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permit revision whichi was approved in June 1985 and was determined <br /> not to be a mining plan modification. Colorado MLRD approved the <br /> addition of a sanitary''l landfill, which was located on 317.2 acres of <br /> • land owned by the applicant, to the permit area. <br /> The permit revision area associated with this mining plan, as <br /> modified, contains approximately 2,880 acres, all of which are <br /> Federal lands including 2,880 acres of leased Federal coal which are <br /> in the mining plan modification area. Including the permit revision <br /> area associated with this mining plan, as modified, the Deserado <br /> mine permit area will 'contain approximately 9,152 acres, of which <br /> 8,730 acres are Federal lands including 6,440 acres. of leased <br /> Federal coal. Upon approval of this mining plan, as modified, the <br /> approved mining plan area for the Deserado mine will contain <br /> approximately 8,730 acres within Federal leases D-047201, C-023703, <br /> C-8424, C-8425, and C-0126669. <br /> Under this approval, mining is anticipated to proceed until 2010. <br /> The PAP indicated that mining operations for the life of the <br /> Deserado mine would cease around ,the year 2010 and would affect <br /> approximately 1,200 surface acres and 6,440 acres of leased Federal <br /> coal lands. I am recommending approval for the area to be mined <br /> over the life of the Deserado mine based on the environmental <br /> assessment and the adequacy of the data and information provided by <br /> Western Fuels-Utah, Inc. in the PAP. <br /> The underground mining operations principally will utilize <br /> continuous miners and! longwall mining methods. The "D" and "B" coal <br /> seams will be mined at a production rate of approximately 1.8 <br /> million tons per year,,. All mining and reclamation operations are <br /> scheduled to cease around the year 2010. This mining operation will <br /> not affect any environmentally-sensitive areas. <br /> During the review of the PAP the following major issues were <br /> identified: <br /> 1) The applicant did not adequately address the protection of <br /> cultural resources on the mining plan modification area, nor <br /> was there a mitigation plan for protecting cultural resource <br /> sites from the effects of subsidence. Portions of the <br /> leases which were proposed to be added to the permit area <br /> had not been surveyed for cultural resources, and the <br /> applicant did not feel that it was necessary since no <br /> surface disturbances were proposed for these areas. <br /> However, since there is a possibility of additional surface <br /> disturbance in the form of refuse disposal piles or <br /> additional mine facilities, and subsidence could impact <br /> cultural resources, a special condition has been added to <br /> the mining plan approval which requires the applicant to <br /> conduct cultural resource surveys on any previously <br />