2012-01-05_REVISION - C1980005 (8)

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described on pages 13 -13 -3 through 13 -13 -10 of Appendix 13 -13 of Tab 13. The cover standard for mine area reclamation will be based on adjusted weighted average reference area herbaceous cover from the mountain brush reference area and the sagebrush reference area. The reference areas will be added and the herbaceous cover value will be doubled to set the success standard. For the mine area vegetation this adjustment is deemed appropriate, because unadjusted reference area herbaceous cover in the mine area vegetation types would be insufficient to control erosion, and because use of total cover would result in a standard unlikely to be achieved for decades, given the dense canopy associated with late successional shrub communities in the mine area. Diversity in reclaimed areas will be based on a performance standard reflecting evaluation of monitoring data from reference areas and reclaimed areas collected since 1987. The proposed assessment of adequately diverse vegetational composition at the Seneca II Mine will take the form of the following four tests; success is demonstrated by passing at least two of the three Alternative Tests (B, C, or D) plus the Mandatory Test (A). Mandatory Test A: No Overwhelming Dominant No single plant species may exceed 60% relative cover. Alternative Test B: Total Species Density Test This overall reclamation diversity standard will be judged based on the species density values observed along with cover sampling in the 100 sq.m. sample plots. Species density numbers will be subject to sample adequacy assessment. Alternative Test C: Assessment of the Distribution of Species Abundance among Lifeforms in Comparison to the Reference Areas This standard uses the Motyka similarity index to assess the resemblance of the distribution of species density by lifeform of the reclamation vegetation to that of the Reference Areas. If the calculated index of similarity by lifeform equals or exceeds 90 percent of the standard, then Alternative Test C has been passed. Alternative Test D: Assessment of the Presence of Native Species This test is conducted as a direct test of the presence of native species in the reclaimed area by comparison of the cumulative list of species present in the reclamation cover sample locations to the average number of native species found in a sampled stand of the reference area. Details on all four tests are outlined in Appendix 13 -13 of Tab 13 of the permit application package. Grazing has been permitted on portions of the reclaimed Wadge mining area within the original mine area since 1986. The operator has been required to monitor annually the 26