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remainder of this document will address the effects of the depletions and other aspects of the Mine and Loadout Facility/ .`. <br />on the endangered Colorado River fishes. <br />Small Depletions under the Recovery Implementation Program for the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />A Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin was initiated on <br />January 22, 1988. The Recovery Program was intended to be the reasonable and prudent alternative to avoid jeopardy and <br />destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat to the endangered fishes caused by depletions from the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin. In order to further define and clarify the process of the Recovery Program, a section 7 agreement <br />was implemented on October 15, 1993, by the Recovery Program participants. Incorporated into this agreement is a <br />Recovery Implementation Program Recovery Action Plan which identifies actions currently believed to be required to <br />recover the endangered fishes in the most expeditious manner. <br />Included in the Recovery Program was the requirement that a depletion fee would be paid by water users to help support <br />the Recovery Program. On June 4, 2010, the Service amended an intra - Service Biological Opinion dated March 9, 1995 <br />( #ES- 6- RO -95 -F -001) determining that the depletion fee for depletions of 100 acre -feet or less are no longer required <br />because the Recovery Program has made sufficient progress toward recovery to serve as Conservation Measures (formally <br />reasonable and prudent altefh ryes) for new and historic - project depletions- of -I-00 acre- feet or_less. The_June 4, <br />intra - Service Biological Opinion added 4,500 acre -feet of water to the cumulative total of 7,500 acre -feet covered in the <br />previous June 27, 2002, small depletion intra- Service Biological Opinion that also amended the March 9, 1995, Biological <br />Opinion. Therefore, the cumulative total of small depletions covered by the 2010 intra - Service Biological Opinion is <br />12,000 acre -feet. The 2010 intra- Service Biological Opinion concluded that small water depletions, up to the additional <br />4,500 acre -feet, are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered fishes and are not likely to destroy <br />or adversely modify critical habitat. Therefore, the depletion fee for this project is waived and further consultation <br />regarding the proposed depletions is not required as these effects have been analyzed in the 2010 Biological Opinion as <br />amended to the original March 9, 1995, Biological Opinion ( #ES- 6- RO -95 -F -00 <br />Consultation History on the McClane Canyon Mine <br />In October 1985 and February 1986 a BA and a BA amendment were submitted by the Office of Surface Mining, <br />Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to allow the previous owner, Salt Creek Mining Company, to continue operating <br />the underground McClane Canyon Mine. In response to the BA, the Service issued a March 1986 biological opinion (BO) <br />(SE /SLC: 6- 5 -86 -F -003) for impacts to the endangered Colorado River fishes as a result of a 1.5 acre -foot depletion. In <br />March 1992 OSM submitted a BA to modify the mining plan and expand the water depletion to a total of 5 acre -feet. The <br />Service responded in April 1992 with BO #FWS /GJ- 6- CO -92 -F -00 In December 1999 OSM reported to the Service <br />that the Mine increased coal production resulting in an additional 0.9 acre -feet of depletion. The Service issued a tiered <br />BO #ES- 6- RO -95 -F- 001- GJ29 in which it was stated that depletions less than 100 acre -feet would no longer require a <br />depletion fee (citing a July 8, 1997, intra- Service BO that amended the original March 9, 1995, intra - Service BO). In <br />- - -December- 2001- OSM-infor-med- the= Servicethat _ coal_ production would increase from 500,000 tons to 1.7 million tons per <br />year resulting in a total of 7.49 acre -feet of water depletion. The Service then issued another tiered B0 6=R0= 95 =F <br />001-GJ316 in January 2002 to address the expansion of coal production. <br />On November 10, 2010, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (CDRMS) notified the Service that <br />the current Permit Revision application (PR -2), addressed in this consultation, was filed by CAM and they intend to <br />expand surface facilities and coal production to 500,000 tons. The Service responded to CDRMS on December 16, 2010, <br />and stated that the depletion of 7.49 acre -feet was already consulted on for the estimated 1.7 million tons per year of coal <br />production, as stated in the 2001 BA and 2002 tiered BO, but if the depletion amount increased OSM would need to <br />consult with the Service. Despite the 2001 BA evaluating the expansion of production from 500,000 tons per year to 1.7 <br />million tons per year actual coal production declined to about 280,000 tons per year. The Cameo Coal Plant was the <br />Mine's only customer and when the Cameo Coal Plant closed at the end of 2010, the Mine became idle. The Mine has <br />subsequently found new customers and, therefore, has submitted PR -2 to resume mining and expand facilities and <br />