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C- 1981 -022 <br />PR -7 Findings <br />October 4, 2012 <br />subsequently submitted an application for permit renewal, which was received by the Division <br />on March 20, 2008. On March 24, 2008, the Division determined the application to be Complete <br />for purposes of filing, and mailed Completeness letters to various federal, state and local <br />agencies. The public notice announcing the completeness of the permit renewal application was <br />published in the Delta County Independent for four consecutive weeks beginning March 26 and <br />ending April 16, 2008. No comments were received by the Division concerning the renewal. <br />The Applicant Violator System (AVS) was queried for any non - compliance issues relating to <br />OMLLC. On December 16, 2008, the AVS gave an "issue" recommendation. <br />On July 28, 2011, OMLLC submitted an application for Permit Revision No. 6 (PR -6), which <br />was deemed complete on August 8, 2011. A preliminary adequacy letter was sent to OMLLC on <br />October 7, 2011. In the PR -6 application, OMLLC proposed mining in Federal Coal Lease <br />Modification COC -61357 Tract 5 and the new Elk Creek East Federal coal lease COC -70615 <br />although Oxbow did not have approval for either lease area. Because of delays in obtaining the <br />Elk Creek East lease, OMLLC withdrew mining in that area from the PR -6 application. <br />However, the permit boundary was increased by 2,247.4 acres which incorporated the lands <br />within both proposed lease areas. <br />The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison (GMUG) prepared an Environmental <br />Assessment (EA) of the lease modification to COC -61357 Tract 5 (USFS EA 2011) pursuant to <br />the National Environmental Policy Act to analyze surface impacts related to the coal lease <br />modification and came to a finding of No Significant Impact. On August 3, 2011, the GMUG <br />prepared a Record of Decision Record providing consent to the BLM lease modification. <br />Wild Earth Guardians filed a Notice of Appeal (NOA) to the USFS decision on September 26, <br />2011. On November 7, 2011, a USFS Appeal Deciding Officer supported the Forest <br />Supervisor's decision and approved the lease modification. OMLLC received the modified lease <br />and right of entry from the BLM on May 7, 2012. <br />OMLLC submitted an application for Permit Revision No. 7 (PR -7) on May 29, 2012 which was <br />deemed complete on June 6, 2012. In PR -7, OMLCC proposed to incorporate the Elk Creek <br />East coal lease COC -70615 and mining in the new lease area. BLM issued the lease on July 1, <br />2012. PR -7 does not propose any changes to the permit boundary. The land area which includes <br />Federal Coal Lease COC -70615 was incorporated into the permit during PR -6 in anticipation of <br />its approval. Notice of PR -7 was published in the Delta County Independent on June 13, 20, 27 <br />and July 4, 2012. No public comments were received on the proposed revision. A September 7, <br />2012 letter from the State Historic Preservation Officer made a finding of no historic properties <br />affected for the proposed revision. <br />Description of the Environment <br />The surface land within the permit area is 15,676.51 acres of which 5,551 acres are privately - <br />owned land and 10,125.51 acres are federally owned lands (USFS and BLM). The coal reserve <br />owners include Oxbow Mining, LLC, other private entities and the U.S. Bureau of Land <br />8 <br />