
Section 503 of SMCRA, the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG) developed, and
the Secretary of the Interior approved, a permanent program authorizing Colorado DMG to
regulate surface coal mining operations and surface effects of underground coal mining on
non-federal lands within the State of Colorado. In September 1982, pursuant to Section 523(c)
of SMCRA, Colorado DMG entered into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the
Interior authorizing Colorado DMG to regulate surface coal mining operations and surface effects
of underground mining on federal lands within the state.
Pursuant to the cooperative agreement, federal coal leaseholders in Colorado must submit permit
application packages to OSM and Colorado DMG for proposed mining and reclamation
operations on federal lands in the State.
Colorado DMG reviews the packages to ensure that the permit application complies with the
permitting requirements and that the coal mining operation will meet the approved permanent
• 2