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were to be salvaged in one lift. Lower portions of the B horizon and portions of the C horizon were <br />to be segregated and replaced as subsoil in order to ensure soil productivity consistent with the <br />approved post- mining land use. <br />10.2 Prime Farmland Determination - 2008 <br />Early in 2008, the USDA NRCS provided the Division with updated information regarding the <br />subject of prime farmlands and the New Horizon Mine. In a letter written February 11, 2008 <br />(Attachment 2.04.9 -6), a Soil Scientist explained that the limiting pH of 7.4 found in the CIFI was <br />in error, and should have been 8.4. Additionally, the CIFI is now rendered obsolete and <br />determinations for Prime Farmland are based on the national criteria. The letter concludes that <br />both Darvey and Barx soils mapped in the 1998 IRI survey are considered Prime Farmland. <br />In a letter dated February 21, 2008, the Resource Conservationist from the Norwood office of the <br />NRCS provided a positive determination of prime farmland for approximately 3.5 acres of Begay <br />Fine Sandy Loam, 1 to 3 percent slopes (map unit 98A) on the WFC property in the far northwest <br />corner of the permit area. A smaller area of Begay (98A) soil on the Lloyd property was not <br />considered to be prime farmland. <br />The 1998 survey by IRI identified Darvey -Barx complex (98E) soils in three separate areas, as <br />shown on Map 2.04.9 -1: 1) approximately 5.8 acres straddling 2700 Road, immediately south of <br />Tuttle Draw; 2) approximately 17 acres on the Benson parcel north of BB Road and east of 2700 <br />Road; and 3) approximately 87 acres on the Morgan parcel south of BB Road and west of 2700 <br />Road. In a letter dated June 27, 2008 (Attachment 2.04.9 -6), the NRCS determined that the <br />smaller areas were not considered prime farmlands because historically, these areas were not <br />managed as cropland and lacked sufficient water for proper irrigation. The positive determination <br />for prime farmlands caused the Division to require WFC to immediately revise the permitto address <br />soil handling and management practices. This was accomplished with Technical Revision No. 57 <br />(TR -57). The revegetation standards for the prime farmlands are addressed in PR -6. <br />Revised September 2010 (PR 06) 2.04.9 -12 <br />