2012-07-25_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981019

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owned and maintained by a third party (Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association), and that the third party has right-of-way along the corridor from the surface land owners. Colowyo provided this information with submittal of letters from Tri-State, Colorado State Land Board, and United States Bureau of Land Management. The documentation was incorporated into the Colowyo Coal Mine permit with the approval of Minor Revision No.103. Eight stock tanks have been approved to remain as permanent structures (Technical Revision No. 89) and are located in the northern portion of reclaimed East Pit area. All eight ponds received approvals from the Colorado State Engineer’s Office and surface landowners, and were demonstrated to be appropriately sized for anticipated precipitation events. Details regarding these permanent stock tanks can be found in Exhibit 7, Item 13 of the Colowyo Permit. Inclusion of this information into the Colowyo permit addresses Item no. 7 identified previously in section IV of this document. Summary and Conclusions The Division has completed its review and evaluation of the SL-05 Phase III Bond Release application submitted by Colowyo for the Colowyo Mine. The Division will propose a partial Phase III Bond Release on 979.52 acres. The Division is not proposing to release any post-mining drainage channels or ponds or other lands not specifically shown or described in this document. Based upon a review of the mine permit, the applicant's bond release application, and site inspections, the Division finds that Colowyo has completed backfilling, grading, drainage reestablishment, topsoil replacement, revegetation, borehole sealing and all other reclamation requirements for which Phase III Bond Release was requested in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. The reclaimed areas included within the reduced SL-05 bond release request of 979.52 acres have been restored to the approximate original contour of the pre-mining landscape. Slopes conform to post-mining contours as shown on the approved Post-mining Topography Map of the permit (Map 19) and appear to be stable. Proper blending of reclaimed areas with undisturbed slopes was achieved and reconstructed drainages, although not being released, are stabilized and in good condition. Topsoil has been replaced in accordance with the approved reclamation plan, the areas have been reseeded as required and the bond release areas have been reclaimed for a post-mining land-use of rangeland and wildlife habitat. Colowyo has successfully demonstrated that the cover, production, species diversity and woody plant density establishment on the Phase III Bond Release areas meets or exceeds the reclamation success standards on the reference areas. The Division finds that Colowyo has achieved the requirements for Phase III Bond Release on 979.52 acres at the Colowyo Mine. V. PROPOSED DECISION Based on the observations in Section IV above, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety proposes to partially approve Colowyo Coal Company, LP's request for a partial Phase III for the Colowyo Mine. This proposed decision will release the applicant from reclamation liability on 979.52 acres of the site, as shown on Exhibit 1 of the SL-05 application (revised February 22, Proposed Decision and Findings of Compliance 25 July 2012 Partial Phase III Bond Release Sl-05 Page 13