2012-12-20_REVISION - C1996083 (2)

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Brock Bowles, Environmental Protection Specialist Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety The Centennial Building 1313 Sherman St., Rm. 215 Denver, CO 80203 Dear Mr. Brock Bowles: United States Department of the Interior OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING Reclamation and Enforcement Western Region Office 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 Denver, CO 80202 -3050 December 18, 2012 ReCeINI a o - of Reclamation„ o •�i °ti. a 5aiety, CO -0103 RE: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement section 7 consultation through the use of an interagency co- operative agreement with the Bureau of Land Management, which consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for federal coal leasing actions associated with Bowie No. 2 Mine, Delta County, Colorado. State Permit C1996083 The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's Western Region (OSM) has an interagency co- operative agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding associated federal coal leasing and federal mine plan actions for Bowie No. 2 Mine. This interagency co- operative agreement allows OSM to independently review then adopt BLM's Bowie No. 2 Mine Environmental Assessment (EA) that included the section 7 (informal) consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) regarding the determination of affects on threatened, endangered, species of concern, and/or critical habitats. Adoption of the informal section 7 consultation is in accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402). BLM's Uncompahgre Field Office had conducted an environmental assessment (August 2012) for the Bowie Coal Lease Modification Application. The EA included an informal section 7 consultation request (November 30, 2011) to the Service regarding potential effects on greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias) lineage (GBCT), Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), Bonytail (Gila elegans), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus), and yellow - billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). The Service stated that their response (February 21, 2012) to this informal section 7 request is in addition to their comments of June 6, 2011 and December 12, 2011, on several drafts of BLM's Programmatic Biological Assessment (PBA) that found a "may affect, not likely to adversely affect" determination for GBCT.