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on November 25, 2002. Adequacy issues were resolved on March 21, 2003 and the permit <br />renewal proposed decision was issued on March 25, 2003. <br />The Division's Midterm Permit Review No. 5 (MT-5) was provided to WFC on November 23, <br />2005. The Division requested that WFC submit a technical revision addressing various adequacy <br />concerns by January 31, 2006. WFC prepared Technical Revision No. 54 (TR-54) to address the <br />Midterm Review comments, which was received by the Division on April 10, 2006. TR-54 was <br />approved on July 30, 2007 and the existing permit document was substantially updated to <br />include seven volumes of permit application materials. The permit now combines New Horizon <br />Mine 1 site information with New Horizon Mine 2 into one document. <br />In the course of conducting the Midterm Review (MT-5), the Division also reviewed the <br />revegetation plan information contained within the permit and identified a number of concerns. <br />Vn December /I 2VV5, the Dlvlslol for YV Ulksp d ali Lidk&v11dum io iiie ??ildt°IIII I °v VI°v v? tv ITI %i <br />with revegetation plan comments. Issues of concern focused on: proper land use, vegetation, <br />and crop type designations; terminology in the permit application that was unclear or internally <br />inconsistent; mapped designations that differed from narrative descriptions; and details regarding <br />revegetation methods, success criteria and demonstration methods for various postmining land <br />use categories. Questions were raised regarding WFC's plan to irrigate more land post-mining <br />than had been irrigated pre-mining. The Division questioned whether that was feasible and <br />whether the water rights were available to irrigate all the lands WFC proposed for irrigation in <br />the reclamation plan. Additionally, difficulties with reclamation success had been observed on <br />the Rice tract (New Horizon Mine 1). These issues were addressed in Division correspondence <br />to WFC dated December 23, 2005, November 6, 2006, December 7, 2007 and January 14, 2008. <br />To address these outstanding issues, the Division had requested that WFC submit a permit <br />revision. <br />An application for TR-55 was submitted by WFC on November 17, 2007. The revision would <br />have incorporated a new irrigated pasture reference area, but also included various other <br />proposed changes to the revegetation and postmining land use plan that generated substantial <br />concern and comment from area landowners. In February 2008, WFC chose to withdraw the <br />technical revision, in order to address the various concerns in a more comprehensive revision to <br />be submitted at a later date. <br />Furthermore, in February 2008, a positive determination for the presence of prime farmlands <br />within the permit area was made. This determination applied to 107.96 acres of land owned by <br />the Morgan family south of BB Road and west of 2700 Road (permitted in PR-05) and was <br />based on information provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (MRCS) in <br />correspondence dated February 11, 2008. The NRCS correspondence revealed that the Division <br />had relied on outdated information for negative prime farmland determination in PR-05 and RN- <br />04. Additional history regarding Prime Farmland Determinations at the New Horizon Mine is <br />provided in Section III. El, below. <br />WFC submitted an application for TR-57 on March 28, 2008, in response to the Division's <br />request to immediately address handling and storage of prime farmland soils found to exist <br />within the permit area. The proposed decision to approve this revision was issued on March 4, <br />5