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INTRODUCTION <br />This document is the proposed decision of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and <br />Safety (Division) in response to a request for Phase I bond release at the Seneca II Mine, Division <br />file number C-1980-005. The bond release application is the fourth such application processed by <br />the Division for the Seneca II Mine, and has been designated Surety Release Application No. 4 (SL- <br />4). The package contains four parts. These include: 1) procedures and summary of the bond <br />release process; 2) criteria for bond release; 3) observations and findings of the Division regarding <br />compliance with the bond release requirements of the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and <br />Reclamation Act and the regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act; and 4) the Division's <br />proposed decision on the SL-4 request for Phase I bond release. Four attachments are included at <br />the end of the document; a map showing the SL-4 requested and proposed release areas, a map <br />showing the areas of bond release prior to the SL-4 application, tables of data regarding acreage <br />and dollar amounts released to date, and a summary of the Division's reclamation liability cost <br />estimate for SL-4. <br />Detailed information about the review process can be found in the Act and the Regulations of the <br />Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining. All Rules referenced within this <br />document are contained within the Regulations. Detailed information about the mining and <br />reclamation operations can be found in the permit application on file at the Division offices, <br />located at 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, in Denver, Colorado. <br />The Seneca II Mine is a surface mine which was permitted and operated by Seneca Coal Company <br />(SCC). The Seneca II Mine is located approximately nine miles southeast of the Town of Hayden, <br />Colorado. The ownership of the land for which bond release has been requested is State and <br />private, and the coal ownership was Federal, state and private. Mining has ceased at the Seneca II <br />Mine, and most reclamation has been completed, although some facilities reclamation remains to <br />be done. Monitoring and maintenance activities are continuing. The area requested for release in <br />this application was excluded from the bond release application number 1(SL-1). Additional work <br />was conducted by SCC in 2008, with some minor repairs made in 2009. <br />Page 3 of 30