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sediment ponds. In order to do this, a road crosses parcel A -B -00. During the bond release <br />inspection, the Division and OSM noted the need for an access corridor to the pond for pond <br />cleaning purposes. In order to accommodate this corridor, an additional 1.7 acres was <br />removed from the SL13 application. <br />III. APPROVAL CRITERIA FOR BOND RELEASE <br />Phase I Bond Release <br />Rule 3.03.1(2)(a) states, "Up to sixty percent of the applicable bond amount shall be released <br />when the permittee successfully completes backfilling, regrading, and drainage control in <br />accordance with the approved reclamation plan." All Lands requested in the current Phase III <br />bond release application; SL -13, have received Phase I bond release during SL -5 approval (June <br />11, 2004). <br />Phase II Bond Release <br />Rule 3.03.1(2)(b) states, "Up to eighty -five percent of the applicable bond amount shall be <br />released upon the establishment of vegetation which supports the approved postmining land <br />use and which meets the approved success standard for cover based on statistically valid data <br />collected during a single year of the liability period ". In regard to Phase II bond release, <br />Rule 3.03.2(3)(b) also states, "No more than (60) percent of the bond shall be released so <br />long as the lands to which the release would be applicable are contributing suspended solids <br />to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area in excess of premising levels as determined <br />by baseline data or in excess of levels determined on adjacent nonmined areas ". <br />The post mining land use for the land applicable to SL -13 is rangeland. There are three <br />different range communities that the reclaimed parcels are compared to. Range site C <br />standards apply to elevations below 6700 feet, range site B standards apply to elevations <br />above 6700 feet and below 7200 feet, and range site A standards apply to elevations greater <br />than 7200 feet (permit section 3.6.3.5). Contiguous areas of range site A and range site B <br />seeded in the same year and receive similar reclamation practices may be lumped together <br />into one range site AB parcel. Small isolated parcels of range site C parcels may be lumped <br />in a primarily range site A and/or B bond release block. When bond release blocks are <br />comprised of range site A,B and C areas, cover and production standards for range site A will <br />be applied to the block relative to demonstrating reclamation success (permit section 4.4.1.5). <br />The topsoil replacement depth requirements on rangeland is 12 inches plus or minus 2 inches <br />(permit page 4 -256). Trapper Mine verifies topsoil replacement thickness by scraper load <br />counts. Load counts for each reclamation parcel are included in the SL -06 bond release <br />application. <br />Trapper Mine provided an acceptable suspended solids demonstration during SL -06 to <br />demonstrate that the reclaimed areas did not contribute suspended solids to stream flow or <br />runoff outside the permit area in excess of pre - mining levels. Drainages and sedimentation <br />ponds located within and down slope of the bond release block were not included in SL -06 <br />bond release applications. Portions of No Name, East Pyeatt, Grouse, Sage, Oak, West <br />Trapper Mine <br />Phase Ill Bond Release (SL -13) <br />Page 5 March 27, 2012 <br />