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A summary of the soil resource is found in the Summary section of this document, Description <br />of the Environment. Detailed information is presented in Section 2.04.9 and Exhibit 9 of the <br />original permit volumes for the original permit area, while detailed soil description information <br />for the PR -03 Collom expansion area is contained in Section 2.04.9 of Volume 15 and Exhibit 9 <br />Item 8 of Volume 19. Baseline information presented in the application for the Collom <br />expansion area is drawn largely from a 2006 baseline survey. The Collom expansion area <br />contains deep soils in mostly moderately sloping locations on the benches and drainages, shallow <br />soils on the steep slopes at the north end of the proposed disturbance area, and very deep soils on <br />the steep slopes at the southern end of the proposed disturbance area. The primary limitation of <br />the soils is a high percentage of clay, with a high percentage of coarse fragments and occasional <br />shallow depth to bedrock restricting potential salvage depth. Soils in the north end of Collom <br />expansion area tend to be frigid and aridic, while soils identified in the southern end of the <br />expansion area are cryic and ustic. <br />Salvageable thickness of soils in the northern portion of the Collom expansion area averages <br />from two feet or more. <br />B. Topsoil Salvage Operations <br />Information on topsoil salvage methods is found on pages 2.04.9 -16, 2.05 -2, 2.05 -4 and -5, 2.05- <br />24 through 2.05 -27 and 4.06 -1 through 4.06 -3 of the PAP original volumes. Additional <br />information can be found in Exhibit 9 and Maps 5 and 6 of the PAP original volumes. <br />Information specifically pertinent to proposed Collom expansion topsoil salvage operations is <br />presented in Rule 2, pages 49 -56 of Volume 15, as well as Section 4.06 of Volume 15, Exhibit 9 <br />of Volume 19, and Maps 5D of Volume 22. <br />Topsoil will be removed during the late spring to fall, ahead of pit advance. Vegetation, with the <br />exception of large trees, will be removed and redistributed with the topsoil. Topsoil will be <br />removed to topsoil stockpiles or, where possible, applied directly to regraded spoil. Within the <br />Collom expansion area, most topsoil will be placed in stockpiles, as the nature of the operation <br />will generally not allow for direct replacement. <br />Colowyo committed itself in 1981, in its original permit application, to include information in its <br />annual reclamation reports to verify that enough topsoil was being salvaged to replace a <br />sufficient amount of soil on regraded areas. This information was reported until 1986. The <br />Division in 1987 suspended this monitoring requirement, as the data indicated that sufficient <br />topsoil would be available to meet reclamation needs throughout the life of the mine. The <br />Annual Topsoil Balance inventory and reporting requirement was reinitiated in association with <br />TR -62, and reporting resumed with submittal of the 2005 Annual Reclamation Report. The <br />resumption of the annual reporting requirement was largely due to the fact that Colowyo became <br />aware, based on soil balance assessment in 2005, that there was insufficient topsoil in stockpile <br />to meet the 18" average replacement thickness requirement for disturbed areas that had not yet <br />Colowyo Coal Mine C1981 -019 PR -03 51 April 10, 2013 <br />