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<br />4 <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING <br />Reclamation and Enforcement <br />Western Region Office <br />1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 <br />Denver, CO 80202-3050 <br /> <br />February, 7 2011 <br />Ms. Loretta Pineda, Director <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />RE: Proposed Decision to Approve Phase I Bond Release, Trapper Mine, <br />Permit No. C-81-010, Bond Release Application No. SL-11 <br />Dear Ms. Pineda: <br />W <br />?S <br />et- <br />REcE n <br />FEB 0 9 2011 <br />Division ©. <br />Mining and Safety <br />This letter acknowledges the Office of Surface Mining's (OSM) receipt and review of the subject <br />January 7, 2011, Proposed Decision for partial bond release on the above permit area which includes <br />Federal lands. OSM is in agreement with the Proposed Decision and hereby provides OSM concurrence <br />to release Phase I Bond in accordance with 30 CFR 906.30.24. <br />The Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) <br />conducted the Phase I Bond Release inspection required at Colorado Rule 3.03.2 (2) on April 20, 2010. <br />As a result of excessive rills and gullies in parcel F-AB-08, repair work was deemed necessary. The repair <br />work was completed in October 2010. The follow-up inspection was conducted on November 8, 2010. <br />DRMS's Proposed Decision documents the inspection findings and indicates that all required public <br />notices and surface landowner notifications were made in a timely manner prior to the inspection. The <br />ownership of the land for which bond release has been requested is private and state, and the coal <br />ownership was Federal and State. The OSM Denver Field Division (DFD) participated in the bond release <br />inspections noted above and inspection findings are documented in the OSM Mine-Site Evaluation <br />Inspection Reports dated April 20, 2010, and November 8, 2010. The United States Department of the <br />Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was notified of the inspection and attended the April 20th <br />inspection, but not the follow-up November 8th. BLM had received and reviewed DRMS's Proposed <br />Decision. DFD received BLM's concurrence letters on February 2, 2011(attached). No other Federal Land <br />Management Agencies are involved in this action. <br />No written objections or requests for an informal conference regarding the bond release application <br />have been received by DRMS. <br />DFD understands the release application applies to 57.8 reclaimed acres on bond release blocks F-AB-08 <br />and Z-A-08. DRMS holds a performance bond of $30,173,724.00 for the Trapper Mine permit. Trapper <br />Mining Inc. only requested a reduction of the reclamation liability. DRMS evaluated and updated the