Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

Annual Evaluation Summary Report

for the

Regulatory

Program

Administered by the State

of

COLORADO

for

Evaluation Year 1998

(October 1, 1997, through September 30, 1998)

February 1999

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction 3

II. Overview of the Colorado Coal Mining Industry 3

III. Overview of the Public Participation Opportunities in the 5

Oversight Process and the State Program

IV. Major Accomplishments/Issues/Innovations 6

V. Success in Achieving the Purposes of SMCRA 9

A. Off-site Impacts 9

B. Bond Releases 9

VI. OSM Assistance 10

VII. General Oversight Topic Reviews 10

Appendix A: Tabular Summary of Core Data to Characterize the Program 14

I. Introduction

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) created the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) in the Department of the Interior. SMCRA provides authority to OSM to oversee the implementation of and provide Federal funding for State regulatory programs that have been approved by OSM as meeting the minimum standards specified by SMCRA. This report contains summary information regarding the Colorado program and the effectiveness of the Colorado program in meeting the applicable purposes of SMCRA as specified in section 102. The Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division Of Minerals and Geology (DMG) is the regulatory authority for the State of Colorado. This year's report covers the period October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998. Detailed background information and comprehensive reports for the program elements evaluated during the period are available for review and copying at the OSM Denver Field Office.

The following is a list of acronyms used in this report:

BLM U. S. Bureau of Land Management

DMG Division of Minerals and Geology

FTE Full-Time Equivalents

OSM Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

SMCRA Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

WRCC Western Regional Coordinating Center

II. Overview of the Colorado Coal Mining Industry

Coal bearing regions within the State cover approximately 29,600 square miles, which is 28.4 percent of the total area of Colorado. Coal reserves vary from lignite to anthracite. More than 70 percent is bituminous, 23 percent is subbituminous, 5 percent is lignite, and less than 1 percent is anthracite. The demonstrated coal reserve base is about 17.1 billion tons, or 3.5 percent of the national reserve base. Of this reserve base, an unmineable fraction exists consisting of coal rendered not mineable because it is in or near alluvial valley floors, national parks, historic and archaeological sites, and under towns or properties where surface impacts are a concern. These restrictions are imposed by Section 522 of SMCRA. Some 8.8 million acres of coal rights in the State are owned by the Federal Government; on about 72 percent of this land, the Federal Government controls both the coal and surface rights. All Federal coal is leased by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). BLM estimates that approximately 4.2 billion tons of reserve base are under Federal ownership. Recoverable coal reserves held under Federal lease are estimated to be approximately 1.9 billion tons (of which 540 million tons are surface mineable). On average, 96 percent of Colorado's coal production is obtained from mines on Federal lands. OSM supports the Colorado coal program through an annual grant that provides for 79% of the programs costs.

Commercial coal production first began in 1861, while surface mining for coal began in the early 1950's. Underground production tonnage was first recorded in 1864. Generally, production climbed between 1875 and 1920. The 1 million tons per year milestone was reached in 1888, and the 5 million tons mark was attained by the end of the century. By 1910, production was at 10 million tons annually, and it remained steady until affected by the Depression. Production returned to 5 million tons per year through the mid-1930's. World War II increased production to 8 million tons per year. Following the war, the change to diesel fuel for locomotives and oil for electric production severely reduced the demand for coal, and production ranges remained at 2 to 4 million tons per year through 1963, increased to 8 million tons in 1976, then climbed rapidly to 19.3 million tons in 1981. Coal production declined somewhat through 1988, then climbed back to 19.3 million tons in 1992. Through 1998, Colorado produced 25.8 million tons of coal compared to 27.42 million tons produced during 1997.

Colorado continues to lead the world in record longwall production. The Twentymile Mine continues to hold the record with over one million tons mined in a month.

Surface and underground mines employ less than 2000 people. Employment peaked in the early 1980's with 4700 people producing coal. Currently 23 surface mines, 34 underground mines, 1 surface/underground mine, and 2 facilities are regulated under the approved State program by the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG). Eight underground mines and six surface mines were producing coal at the end of the evaluation period. Permitted mine acreage per minesite ranged from 20 to 22,580 acres.

