2011-01-27_REVISION - C1981019 (2)

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HISTORY January 20, 2011 James R. Stark Environmental Protection Specialist Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety Department of Natural Resources 1313 Sherman St., Room 215 Denver, Colorado 80203 ,ECEIVED IA?I 2 7 2011 Divis?u,? .;na*,ion, Mining and SafeW Re: Colowyo Coal Mine (Permit No. C-1981-019) Permit Revision Application No. 3 (PR-3) Update the Permit Boundary to Incorporate the Collom Pit Area (CHS #58689) Dear Mr. Stark: Thank you for your. correspondence dated December 27, 2010 (received by our office on December 28, 2010) and the documentation provided regarding the subject project. Thank you also for participating in a conference call with our office regarding the subject project on January 20, 2011 with other representatives from your office as well as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Little Snake Field Office. As the PR-3 project proposes to incorporate an additional 16,833.24 acres into the permit area (for a total permit area of 29,084.20 acres) and an additional 2,244.22 disturbed acres for the pit and associated facilities, and as there is Federal involvement in the subject permit revision (oversight by the Office of Surface Mining [OSM] and land ownership by the BLM) our office believes that consultation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) should be initiated. It is our understanding that Section 106 consultation has occurred for other past phases of work at the Colowyo Coal Mine and that cultural resource inventory has occurred in the vicinity. We also understand that there are a number of known historic properties (as defined at 36 CFR 800.16) within the vicinity. Based on our conversation in the conference call held on January 20, 2011, we believe that the first step is to identify who the lead Federal agency is for the purposes of Section 106 consultation. Once the lead Federal agency is identified, our office recommends that the lead agency immediately review the Section 106 Process at 36 CFR 800.3 through 36 CFR 800.8, which requires the following: Initiate the process • Determine the Undertaking THE COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY CIVIC CENTER PLAZA 1560 BROADWAY SUITE 400 DENVER COLORADO 80202 www.historycolorado.org