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The climate in the region is semi-arid. Prevailing winds at or near ground level at the mine are <br />dictated by the orientation of the deeply incised McClane Canyon. The annual average <br />precipitation within the permit area increases with elevation from approximately 10 inches along <br />East Salt Creek, up to 15" on the ridges above 7000 feet. <br />Soils in the permit area are well drained to excessively well drained and have formed in alluvial or <br />colluvial sediments. Soils are deepest in the valley bottoms and become shallower along the <br />canyon sideslopes where they intersperse with bare rock. Most of the soils are rated fair to good as <br />sources of topsoil for reclamation. Limitations exist for subsoils in the alluvial deposits along <br />valley bottoms due to high sodium content. <br />Vegetation types within and adjacent to the permit area are broadly classified as lower montane. <br />Three primary vegetation types occur in the permit and adjacent area. A greasewood shrubland <br />type occupies the flat terrain along the East Salt Creek drainage where soils are deep, well drained <br />and often very sodic and moderately saline. Shadscale shrubland borders the greasewood <br />shrubland along the dry, steep, south facing slopes in the shallower soils which are interspersed <br />with rock outcrops. Juniper woodland is found along the ridge tops and steep north and west <br />facing slopes of shallow soils and rock outcrops. These vegetation types are common to western <br />Colorado and Utah. <br />Current and historical land use within the permit area is livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. <br />Cattle are run seasonally within the rangelands and grazeable woodlands. <br />Description of the Operation and Reclamation Plans <br />The McClane Canyon Mine is currently an inactive underground coal mining operation. As <br />previously described, on February 15, 2011 the Division received notification from McClane <br />Canyon Mining, LLC that the McClane Canyon Mine is in temporary cessation and will likely <br />remain in that status for a year or more. <br />The permit area encompasses"2,560.5 acres, of which approximately 1,903.1 acres are projected <br />to be affected by mining, under the current mining plan. Permitted surface disturbance is 17.65 <br />acres. Existing facilities consist of a portal bench and coal handling/stockpile area; an access/haul <br />road approximately %2 mile in length leading from State Highway 139 up to the portal area; an <br />office trailer, bathhouse and parking area on the East Salt Creek valley floor; and topsoil and <br />construction material stockpiles, temporary waste storage pile, a supply storage area and sediment <br />pond mid-way between the office area and the portal bench area. The two-level portal bench area <br />includes a mine conveyor to a portal- mouth screen and crusher, which feeds product coal onto a <br />stacker conveyor. Coal is stockpiled on the lower level bench and loaded into trucks for transport <br />to market. Facilities on the upper level mine bench include four portal entries, including the fan <br />portal and conveyor portal, water and fuel tanks, support trailers, a shop, a transformer and <br />substation, ventilation fan, and rock dust bin. Disturbed areas include ditches and culverts for <br />drainage and sediment control. A sediment cleanout stockpile is located adjacent to the sediment <br />pond, and several small temporary coal waste storage piles are approved in the vicinity of the <br />product coal stockpile. Material from these temporary stockpiles was periodically hauled to an <br />approved permanent coal waste disposal site in the adjacent Munger Canyon Mine permit area. <br />The waste disposal site at the Munger Canyon Mine is now closed and fully reclaimed. The final <br />8