2008-11-17_REVISION - C1981013 (2)

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ON3 IN REPLY REFER TO: United States Department of the Interior OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING Reclamation and Enforcement P. O. Box 46667 Denver, Colorado 80201-6667 Ronald W. Cattany, Director Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Denver, CO 80202 November 13, 2008 RECEIVED Nov 17 2008 pwis?un ?, ,.?c?dmation, Mining, and Safety RE: Phase I, II, and III Bond Release Application (SL-6), New Elk Coal Company, LLC, Golden Eagle Mine, Permit No.C-1981-013, Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance Dear Mr. Cattany: This letter acknowledges the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), Western Regional Coordinating Center (WRCC), Denver Field Division's (DFD) receipt and review of the above Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance document prepared by the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) dated August 13, 2008. DFD agrees with the findings and decision document and hereby provides OSM concurrence for the above bond release action in accordance with 30 CFR 740.15 (d) (3), and 30 CFR 906.30, Article IX, Section 24, of the Colorado State-Federal Cooperative Agreement. A thorough summary of previous bond release actions and the operational and reclamation history of the mine are accurately captured in the above DRMS Proposed Decision. DRMS Permit C-1981-013 was transferred from Basin Resources, Inc. (BRI) to NRCC effective April 29, 2008. Public and landowner notifications of the bond release application were provided by the former permittee BRI. The bond release inspection notifications provided by DRMS, the DRMS's inspection findings for the bond release inspection, and related correspondence is documented in the Proposed Decision. OSM, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and all affected landowners were notified of the bond release inspection. BRI, DRMS, XTO Energy, Las Animas County, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife participated in the bond release inspection on October 24, 2006. OSM and BLM did not participate due to other commitments. BLM concurred with the DRMS Proposed Decision in a letter dated September 5, 2008 (copy enclosed). DBMS received two objections regarding the BRI / SL-6 bond release application which were forwarded to BRI on October 30, 2006. BRI submitted the bond release application on September 20, 2006; and was the permittee on October 30, 2006 Both objections have been resolved, and are documented in the DRMS Proposed Decision. The DRMS Proposed Decision documents the applicant's compliance with the Colorado approved regulatory program at Rule 3.03.2, and DRMS's bond release guidelines dated April, 18, 1995. Bond release criteria found in the above regulatory provisions have been met or exceeded by the permittee. TAKE PRIDE ?'?'INAMERICA ="''+{