2010-05-17_REPORT - C1980006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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alone reclamation site, when according to the 2005 Reclamation Monitoring Report, the Pre- 1986 Reclamation accounts for 109.8768 acres or 31.13 percent, the 1995 Reclamation accounts for 175.4506 acres or 49.92 percent and the 1996 Reclamation accounts for 57.8768 acres or 16.47 percent of all of the reclamation that has been completed at the Marr Mine. Another potential problem in the current species diversity standard centers on the fact that different species diversity standards apply to the mine site versus the tipple site. At the mine site the Division has required that the four dominants must comprise no more than 83 percent of the total relative cover while at the tipple site the standard is that three species must account for at least 54 percent and not more than 75 percent of the total relative cover. As one who was involved in negotiating these standards with the Division in the early 1980's, I strongly objected to the "arbitrary and capricious " approach the Division used then and restate my objections again. These two sites are floristically similar to justify a single species diversity standard. The 40 percent standard for a single species doesn't even apply to the approved Alkali Sagebrush Reference Area, as 46.7 percent of the transects sampled in this area in 2009 would fail this standard and the overall average of the single most dominant plant is only 0.78 percent less than the approved minium standard. Since one site has a minimum standard and one does not, this proves that the species diversity standards are "arbitrary and capricious" and have little or no scientific justification. Application of the maximum standard, wherein the four most dominant species must contribute no more than 83 percent of the total relative cover is another standard pulled out of the air. Evaluation of the data collected in 2009 from the Alkali Sagebrush Reference Area, documents that 6 of the 15 transects, or 40 percent of the samples collected would fail this standard. Colorado passed the Colorado Surface Mining Reclamation Act and not the Colorado Surface Mining Restoration Act Application of the approved "weighted average" approach to species diversity is a more realistic approach since it takes into account that all of the reclamation is in fact a single floristic unit and that is how the Permit was written and approved. Using the previously collected reclamation monitoring data presented in the 2005 Reclamation Monitoring Report, it is possible to calculate a "weighted average" species diversity value. Upon comparing the four dominant plant species encountered in the 2005 monitoring effort collected from the Pre-1986, 1995 and 1996 Reclamation Areas and. lumping these data with that collected in the 2009 monitoring effort and `weighting" the acreage, expressed as a percentage of these respective reclamation areas, yields a "weighted average" species diversity value of 32.49 percent for the most dominant plant, 11.92 percent for the second most dominant, 10.95 percent for the third most dominant species and 6.79 percent for the fourth most dominant plant species. This results in a cumulative "weighted average" species diversity value of 63.15 percent for the four most dominant species and 32.49 percent for the single most dominant plant species. Can every site sampled, a shrub or forb was included as one of the four most dominant plant species. Therefore, Kerr submits that application of the "weighted average" species diversity approach documents that the 1999 Reclamation satisfies the Permit requirements for species diversity. At the Kerr Tipple site, since sample adequacy was achieved on the Tipple Reference Area and Tipple Reclamation for plant cover, and the total plant cover value on the reclaimed site exceeds the corresponding reference area value, it can be concluded that the Phase HI Bond Release sampling criteria have been satisfied for plant cover at this location. Application of the reverse null statistical approach documents that the total herbaceous production for the Tipple reclamation site, the t? values (4.1164) from this reclaimed site exceed the t values (1.328), and thus, it can be concluded that the total forage production satisfies the revegetation success standard- 13