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SECTION 2.06.8 <br />SURFACE COAL MING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS ON AREAS, OR <br />ADJACENT TO AREAS, INCLUDING ALLUVIAL VALLEY FLOORS <br />Introduction <br />Subsequent to the passage of the federally enacted Surface Mining Reclamation and Control <br />Act of 1977 (SMCRA) and the corresponding Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land <br />Reclamation Board for Coal Mining, initially issued in August 1980, wherein the coal mining <br />operators were first required to address the issue of alluvial valley floors (AVF) in connection <br />with all coal mining permits, all investigations at the original Nucla Strip operated by PCC, <br />including the NH1 Mine area, which was permitted in 1981 have addressed the AVF question. <br />In addition, all subsequent permit renewals filed by WFC since they acquired the property in <br />1992 have addressed this issue. <br />As recorded in Appendix 7.7 of the original NH1 Permit Application, submitted on 30 October <br />1981, and a corresponding preliminary investigation conducted by the Environmental Protection <br />Agency entitled "Subirrigated Alluvial Valley Floors: A Reconnaissance of Their Properties and <br />Occurrence on Coal Resource Lands in the Interior Western United States" determined that <br />there were no alluvial valley floors within 1 96 miles of the then existent Nucla Strip Mine. <br />In all subsequent mine permitting findings documents and mid -term permit reviews conducted <br />by the DRMS since that time, they have concluded that there are no alluvial valley floors within <br />the immediate vicinity of the existing New Horizon Mine, which includes the proposed North <br />Mine area and that the closest alluvial valley floors to the area are found approximately three and <br />one half miles to the west in the floodplain of the San Miguel River. Given the distance involved <br />between the probable occurrence of known alluvial valley floors and the proposed New Horizon <br />North Mine area, WFC requests that the DRMS, reconfirm the negative presence of alluvial <br />valley floors in this proposed mine area. <br />Section 2.06.8 Page 1 April 2011 <br />