Differences in elevation create many climatic zones. Local annual precipitation can average less than 8 inches in some areas in extreme western Colorado and can average in excess of 30 inches in certain mountainous areas. Generally, precipitation rates are low at most minesites, making revegetation difficult. This problem can be overcome with careful species selection. The growing season can be up to 169 days in length at some sites, but is usually much less, especially in the mountainous regions of the western half of the State.

III. Overview of the Public Participation Opportunities in the Oversight Process and the State Program

LAND USE AND MINING WORKSHOPS

Public outreach was enhanced through Land Use and Mining Workshops, one of which was held in Delta, a city that is central in one of the coal mining regions. The workshops introduce DMG to the public, local government agencies, and owners of land in mining regions. The DMG Coal Program and Minerals Program both participate in these workshops. DMG prepared an information packet outlining permitting processes and opportunities for public comment which was distributed to meeting attendants. The workshops include question and answer sessions in which DMG is able to address specific individual concerns of the attendees. The outreach effort will increase public awareness of DMG and encourage public participation in coal mine permitting. DMG plans two more workshops in 1999.

MINED LAND RECLAMATION BOARD MEETINGS

The Mined Land Reclamation Board held two of its monthly meetings away from its regular Denver meeting site. Meetings were held in Craig and Durango. The Craig meeting included a tour of two coal mining operations, an underground mine and a surface mine. Holding the meetings in the vicinity of the mining operations, public participation is promoted by making the DMG and the Board more available to the public, and helps DMG and the Board to establish a presence outside Denver.

JOINT DMG/OSM PUBLIC MEETINGS

DMG and OSM conducted two public meetings for the purposes of receiving comments and suggestions for oversight of the Colorado program. The meetings were held in coal mining regions in Delta and Steamboat Springs. Notice of the meetings was published in a statewide distributed newspaper and local newspapers. The public was encouraged to submit written comments if unable to attend the meetings. In addition, approximately 130 letters were sent to environmental groups, the coal industry, and consultants with notification of the meetings. No written comments were received and the meetings were sparsely attended. One comment was to provide follow-up information to meeting participants and OSM decided to provide copies of the performance agreements and the annual evaluation report to meeting attendees.

OTHER DMG OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Coal program staff participated in the Northwest Colorado Coal Conference held in Meeker and Craig. The conference was sponsored by the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado. At the conference, DMG participated in a panel discussion and presented a public information display which included photographs, charts, handouts, and other information on DMG activities and coal mining in Colorado. The DMG display was used in other outreach efforts throughout the State including "A Taste of Colorado" in Denver, the Western Mine Safety and Health Workshop in Denver, the Colorado Mining Association Annual Conference, and in outreach efforts of the Minerals, Energy, Geology Advisory Board in Greeley. DMG also co-hosted, with several other State and Federal agencies, the Colorado Weed Summit held in Lakewood.. DMG participated and made presentations at the OSM sponsored interactive forum on bond release. This forum was to promote information exchange between the industry, public, and State and Federal regulatory agencies.

IV. Major Accomplishments/Issues/Innovations

BOND FORFEITURE SITES

As a result of a DMG initiative, the state legislature allocated funds from its Colorado Severance Tax for reclamation and environmental remediation activities on selected coal mine sites where the permits were revoked and where the amount of forfeited bond money was insufficient to stabilize the site. These sites are all post-SMCRA so Abandoned Mine Lands monies may not be appropriated for reclamation of the sites. Reclamation activities on these sites will begin during the 1999 construction season and will be completed no later than June 30, 2001.

TRAINING

DMG staff has participated in many of the training opportunities made available by OSM. In addition, DMG staff has assisted OSM as instructors for these classes. OSM classes attended by the DMG were: Permitting Hydrology; Blasting and Inspection; Erosion and Sediment Control; Bonding Workshop: Cost Estimate; Surface and Groundwater; Acid Forming Materials: Fundamentals and Application; Soils and Revegetation; Applied Engineering Principles; Wetlands Awareness; and Underground Mining Technology. TIPS classes attended by the DMG were: Introduction to Arc/View; Introduction to Earth Vision; Statgraphics; Intermediate Earth Vision; Introduction to SURVCADD; Introduction to GPS; and Intermediate Arc/View.

The staff also participated in programs offered by the Office of Technology Transfer. DMG attended a series of workshops addressing the statistical analysis of revegetation. Regulatory staff of Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado toured several Wyoming coal mines to gain a better understanding of western reclamation techniques and issues.

