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SMENT ? <br />a' United.States Department of the Interior RECEIVED <br />": ? 13 2009 <br />_ OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING IhN <br />,,..,... offerytlon, <br />y?RCN..a +•'`..' Reclamation and Enforcement givislbl .? d a <br />P. 0. Box'"46667 <br />IN REPLY REFER TO: I?CIlVBI,"COIOCadO 802(11-6667 <br />t <br />0-0013 <br />January 8, 2009 <br />Mr. Daniel Hernandez <br />Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />RE: Trapper Mining Inc., "Trapper" mine, Permit No. C-1981-010, Permit Revision PR-06 <br />Dear Mr. Hernandez: <br />This in response to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety's (CO-DRMS) <br />December 22, 2008, request for a decision, under 30 CFR 906.30, whether the above subject <br />permit revision constitutes a mining plan modification. <br />Mining plan approvals by the Secretary of the Interior are required under the Mineral Leasing <br />Act of 1920, 30 U.S.C. 181, et seq. before coal mining can occur on Federal lands. This letter <br />serves to document OSM's determination whether or not a mining plan approval from the <br />Secretary is required for the above permitting action. <br />OSM's review of PR-06 has determined that it proposes to recover Federal coal from Federal <br />leases C-07519 and C-079641 in Township 5 North, Row 90 West, Section 5 N'/2Nlh , <br />N'hS'/2NWI/a and Section 6 N'/z, N1/2S1/2 and proposes the construction of an excess spoil fill. A <br />review of the original April 15, 1983, Mining and Reclamation Plan approval for the Trapper <br />mine found that-both Federal leases C-07519 and C-079641 were included in the approval <br />document, however, the approval limited the activities that could be conducted on the Federal <br />leases to only the collection of baseline information and monitoring. A review of the June 13, <br />1988, Mining Plan Modification for the Trapper mine found that while it authorized the recovery <br />of additional Federal coal it did not authorize coal recovery from Federal leases C-07519 and <br />C-079641. <br />Based on a review of the activities associated with the permit revision, OSM has determined that <br />the proposal does meet the requirements of 30 CFR 746.18(d)(3) and 746.18(d)(4). Therefore, <br />the proposed permit revision does constitute a mining plan action requiring Secretarial approval. <br />OSM's decision was based solely upon the Federal. regulations under 30 CFR PART 746 and <br />not the technical aspects of the revision application itself. Consequently, OSM's decision does <br />not relieve CO-DRMS from coordinating the review and approval of Permit Revision PR-06 <br />withother Federal agencies for compliance with other Federal regulations. <br />TAKE PRIDE <br />IN AMERICA ?,?"?{