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In the Legislative History for the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (Public Law
<br />95-87, the enabling and controlling legislation for the Colorado Surface Coal Mining
<br />Reclamation Act), Congress described the elements and necessity of revegetation (page 106);
<br />"Revegetation of mined areas is an essential aspect of the reclamation
<br />process since it assures: 1) The surface stability and erosion control of the
<br />regraded areas; 2) appropriate water retention desirable on the mine site;
<br />3) the long range productivity of the land; 4) the diversity of species capable
<br />of sustaining pre-mining land uses, and S) aesthetic value. "
<br />From this legislative statement of intent were developed the regulatory criteria for
<br />revegetation success at coal mining sites; vegetation cover, vegetation production, species
<br />diversity (composition), and woody plant density. Vegetation cover was selected by plant
<br />scientists and regulators as the indicator of success to fulfill requirements 1) and 2) expressed
<br />in the legislative intent. Vegetation cover is a measure of the cover intercepted by a raindrop
<br />falling to earth and therefore, a direct measure of the potential for erosion on a given
<br />landscape surface (SCS Agronomy Note #50, Barfield, Warner and Hahn, 1981). The
<br />singular most important purpose of measuring vegetation cover during reclamation of
<br />disturbed lands is to evaluate the potential for erosion, all vegetation should be considered in
<br />any evaluation of revegetation success. As erosion and sedimentologists note, the
<br />significance in vegetation cover is related to a) the density of the vegetation, and b) the
<br />structure or character (physiogmomy) of the vegetation; with dense grass vegetation being
<br />more effective than shrubs, being more effective than trees, and so on.
<br />. For the above reasons, when collecting vegetation data for evaluation of revegetation success,
<br />all live vegetation is sampled and considered (dead vegetation or litter is given consideration
<br />in any sedimentology evaluation). There is no distinction made as to the utility (grass, shrub,
<br />tree, cactus, forb), value (edible or poisonous), origin (native or introduced), or classification
<br />(desirable or noxious) of the vegetation. Judgments on these characters are separately
<br />evaluated in the vegetation success criteria for productivity, species composition, and woody
<br />plant density.
<br />The applicant was presented with the introduction of an alternate view and another criterion
<br />that selectively removes plant species from consideration under the vegetation cover
<br />sampling analysis based on their value and/or origin (SL-05). It is our contention that this is
<br />a significant and unjustified modification of the legislative intent described above, and of the
<br />subsequently promulgated regulations.
<br />In the Division's Phase II Bond Release; Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance for
<br />the Keenesburg Strip Mine SL-05 (permit Number C-1981-028), it was stated in Section III
<br />Observations and Findings;
<br />"CEC reported in the 2009 vegetation sampling report that the overall
<br />vegetation cover for reclaimed areas seeded in 1998, 1999, and 2000
<br />(reclamation areas 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16 and 19) was 60.96% live vegetation
<br />cover. However, per Rule 4.15.1(2) and the Division's 1995 Bond Release
<br />Guidelines, noxious weed species cannot contribute to reclamation success.
<br />Coors Energy Company Keenesburg Mine Page 6
<br />Phase III Bond Release: Areas 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16,19
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