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INTRODUCTION <br />This document is the proposed decision package prepared by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, <br />Mining and Safety (Division) for approval of an application for a Phase II and Phase III Final Bond <br />Release application (this surety release is designated SL-2) submitted by Minrec, Inc. for the Blue Ribbon <br />Mine, Permit Number C-1981-047. The package contains three parts which include: (1) A summary of <br />the review process; (2) written findings of the Division regarding compliance with the bond release <br />requirements of the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act (the Act), and Regulations <br />promulgated thereunder, and; (3) the proposed decision to approve the request for Phase II and Phase III <br />Bond Release. <br />Detailed information about the review process can be found in the Act and Regulations of the Colorado <br />Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining (the Regulations). All rules referenced within this <br />document are contained within the Regulations. Detailed information about the mining and reclamation <br />operations can be found in the permit application on file at the Division of Reclamation, Mining and <br />Safety, 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, Denver, Colorado 80203. <br />The Blue Ribbon Mine is an underground coal mine located in Delta County, Colorado. Minrec, Inc. is <br />the permittee and operator. The permit area encompasses 340.8 surface acres, 180 acres of which are <br />federally owned and 160.8 acres of which are privately owned. Disturbed surface acreage amounts to <br />about 34.5 acres. <br />The SL-2 Phase II and Phase III Final Bond Release request is for final bond release for the entire <br />reclaimed mine site. Minrec requested the final bond release in a submittal dated June 4, 2008 and <br />received at the Division on June 6, 2008. Minrec is requesting that the entire remaining bond liability of <br />$42,065.00 be released. The Division currently holds a bond in the amount of $48,000.00 so all of the <br />bond held by the Division would be released. If the Phase II and Phase III Bond Release becomes final, <br />the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety will no longer have jurisdiction over the <br />reclaimed Blue Ribbon Mine. <br />SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW PROCESS <br />Minrec's initial application submittal for the Phase II and Phase III Final Bond Release (SL-2), dated June <br />4, 2008, was received at the Division on June 6, 2008. All of the information required under Rule <br />3.03.2(1)(a) and (b) was included in the bond release application, including the proposed public notice, a <br />copy of the written notice sent to the appropriate landowners and agencies announcing the proposed <br />Phase II and Phase III Bond Release, a certificate of service, a list of landowners and agencies who <br />received the written notice and a map of the permit area. Also included in the initial submittal was <br />additional information requested in the Division's Guideline Regarding Selected Coal Mine Bond Release <br />Issues. Copies of the original SL-2 submittal were also sent to the Office of Surface Mining and to the <br />Bureau of Land Management. <br />The reclamation certification statement required under Rule 3.03.2(1)(e) was sent to the Division in a <br />submittal dated June 10, 2008 and received at the Division on June 13, 2008. Minrec provided additional <br />information in support of SL-2 to the Division in a submittal dated July 16, 2008 and received at the <br />Division on July 21, 2008. The Office of Surface Mining and the Bureau of Land Management were <br />copied on this submittal as well. This additional material included discussions on the reclamation history, <br />topsoil amendments, success in achieving the postmining land use, impacts on the hydrologic regime and <br />a universal soil loss demonstration that showed that the site does not contribute a total suspended solids <br />level above that from the premining land.