2010-05-26_REVISION - C1981008 (2)

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C- 1981 -008 - SL -12 Preliminary Adequacy Review 26 May 2010 Page 2of7 application, with several omissions and inaccuracies. Please update the application to include /correct the following items (each of which the Division should have required, prior to calling the application complete): • Date of Request: (no date is shown, although the cover letter is dated August 7, 2009) • Date Permit was Issued: change "1981 " to "May 26,1983" • Mine Name: New Horizon Mine (delete " #2'9 • Phase of Bond Release Requested: this description is incomplete —please revise • Bond Company: please change to "Self- Bond" • Bond Number: please change to "SB -003" • Current Total Amount of Bond: please change to $5,042,302.00 • Original total amount of bond (for area requested for release): please provide your best estimate of this number • Dates reclamation work performed: there should be greater detail provided for this item, including years of final grading, topsoiling, and initial seeding. This information, available from the various Annual Reclamation Reports and previous bond release applications, should also be delineated on the maps. Please revise the text, tables and maps to incorporate appropriate reclamation details rather than general statements. • In accordance with the requirements of Section 3.03.2(1), notice of the application must also be provided to adjoining landowners of the Phase II and Phase III release areas and to sewage and water treatment authorities; water conservancy and water conservation districts. Phase H Bond Release Request WFC has requested Phase II release for 26.8 acres of irrigated pasture that were initially revegetated in 2000. The Division allows for Phase II bond release upon demonstration of successful vegetation cover establishment (of species supportive of the postmining land use), soil replacement in conformance with permit requirements, and demonstration that suspended solids contribution is not in excess of applicable criteria. Regulatory criteria are specified in Rule 3.03.1(2)(b) and 3.03.1(3)(b). Additional information to be provided in a Phase II bond release application is addressed in the Division's Guideline Regarding Selected Coal Mine Bond Release Issues. Based on review of the relevant sections of the SL -12 application, and in consideration of applicable regulatory requirements and guideline criteria, we have identified a number of concerns, as listed below. 2. There are discrepancies between the narrative in the SL -12 application and the information presented in the Bio -Logic Reports. On page 11 of the application, WFC states that the September 30, 2008 Phase 2 vegetation report prepared by BIO- Logic, Inc., included in Appendix B , demonstrates that "...both the Irrigated Pasture and Dryland Pasture areas meet the requirements of the above rule." This statement is erroneous; the cited report is limited to results of vegetation sampling for the "approximately 27 acres of Irrigated Pasture ".