2010-07-19_REPORT - C1980006

• Permit No: C1980006
• IBM Index Class Name: REPORT
• Doc Date: 7/19/2010
• Doc Name: 2009 Reveg Report Review
• From: DRMS
• To: Kerr Coal Company
• Permit Index Doc Type: Reveg Monitoring Report
• Email Name: RDZ
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• Rule 4.15.8(5): "The permittee shall be required to demonstrate, using techniques approved by the Division,
that adequate species diversity has been achieved on the revegetated area. Such techniques may include, but
not be limited to, diversity indices and/or comparisons of species composition (based on cover or production)
between the reclaimed area and the undisturbed vegetation. "
Should KCC choose to request a change to the diversity standard for the 1999 reclaimed area at the mine, KCC will need
to document which comparison they propose:
• Reference areas per Rule 4.15.7(2)(d)(i) or
• Pre-mining data per Rule 4.15.7(2)(d)(iii).
The Division would like to clarify several comments found in the report that do not agree with the state regulations,
guidelines and policy.
Clarification on Plant Cover Standard
On page 3 of the 2009 Revegetation Monitoring report, IME states, "the plant cover standard at the Marr Mine is based on
total cover standard, which means that all plant cover including annual and biennial plants and listed noxious weeds are
sampled and counted toward the cover standard." However, this statement is not in accordance with the following text on
page 11 of the Division's published document "Guideline Regarding Selected Coal Mine Bond Release Issues" (April
1995):
Regarding noxious weeds, "Under no condition will noxious weeds count toward the success standard."
Regarding annual and biennial plant species, "The allowable relative cover and production contribution of
annual and biennial species should not exceed 10 percent, or the relative cover and production of such species in
the associated reference area or standard, whichever is higher. Annual or biennial cover or production in excess
of the threshold should be deleted from the reclaimed area data prior to success comparison. "
The Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining contains rules that further illustrate the
Division's position. Rule 4.15.8(2) states that vegetation on the reclaimed area shall "consist of species that support the
post-mining land-use." The Division does not accept the notion that listed noxious weed species support the approved
post-mining land use of rangeland and wildlife habitat. Noxious weeds species on either the State of Colorado list or the
Jackson County list do not count toward the reclamation success standard. Rule 4.15.8(6) requires that "the vegetation on
the reclaimed surface consists of a mixture of the species of the same seasonal variety native to the area of disturbed land,
or of species that support the postmining land use. "
It should be noted that all vegetation (including noxious weeds, annual plants, and biennial plants) should be sampled,
despite how it is counted (or not counted) in relation to the plant cover standard.
Clarification on the Reference Area Comparison
Page 3 of the 2009 Revegetation Monitoring report states that "since a comparison of the pre-mining map documents that
all of the area associated with the 1999 reclamation block is associated with the alkali sagebrush vegetation type, approval
was obtained from the Division to sample only the alkali sagebrush reference area and use these data as the revegetation
standard." However, later in the report (page 13) the operator wishes to apply the `weighted average" approach to species
diversity. The Division will not accept this approach to determining compliance with reclamation success standards.
Choosing to compare the 1999 reclaimed parcel to the alkali sagebrush reference area for cover and production, but
applying a weighted reference standard to the same reclaimed area for the diversity standard is neither acceptable nor
appropriate.
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