2011-12-06_REVISION - C1981019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'Walsh Environmental Scientists and Engineers, LLC • Posting in the public reading rooms of appropriate BLM and other offices • Mailing to the Federal Attorney General's office The State Director will appoint a "coal lease sale panel," generally consisting of at least four BLM professionals, including: • The Deputy State Director for Mineral Resources • A mining engineer • A geologist • A mineral economist Once the coal lease sale has been held, qualified bids will be evaluated and ranked by the panel, which will recommend acceptance of one bid or rejection of all bids to the State Director. The successful bidder will be notified of the pending lease award and any additional requirements and will be requested to submit such information for review by the Attorney General of the United States. Following that review, lease documents will be transmitted by the BLM State Office to the successful bidder for signature and submittal of the lease bond by the Lessor. The State Director will then accept the lease bond and approve the lease issuance, distributing copies of the entire DR to the Little Snake Field Office, the OSM, and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) for appropriate administration actions over the life span of the lease. 1.4.2 Office of Surface Mining The OSM has jurisdiction over any mining plan application resulting from the BLM decision to issue a federal coal lease. The SMCRA empowers the OSM with primary responsibility to administer programs that regulate surface coal mining operations and the surface effects of underground coal mining operations in the United States. Pursuant to Section 503 of SMCRA, a permanent program developed by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division of Minerals and Geology (CDMG), has been approved by the Secretary of the Interior to regulate coal mining operations on non - federal lands within the State of Colorado. In September 1982, pursuant to Section 523(c) of SMCRA, CDMG entered into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Interior empowering CDMG to regulate all coal mining operations on federal lands within the State of Colorado (Federal Register Cite: 47FR44207). In accordance with the OSM -CDMG cooperative agreement, federal coal lease holders in the State of Colorado must submit mining permit applications to CDMG prior to undertaking any mining or reclamation operations on federal lands. CDMG reviews applications to ensure compliance with permit application requirements and performance standards established in the approved permanent program. The OSM, BLM, and other federal agencies review the permit application package to ensure that it complies with the terms of the coal lease, the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) of 1920, the NEPA of 1969, the SMCRA of 1977 and other federal laws and their attendant P PEWEE FSdblonco.bIKSF -A Final ULM- %- E: \Cullum of 06 J.x 4