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Rule 3.03.1(2)(b) states, "Up to eighty -five percent of the applicable bond amount shall be released upon <br />the establishment of vegetation which supports the approved postmining land use and which meets the <br />approved success standard for cover... based on statistically valid data collected during a single year of <br />the liability period." In regard to Phase II bond release, Rule 3.03.1(3)(b) also states, "No more than 60 <br />percent of the bond shall be released so long as the lands to which the release would be applicable are <br />contributing suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area in excess of pre- mining <br />levels as determined by baseline data or in excess of levels determined on adjacent non -mined areas." <br />The approved reclamation plan is found in Section 2.05.4 of the permit application. The required topsoil <br />replacement thickness is two feet. The approved post- mining land use is rangeland. The Dugout Pond, <br />perimeter ditches, and Sediment Pond #2 have been approved to remain as permanent structures. <br />All parcels included in the SL -06 application have previously received Phase II bond release approval. <br />PHASE III <br />Rule 3.03.1(2)(c) states that the final portion of performance bond, "shall be released when the permittee <br />has successfully completed all surface coal mining reclamation operations in accordance with this <br />approved reclamation plan, and the final inspection procedures of 3.03.2 have been satisfied. This shall <br />not be before the expiration of the period specified for revegetation responsibility in 3.02.3." Rule <br />3.03.1(4) states, "No bond shall be fully released until all reclamation requirements of these Rules and <br />the Act are fully met..." The same rule goes on to state, "No acreage shall be released from the permit <br />area until all surface coal mining and reclamation operations on that acreage have been completed in <br />accordance with the approved reclamation plan." <br />The Keenesburg Strip Mine reclamation plan identifies the majority of the area that is proposed for <br />release by SL -06 (parcels 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, and 16) as having a postmining land use of rangeland. <br />One parcel, parcel 19, has been approved for a future land use of industrial /commercial, and it will <br />support gas well development including drilling pads, roads, and support facilities. <br />Approval of Phase III release is contingent upon revegetation success. The criteria for determining <br />success are discussed in Section 2.05.4 of the permit as well as in the following sections of these <br />findings of compliance. <br />III. OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS <br />Revegetation <br />Permit Page 2.05.4 -116b defines the required cover standard for the Keensburg Strip Mine. The permit <br />states, "Reclamation areas will be considered successfully reclaimed if the total vegetative cover on the <br />reclaimed area is not less than 90 percent of the predicted calculated cover value with 90 percent <br />Page 4 <br />