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L PROCEDURES AND SUMMARY OF THE INCREASE PROCESS <br />The Division has initiated this surety increase in order to ensure compliance with Rule <br />3.02.1, which requires a performance bond for all requirements of the Act, Rules, and the <br />approved reclamation plan. Rule 3.02.1(3) requires the performance bond to cover land <br />within the permit area upon which surface coal mining and reclamation operations are to be <br />initiated and conducted, and Rule 3.02.1(4) states that liability of the performance bond shall <br />continue until the entire reclamation plan has been completed. <br />Rule 3.02.2(4) requires the Division to adjust the required performance bond as affected <br />land acreages are increased or decreased or when the cost of future reclamation changes. <br />Procedures for adjustment of the required performance bond include: <br />(a) Notification of the permittee of any proposed bond adjustment, providing the <br />permittee with an opportunity for an informal conference on the adjustment; <br />(b) Issuance of a written proposed decision by the Division to adjust the bond <br />amount, publication of notice of the proposed decision in a newspaper of general <br />circulation in the locality of the mining operation once a week for two weeks <br />following issuance of the decision, and notification of the permittee, the surety <br />and any person with a property interest in the collateral who has requested <br />notification; and <br />(c) An opportunity for a formal hearing pursuant to Rule 2.07.4(3); <br />Rule 3.03.1(2)(a) allows for up to sixty percent of the applicable bond amount to be <br />released upon successful completion of backfilling, regrading, and drainage control in <br />accordance with the approved reclamation plan (also known as Phase I Bond Release). <br />H. OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS <br />Reclamation of the Yoast Mine was ongoing between 1997 and 2011, beginning in the North Pit <br />area and ending in the South Pit area. As previously mentioned, the Division has approved Phase I <br />bond release on the majority of the permit area. SL -1 was approved 2007, and SL -2 was approved <br />in 2010. In May of 2011, following an unusually high snowpack and wet spring, landslides <br />occurred in several areas within the permit boundary and within areas previously released from <br />Phase I liability. Most of the instability was limited in extent, with three exceptions. <br />Movement reoccurred in the Pond 012 slide area, where major landslides had happened on three <br />previous occasions dating back to 2006. Minor slumps and sloughing had been ongoing through <br />2010. Prior to the additional movement that occurred in the spring of 2011, SCC had initiated the <br />regrading and drainage installation portion of the approved slide remediation plan (Technical <br />Revision 46). The 2011 slide areas were regraded when implementation of the plan was completed <br />in the fall of 2011. SCC applied for Phase I bond release on this area with their SL -4 application, <br />but the Division proposed to deny bond release on this area until it had remained stable through at <br />