|
Permit Renewal No. 5 Review Process
<br />Snowcap Coal Company, Inc. (SCC) submitted an application for Permit Renewal No. 5 (RN-5) to Permit C-
<br />81-041, on June 20, 2007. The submittal included a renewal application form, certificate of insurance, and
<br />proposed public notice. The application was deemed complete on July 2, 2007, and notices were provided to
<br />various local, state, and federal agencies on that date. Public notice of the application was published in the
<br />Grand Junction Daily Sentinel once a week for four consecutive weeks, beginning July 15, 2007. Copies of
<br />the application were filed with the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office, and at the Denver and Grand
<br />Junction offices of the Division. Written comments were received during the review period from the Bureau of
<br />Reclamation (BOR), Division of Water Resources/Office of the State Engineer (SEO), and the State Historic
<br />Preservation Office (SHPO). SEO and SHPO letters indicated no concerns or objections with the renewal
<br />application. The BOR letter contained questions regarding a liability release request application (SL-3) that
<br />was concurrent with the renewal review, and the BOR concerns were addressed in the context of the SL-3
<br />review and inspection (see the October 31, 2007 SL-3 Findings document for further details). The comment
<br />letters were forwarded to the operator.
<br />The Division's adequacy review was conducted with the following sequence of adequacy review letters,
<br />agency correspondence, and response submittals from SCC.
<br />July 2, 2007 Notices of availability for review and request for comments provided to Mesa County Planning
<br />Department, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Office of Surface Mining (OSM), Colorado Division of
<br />Wildlife (CDOW), Colorado Dept. of Health & Environment/Water Quality Control Division, Colorado Dept.
<br />of Health & Environment/Air Pollution Control Division, Mesa County Commissioners, Colorado Historical
<br />Society/State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Natural
<br />Resources Conservation Service (MRCS), Mesa County Irrigation District, Grand Valley Water Users
<br />Association, State Board of Land Commissioners, Ute Water Conservancy District, Colorado Geological
<br />Survey, Army Corps of Engineers, Town of Palisade, and Palisade Irrigation District.
<br />July 2, 2007-Snowcap Coal Company (SCC), submitted an amended page 4 of the application form, to
<br />clarify that official status of the operation is "Active", due to active use of the Unit Train Loadout as an
<br />unloading facility by a local oil field services company (approved by TR-48).
<br />July 13, 2007-The Division received a letter dated July 12, 2007, from SEO, indicating no concerns with or
<br />objections to the application.
<br />July 16,2007-The Division received a letter dated July 10, 2007, from the SHPO, which included SHPO's
<br />opinion that the proposed revision would have no effect on cultural resources.
<br />July 28, 2007-The Division received a letter dated July 24, 2007, from BOR, which included request for
<br />information regarding the liability release application (SL-3).
<br />August 23, 2007-The Division completed initial AVS check; outstanding federal audit debt for AEP
<br />Kentucky Coal LLC, linked to Snowcap Coal Company, resulted in a "DENY" recommendation. The issue
<br />was resolved and confirmed by the Division by subsequent AVS check of September 18, 2007, which resulted
<br />in an "ISSUE" recommendation.
<br />Permit Renewal No. 5 7 November 16, 2007
|