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Introduction <br />This document is the decision package prepared by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety (Division) for the West Elk Mine, Permit Revision No. 14 (PR-14). This <br />document includes: 1) the proposed decision to approve the permit revision application; <br />2) a summary which includes a history of the review of the permit application, a description of <br />the environment affected by the operation and a description of the mining and reclamation plan; <br />and 3) the written findings of compliance the Division has made as required by the Colorado <br />Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. Detailed information concerning the findings of <br />compliance can be found in the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for <br />Coal Mining. <br />The Division received the application for PR-14 from Mountain Coal Company (MCC), the <br />operator of the West Elk Mine. The application for PR-14 proposes to drill up to 152 methane <br />drainage wells to the mine's underground workings in longwall panels E-2 through E-12, during <br />the next 12 years. The wells will be drilled within the applicant's existing coal leasehold and <br />mining permit area, on Federal (USFS) and private lands. The total aggregate surface disturbance <br />will be approximately 80 acres within an approximate 6-square mile area. A Federal <br />Environmental Impact Statement was previously prepared for this project, titled "The Deer Creek <br />Shaft and E Seam Methane Drainage Wells Project". The applicant is substituting this Permit <br />Revision 14 for the proposed drilling project previously submitted to the Division as Technical <br />Revision 112. <br />The mine permit area encompasses approximately 17,155 acres on federal and private lands <br />within Gunnison and Delta Counties, Colorado. These lands include all or portions of. Sections <br />9 through 36, Township 13 South, Range 90 West of the 6th P.M., Sections 23 through 26, <br />Township 13 South, Range 91 West of the 6th P.M, and Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 <br />Township 14 South, Range 90 West of the 6th P.M. The lands within the permit area can be <br />found on the USGS 7.5 minute Quadrangle maps of Bowie and Somerset. <br />Proposed Decision <br />The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety proposes to approve the application <br />for Permit Revision 14. This decision is based on a finding that the operations will comply with <br />all requirements of the Colorado State Program as found in the Colorado Surface Coal Mining <br />Reclamation Act, C.R.S. 34-33-101 et seq., and the Regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act. <br />If no request for a formal hearing is made within thirty (30) days of the first publication of the <br />issuance of this proposed decision, then this decision becomes final. Upon submittal of <br />acceptable surety by MCC, activities proposed by PR-14 may commence. The permit <br />application, all supporting documentation and any stipulations or conditions will become a <br />binding part of the permit. <br />Permit C-80-007 has four active permit stipulations that are listed below. Inactive permit <br />stipulations are listed in Appendix "A" at the end of this Findings Document. <br />2