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SCC amended and clarified requests for a variance in contemporaneous reclamation <br />under 4.14.1(1)(c), applicable to specified areas of the A Pit within the original permit <br />area, and portions of the Wadge South Pits and Wolf Creek/Sage Creek Pits within the <br />South Extension Area. As previously noted, rough backfilling and grading had been <br />completed as of October 2004 throughout the original permit area, with the exception of a <br />300 foot segment of the Wadge "ridgeline pit" at the extreme south end of the original <br />permit area. In accordance with variance approvals granted under PR -3 and subsequent <br />TR -46, the backfilling deadline for the "ridgeline pit" was set at December 31, 2004. <br />In the PR -4 application, the applicant proposed extensive modification of backfilling and <br />grading schedules. The modified schedule included an amended request for a variance <br />from the 180 day backfilling and grading requirement of 4.14.l(1)(c). The variance <br />request applied to the 1600' Wadge "ridgeline pit" within the extreme southern portion of <br />the original permit area and northern portion of the south extension area. In addition, the <br />variance request applied to extensive segments of the Wadge final pits and associated <br />spoils extending through much of the length of the south extension area. The highwall <br />mining and subsequent pit backfilling proposed within PR -4 could not be completed along <br />the length of the final Wadge pits, without approval of a variance from the 180 day time <br />frame for rough backfilling and grading following surface extraction. <br />Rule 4.14.1(1)(c) states that: <br />Rough backfilling and grading shall be completed within 180 days following coal <br />removal and shall not be more than four spoil ridges behind the pit being worked, <br />the spoil from the active pit being considered the first ridge. The Division may <br />grant additional time for rough backfilling and grading if the permittee can <br />demonstrate, through a detailed written analysis under 2.05.4(2) (c), that additional <br />time is necessary. <br />PR -4 amendments identified specific dragline final pit locations for which a variance <br />from the 4.14.l(1)(c) backfilling timeframe requirement was requested, in order to <br />accommodate highwall miner operations. The locations included 1600 feet of the Wadge <br />"ridgeline pit" to be completed by the end of 2005, and specified segments of existing <br />and future final Wadge Pits in the south extension area to be completed in 2006 and <br />2007. The total length of final highwall to which the variance applied was 9,200 feet. <br />Based on the justification provided in PR -4 amended narrative, and the detailed <br />timeframe commitments included in the narrative and amended Exhibit 19 -1A, the <br />Division approved the requested variances from the 180 day rough backfilling and <br />grading requirement of 4.14.l(1)(c). The variances applied to the variance request areas <br />described and depicted in amended Tab 19 narrative and amended Exhibit 19 -1A. With <br />the approval of PR -4, the "end of 2004" deadline for the "ridgeline pit" approved in <br />2004, no longer applied. The variance applied solely to the timing of backfilling and <br />grading, and did not allow for more than four spoil ridges behind the pit being worked. <br />Seneca II -W Findings Document 46 C- 1982 -057 <br />Permit Revision No. 6 January 6, 2012 <br />