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IV. PROPOSED DECISION <br />Based upon the above observations, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />proposes to partially approve Seneca Coal Company's request for a Partial Phase I Bond Release, SL- <br />02, for the Yoast Mine. The proposed decision will release the applicant from the liability for <br />backfilling, grading and drainage reestablishment on 456.7 acres of the site. SCC originally requested <br />that 515.8 acres be released. Specifically excluded from the Phase I bond release decision due to <br />erosion and instability are 1.81 acres for the YPM-13 postmine drainage channel, 36.23 acres for the <br />YPM 6-2 and YPM-•7 watershed areas, 14.77 acres for the YPM-8 watershed area in the Neck Pit, 1.1 <br />acres for the temporary Diversion 14A which has yet to be reclaimed, and 3.18 and 1.97 acres for <br />Topsoil Stockpiles B and C, respectively where both topsoil stockpiles have remaining topsoil in them <br />and have not met AOC requirements. <br />PHASE I BOND RELEASE <br />The Division currently holds a performance bond in the amount of $5,200,000.00 for the Yoast Mine. <br />Seneca Coal Company requested a release of $1,365,265.00. The Division proposes to release <br />$790,205.00. <br />The Division completed a reclamation cost estimate for the Yoast Mine's Partial Phase I Bond <br />Release SL-02 application. The estimate is a cost update of all remaining work (not included in the <br />SL-02 application) at the Yoast Mine. Based on this estimate, the new liability at the Yoast Mine is <br />$4,305,484.00. This new liability is $790,205.00 less than the current liability of $5,095,689.00 and <br />$894,516.00 less than the current bond held of $5,200,000.00. Based on this cost estimate review, <br />the Division can release $790,205.00 upon the approval of SL-02. <br />Although the Division will still hold an excess in bond of $104,311.00, this portion of the bond <br />cannot be released since SCC did not request a bond reduction in addition to the bond release in the <br />SL-02 application. The release amount ($790,205.00) is lower than that requested by SCC <br />($1,365,265.00) due to two factors, as detailed below. Based on the proposed release amount of <br />$790,205.00, the Division would be releasing 15.5% of the Yoast Mine's bond. This amount is well <br />below the allowable 60% for the successful completion of backfilling and grading and drainage <br />reestablishment. <br />The first reason the Division's release amount is lower than that request by SCC is that when the <br />Division determines a releasable amount for a bond release it calculates the cost, in current dollars, to <br />complete all remaining reclamation activities not covered in the bond release application, whether <br />they have been completed on the ground or not (such as road reclamation and topsoil replacement). <br />This recalculation led to cost increases in some areas of the bond. The largest of these increases was <br />in the revegetation costs, which increased from $807,151.00 (in the 2008 Midterm estimate) to <br />$1,025,567.00 in the current estimate. <br />17