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In a letter dated December 13, 2006, the Division requested that the Office of Surface Mining (OSM)
<br />enter into consultation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service concerning an updated threatened &
<br />endangered species report. The report was dated December 6, 2006 and was submitted by BRL as part of
<br />the Permit Renewal No. 2 adequacy review. OSM decided that the Technical Revision No. 45
<br />consultation would suffice for Permit Revision No. 2. In a memorandum dated April 13, 2007, the U.S.
<br />Fish & Wildlife Service determined that no new water depletions will occur so the existing Recovery
<br />Implementation Program for the Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin will suffice.
<br />The Division sent five adequacy review letters dated October 17, 2006, February 15, 2007, March 2,
<br />2007, May 3, 2007 and May 18, 2007. No individual, group or government agency sent comment letters
<br />to the Division. BRL responded to the Division's adequacy concerns in responses dated December 7,
<br />2006, February 21, 2007 and May 8, 2007. An AVS check was made on June 22, 2007 and the
<br />recommendation was to "issue". With all adequacy review issues resolved, the proposed decision to
<br />approve Permit Renewal No. 2 was made on June 22, 2007.
<br />The maps and permit text that were revised in Permit Renewal No. 2 were placed into the permit
<br />application through Minor Revision No. 80. The public notice for the proposed decision to approve
<br />Permit Renewal No. 2 was published in the Delta County Independent and contains information
<br />concerning the increase in the reclamation cost estimate. Although there were no public objections to the
<br />proposed decision, the renewed permit could not be issued until sufficient reclamation bond was
<br />submitted and approved by the Division. Upon the successful resolution of the bond issue, Permit
<br />Renewal No. 2 was issued on September 28, 2007.
<br />The application for a B-seam mine plan change in Permit Renewal No. 10 was presented by BRL in a
<br />submittal dated February 28, 2006 and received at the Division on March 1, 2006. PR-10 was called
<br />complete on March 13, 2006 and the completeness letters were mailed out the next day. The completeness
<br />public notice appeared in the Delta County Independent on March 15, 22, 29 and April 5, 2006.
<br />The Division received comment letters from the Colorado Division of Water Resources (Denver), the
<br />Colorado Historical Society, USDA-Forest Service (Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National
<br />Forest), the US Bureau of Land Management, the Delta County Board of Commissioners, the Terror
<br />Ditch and Reservoir Company and the Western Slope Environmental Resource Council. The Division
<br />also received a letter, dated March 20, 2006, from the Office of Surface Mining, in which that agency
<br />determined that the activities proposed in PR-10 did not constitute a mining plan action requiring
<br />Secretarial approval.
<br />The Division worked closely with the Colorado Division of Water Resources Dam Safety Group
<br />(Montrose) in the review of PR-10. There were many adequacy review letters by the Division and
<br />adequacy review responses by the operator during the course of the review. There were several major
<br />issues brought up during the adequacy review, including mining-induced seismicity studies, geotechnical
<br />and seismicity studies of the Bruce Park Dam and adjacent landslide, a seismic monitoring program, pre-
<br />subsidence survey and subsidence monitoring program, Bruce Park Dam monitoring and damage
<br />mitigation program, protection of Dove Cave from subsidence effects, a threshold notification program,
<br />down gradient baseline and point of compliance ground water monitoring and a mine water inflow
<br />monitoring plan under Hubbard Creek.
<br />All of the PR-10 issues were resolved. In a letter dated April 18, 2007, the USDA-Forest Service stated
<br />that BRL adequately addressed all of that agency's concerns and recommended that PR-10 be approved.
<br />Also, in a letter dated August 12, 2008, the Colorado Division of Water Resources Dam Safety Group
<br />(Montrose) found BRL's PR-10 responses to be acceptable. Finally, the Terror Ditch and Reservoir
<br />Company, in a letter dated September 30, 2008, withdrew its opposition to PR-10.
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