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NOTES ON THE COMPARISON OF DATA TO APPLICABLE REFERENCE AREA STANDARDS <br />Upon the formal comparison of cover data from reclaimed areas to applicable performance <br />standards, observed total first -hit herbaceous cover percentage must be adjusted for excessive <br />contribution by annual / biennial species (CDMG 1995, Guidelines Regarding Selected Coal Mine <br />Bond Release Issues, 1 (IV)A(4)) Herbaceous cover values used in such comparisons also must <br />exclude values for species present on the Routt County Prohibited or Restricted Noxious list or <br />that are listed as noxious by the State of Colorado (Colorado Dept. of Agriculture, Division of <br />Plant Industry, Title 35, Article 5.5, 101 -119, Lists A and B of Rules as replaced 2003). <br />For purposes of assessment of reclamation adequacy at the Seneca IIW Mine, all -hit herbaceous <br />cover data from reference area sampling used as per Seneca IIW Mine permit provisions <br />It is also to be noted that the data from the five reference areas are weighted in accordance with <br />the original relative abundance of the types in the pre - mining landscape. It was necessary to <br />sample each to adequacy (see below) but in the process of weighting, a reliable estimate of <br />variance is lost. Thus the reference area standard is thereafter in the process treated as a <br />technical standard (i.e. without confidence limits) and one - sample t- testing is used <br />HYPOTHESIS TESTING APPROACHES <br />Percent absolute (foliar) first hit herbaceous vegetation cover of the Phase II Bond Release Area <br />90% of the weighted absolute foliar all- hit herbaceous vegetation cover from the reference <br />areas (weighted based on the following extents of types in the pre - mining area to be disturbed as <br />shown in the table below). <br />Vegetation Type % of Pre - mine <br />Sagebrush /Snowberry 31.3 <br />Mountain Brush 34.5 <br />Aspen Woodland 11 0 <br />Steep Mountain Brush 128 <br />rs 10 4 <br />'Alkali Sage./West e./West Wht <br />i 9 9 <br />Vegetation Type j% of Pre -mine <br />These reference areas were sampled to adequacy to establish the standards for comparison <br />against reclaimed area values If after 15 cover samples have been completed in Phase II Bond <br />Release Area, sample adequacy had been achieved and the reclamation area mean total <br />allowable herbaceous foliar cover were above 90% of the reference area - derived standard, an <br />affirmative indication of reclamation cover success was to be asserted <br />5 <br />