2012-01-27_REVISION - C1981010 (6)

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4.4.1.5 Bond Release Area Delineation Bond release will be accomplished on particular areas of reclamation by means of bond release blocks. Bond release blocks will consist of one or more reclamation parcels which comprise the area of land for which a single bond release application is made. Reclamation parcels will be delineated as more or less contiguous areas of uniform land use that were graded and /or seeded during the same year, with generally the same reclamation practices. When a bond release block consists of one or more reclamation parcels, the parcels must together comprise or be contained within a single logical land management unit. As used here, logical land management units are defined and discussed in CDMG's GUIDELINE REGARDING SELECTED COAL MINE BOND RELEASE ISSUES, dated April 18, 1995. Bond release blocks for range site C reclaimed areas will always be comprised solely of range site C reclamation parcels except as noted below. Conversely, because of the similarity of their post- mining land uses, parcels from range sites A and B may be lumped together to form an individual bond release block. Moreover, contiguous areas of range sites A and B that were seeded in the same year and received similar reclamation practices will in many situations be considered a single reclamation parcel. When bond release blocks are comprised of both range site A and range site B reclaimed areas, cover and production standards for range site A will be applied to the block relative to demonstrating reclamation success. Range site A standards will be applied because they are more stringent than range site B standards (Sections 4.4.1.1 and 4.4.1.2). An exception to segregated bond release blocks for range site C may occur when small parcels of range site C exhibit characteristics and uses consistent with adjoining A/B parcels. This will allow lumping small isolated parcels of range site C with larger range site A/B parcels to develop more logical land management units during bond release delineation. This practice shall only be used as required to release small isolated C parcels. When small, isolated C parcels are included in a predominantly A/B block performance standards for range site A and /or B, as applicable, will be used on the entire block. 4.4.1.6 Vegetation Sampling Methodologies for Determining Reclamation Success Success standards for cover, production, stem density and species diversity are reported in sections 4.4.1.1, 4.4.1.2, 4.4.1.3, and 4.4.1.4, respectively. Section 4.4.1.5 describes how bond release areas will be delineated. This section describes how statistically valid field sampling will be accomplished in order to determine success of vegetation establishment against bond release standards. For bond release purposes, vegetation sampling methodologies proposed for determining successful reclamation generally follow the requirements of Rule 4.15.8 and CDMG's GUIDELINE REGARDING SELECTED COAL MINE BOND RELEASE ISSUES, dated April 18, 1995. Vegetation sampling designs at Trapper will generally utilize a simple random sampling approach within bond release blocks. (Trapper does, however, reserve the right to use other design approaches approved by CDMG as conditions may require.) Sampling locations will generally be established through the use of random point selection. A sample point will be considered that location in the bond release study area where cover, production and /or stem density measurements for a sample are taken. Cover, production and stem density data will typically all be collected at the same random sample point locations, but depending on sample size and other considerations, data for these different parameters may be collected at separate random locations. 4 -122 Revision: MR219 Approved: 27, 2012