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L-itroduction <br />This document is the proposed decision of the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and <br />Safety (the Division) in response to a request for Phase H bond release at the Yoast Mine, Division <br />file number C- 1994 -082. This application is the third bond release application submitted by the <br />operator for the Yoast Mine, and has been identified as SL -3. This document contains four parts. <br />These include: 1) procedures and summary of the bond release process; 2) criteria and schedule for <br />bond release; 3) observations and findings of the Division regarding compliance with the bond <br />release requirements of the Colorado Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act and regulations <br />promulgated thereunder; and 4) the Division's proposed decision on the request for bond release. <br />Detailed information about the review process can be found in the Act and the Regulations of the <br />Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining. All Rules referenced within this <br />document are contained within the Regulations. Detailed information about the mining and <br />reclamation operations can be found in the permit application on file at the Division offices, located <br />at 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215, in Denver, Colorado. <br />The Yoast Mine is a surface mine which was permitted and operated by Seneca Coal Company, <br />LLC (SCC). SCC applied for Phase H Bond Release on 628.6 acres of reclaimed land, as shown on <br />Figure 1 of this document. The ownership of the land for which bond release has been requested is <br />under private, state, and federal ownership, and the coal ownership was also private, state, and <br />federal. Reclamation for which bond release has been requested, topsoil redistribution and <br />revegetation, was initiated as early as 2001 and completed in 2007. Mining at the Yoast Mine has <br />ceased, and nearly all reclamation activities are complete. Monitoring and maintenance is ongoing, <br />and more recently work has been underway on areas of the reclamation that were involved in <br />landslide activity in the spring of 2011 (near Pond 012, Pond 013, and the Neck Pit). <br />Yoast Mine C- 1994 -082 Page 2 of 17 Phase II Bond Release SL -3 <br />