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Summary <br />The Review Process <br />Sage Creek Coal Company, LLC (SCCC) submitted an application for a new permit on June 15, <br />2009. The Division notified SCCC in a letter dated June 26, 2009 that the application had been <br />found incomplete as of June 25, 2009. Two items were needed for completeness: comments from <br />surface owners and government agencies in accordance with Rules 2.05.5(2)(b) and 2.10.2 , and a <br />map that distinguishes each phase of surface coal mining operations as required by Rule 2.10.2. <br />SCCC submitted the completeness items on June 30, 2009 and the Division found the application <br />complete that day. The Division sent notification of the complete application on June 30, 2009 to <br />the parties specified in Rule 2.07.3(3)(b). SCCC published a public notice in accordance with Rule <br />2.07.3(2) in the Steamboat Pilot once a week for four consecutive weeks beginning July 5, 2009. <br />The Division sent adequacy review letters to SCCC on the following dates: August 28, September <br />11 and 25, 2009; February 11, and 16, March 2, 5, and 11, and April 1, 2010. During the review, the <br />Division received comments on the application from the following parties: Office of the State <br />Engineer, the State Historic Preservation Officer, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, State Board of <br />Land Commissioners, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and <br />the U.S. Office of Surface Mining. SCCC addressed and resolved the concerns raised by each of <br />these agencies. <br />The Division requested compliance information from all other coal mining regulatory agencies in <br />which the applicant and its controllers operate, to determine whether those entities had any unabated <br />violations, cessation orders, or unpaid civil penalties. No other regulatory agency reported any of <br />these permit conditions. The Division requested the compliance information on August 21, 2009, <br />April 29, 2010, and May 6, 2009. <br />Description of the Environment <br />Topography <br />The proposed PSCM permit area is located in the Yampa Coal Field, on the southern margin of the <br />Sand Wash Basin in the foothills of the Williams Fork Mountains. The Williams Fork Mountains <br />extend about 30 miles from east to west across northwestern Colorado. Elevations in the permit area <br />and adjacent areas are between 6,600 feet and 7,800 feet. The average elevation of the permit area <br />is approximately 7,040 feet. Most of the permit area is covered by rolling hills with agricultural <br />fields and rangeland. These low hills extend to higher elevation ridges and steep slopes in the <br />eastern and southwestern parts of the permit area. The perennially flowing Grassy Creek crosses the <br />permit area from south to north, and is joined by its two ephemeral tributaries, Little Grassy Creek <br />and Scotchman's Gulch, near the northern boundary of the permit area. (Little Grassy Creek has <br />perennial flow in its lower part as a result of coal spoil spring inflow from Pond 002 on lands <br />proposed for transfer from the Seneca II Mine to the PSCM.) Grassy Creek flows into the Yampa <br />River two miles north of the permit area. The Yampa River is one of -the largest tributaries of the <br />upper Colorado River system. <br />Peabody Sage Creek Mine 4 May 7, 2010