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v <br />David Berry <br />Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety <br />1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 -2273 <br />RE: Colowyo Coal Mine (Permit No. C- 1981 -019) <br />Bond Release Application No. 5 (SL -5) <br />Dear Mr. Berry, <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING <br />Reclamation and Enforcement <br />Western Region Office OF� <br />1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 <br />Denver, CO 80202 -3050 <br />AUG 15 2012 RECEIVED <br />AUG 17 201 <br />Division of R& S smstion, <br />Mining <br />�IT <br />This letter acknowledges the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), Denver Field Division's (DFD) <br />receipt and review of the above Phase III Partial Bond Release Proposed Decision document <br />prepared by the Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS) dated July 26, 2012. The <br />inspection for this bond release was conducted on August 24, 2010. The DFD agrees with the <br />findings and decision document and hereby provides OSM concurrence for the above bond <br />release action in accordance with 30 CFR 740.15 (d) (3), and 30 CFR 906.30, Article IX, Section <br />24, of the State - Federal Cooperative Agreement. <br />DRMS's Proposed Decision documents the applicant's compliance with the Colorado approved <br />regulatory program at Rule 3.03 of the Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation <br />Board for Coal Mining, and DRMS's bond release guidelines dated April, 18, 1995. <br />By letter dated June 28, 2010 Colowyo Coal Company L.P., permittee for the Colowyo Coal <br />Mine, applied for Phase III bond release for approximately 987.32 acres in the East and West <br />Pits. The lands included in this SL -5 bond release request have been previously approved for <br />Phase I and II bond release with DRMS. These areas were sampled during 2007, 2008, and 2009 <br />to determine vegetation establishment success for the anticipated Phase III bond release. <br />However, as a result of the Phase III bond release inspection conducted on August 24, 2010, <br />DRMS identified several areas of concern that required resolution before a final decision could <br />be made on the proposed bond release. <br />To address the concerns of DRMS, Colowyo submitted a revised SL -5 application on February <br />22, 2011 that would exclude the Topsoil Stock Pile 15G (EP015) accounting for 3.1 acres, The <br />Streeter Gulch Ditch accounting for 2.6 acres and the Gulch A Ditch accounting for 2.1 acres. A <br />total 7.8 acres have been adjusted from the original 987.32 acres requested to 979.52 acres <br />(924.60 acres in the East Pit and 54.92 acres in the West Pit) for final bond release. <br />