RECLAMATION AWARDS

In an effort to encourage innovative reclamation techniques and to recognize those companies that have exceeded the regulatory requirements for environmental protection, DMG participated in the nomination process for the Colorado Mining Association's Annual Reclamation Awards. DMG recognized reclamation techniques, compliance history, and exemplary methods of ensuring public safety at five mine sites in the State. The companies were recognized at an awards luncheon during the Colorado Mining Association's annual conference.

BOND RELEASE PUBLIC NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES

More and more mines in Colorado are approaching bond release and DMG has evaluated the bond release notification process in an effort to assure compliance with the program and increase efficiency. As part of this evaluation, a database was developed with a comprehensive list of local, State, and Federal agencies. Notification letters to the government agencies, landowners, and other parties required to be notified are automatically generated when a bond release decision is proposed. This process will ensure proper public notification of all proposed bond release decisions.

COAL BASIN BOND FORFEITURE SITE

Coal Basin was an underground mine for which the company went bankrupt and the reclamation bond was forfeited. The site has five portal areas, three coal mine waste piles, a wash plant, and facilities area. Miles of road connect these features at elevations that defined this mine as the highest coal mine in the United States. The bond monies made available to DMG through the bankruptcy court were grossly inadequate to perform reclamation to Title V standards. Discussing the reclamation of this mine as a major accomplishment is not at first obvious. However, DMG continued to address problems at the Coal Basin Mine including the stability of the outslopes of the old coal mine waste pile above Dutch Creek and the Dutch Creek flume.

Small sections of the old waste pile had sloughed over the years such that the toe ditch diversion had to be routed through a culvert. This section of the pile was a pre-law section that did not have topsoil redistributed on the surface and vegetation was not adequate to hold the angle of repose slopes. Collapse of the outslopes of this coal mine waste pile into Dutch Creek were a concern. DMG arranged for contractors to use the slope material for backfilling the facilities area of the abandoned mine. The waste pile slopes were pulled back to a 2:1 configuration which has made the slopes more stable for the long term.

Dutch Creek had been routed through the mining area using a constructed channel and flume during the active mining period. Over the years, the flume had been under- and side cut which had resulted in a partial collapse of the structure. If the entire flume had failed, headcutting would have continued unabated into the more erodible mine yard fill material. DMG, with OSM's assistance through design work and additional funds, has rerouted Dutch Creek into a newly constructed rocked channel. The creek was routed into the new channel in the fall of 1998 and will be monitored in the years to come.

SPECIAL FOCUS REVIEWS

The reviews conducted to evaluate off-site impacts were for haul roads outside a sedimentation pond network and blasting. Phase I bond release was reviewed to determine reclamation success and the bond release process was reviewed to determine how well the public participation requirements were implemented. Permit stipulations were reviewed as a miscellaneous review. Complete oversight inspections were also conducted this year.

The haul road and blasting reviews did not reveal any off-site impacts that have occurred or are occurring. No violations were observed associated with these reviews for either off-site or on-site conditions. During the course of the field part of these reviews, DMG was able to provide operators with guidance in these two areas of review. For instance, during the site inspections, DMG would identify for operators conditions they were looking for as indicators of off-site impacts. Helpful discussions ensued that clarified for the operators the intent of the regulations and DMG's expectations.

While the blasting review was concluded this evaluation year, DMG and OSM will revisit the haul road topic next evaluation year. With the exception of one of the sample mines selected for review, the roads observed did not adequately fulfill the intent of the review. The focus was haul roads outside of sedimentation ponds, and DMG and OSM found during the course of the review that most of the roads observed on two of the mines were within the sedimentation pond network.

The permit stipulation review revealed that generally stipulations were being used in a manner consistent with the approved program. DMG has agreed to prepare an updated guidance document on this topic for use by its staff within 90 days of finalization of the evaluation report.

Joint DMG and OSM complete inspections conducted during the evaluation year did not result in any enforcement actions.

V. Success in Achieving the Purposes of SMCRA as Measured by the Number of Observed Off-Site Impacts and the Number of Acres Meeting the Performance Standards at the Time of Bond Release

To further the concept of reporting end results, the findings from performance standard evaluations are being collected for a national perspective in terms of the number and extent of observed off-site impacts and the number of acres that have been mined and reclaimed and which meet the bond release requirements for the various phases of reclamation. Individual topic reports are available in the OSM Denver office which provide additional details on how the following evaluations and measurements were conducted.

A. Off-Site Impacts:

OSM conducted 15 inspections on active and inactive mines with at least a partial focus on off-site impacts. DMG conducted 292 inspections with at least a partial focus on off-site impacts. Off-site damages, or the potential for off-site damages, were observed seven times. Four of the observations were at permitted sites and three were at bond forfeiture sites. State Notices of Violation were issued for each occurrence at permitted sites. Five of the observations were deemed to have a minor impact on water resources and two were determined to have a minor impact on land resources. The nature of the violations do not present a discernable pattern. The Colorado program has been successful in deterring off-site impacts from coal mining operations.

B. Bond Release:

After reviewing and approving all requirements for Phase III bond release, the DMG terminated jurisdiction for an underground mine and a large part of a surface mine in northwest Colorado. These mines were reclaimed to the beneficial post mining land uses of rangeland/ wildlife habitat and pastureland. A loadout facility also met the Phase III bond release criteria and will serve as an industrial rail site. In total, 5203.7 acres were granted a Phase III bond release.

Few permanent program mining operations in Colorado have acreage that has been granted a full Phase III bond liability release. Determining the success of the Colorado program based on this figure is deceptive because these Colorado coal operations tend to be large and long-lived. Many of the operations have reclaimed acreage but have not requested release because doing so would also mean relinquishing control of their leases. Some operators have been granted variances from contemporaneous reclamation as allowed by State and Federal regulations. More than half of the mines are underground operations where the surface disturbance will not be reclaimed until final closure of the mine. Also, all of the mines are subject to the 10-year minimum bond liability period. These combined factors result in acreage figures that do not represent the success of reclamation in Colorado. The success of reclamation in Colorado is best represented in the figures from Table 5A: 67% of the disturbed acreage has been backfilled and graded and 23.2 square miles have been revegetated.

VI. OSM Assistance

The percentage of program costs for which OSM provides funding is relatively high in Colorado. The majority of mines operate on Federal lands and OSM funds the regulation of these mines through a Federal lands cooperative agreement. OSM provided $1.63 million to DMG for the evaluation period. This figure represents 79 percent of the total program costs.

OSM continues to provide a wide variety of technical training opportunities for DMG personnel. DMG representatives have attended courses such as SB Slope, Earthvision, and Global Positioning Systems during the evaluation year.

OSM also provided assistance to DMG for the Coal Basin project. The Dutch Creek channel was designed and field verified by OSM personnel. Also, additional funds were provided to DMG by OSM for the relocation of the channel. OSM personnel assisted DMG in a weed survey of the Coal Basin Mine prior to a weed spraying program for purposes of analyzing the effectiveness of the weed control program.

VII. General Oversight Topic Reviews

The OSM and DMG oversight team selected topics to be evaluated and defined the scope of the topic. For purposes of clarity and consistency, definitions and measurements were included in the agreement. Specific mines and a field evaluation schedule were agreed upon.

Oversight of the Colorado regulatory program focused on blasting and haul roads to assess off-site impacts and Phase I bond release to assess reclamation success. In addition to these topics, four complete inspections were conducted.

The joint OSM and DMG oversight team selected the topics to be evaluated and defined the scope of the topic. For purposes of clarity, definitions and measurements were included in the agreement so inspection staff and specialists would be consistent with each special focus evaluation. Specific mines and a field evaluation schedule were agreed upon.

A. Off-Site Impacts - Blasting

The review of this topic was completed during the evaluation year utilizing OSM and DMG inspection personnel including an expert in blasting operations. The focus of the review was to determine how effectively DMG was implementing its approved program to prevent off-site impacts attendant to blasting operations. Off-site impacts were defined as injury to persons, damage to public or private property outside the permit area, adverse impacts to underground mine workings, and changes in the course, channel, or availability of surface or ground waters outside the permit area. This included flyrock if it extended beyond the permit boundary. An airblast or ground vibration limitation exceedance was not considered an off-site impact, though it was recognized that the exceedance represented an indicator of increased potential for off-site impacts.

Three mines were evaluated during this review. Team members met prior to each field inspection and planned the review. The three permits were reviewed to determine site specific blasting requirements. Evaluation consisted of placing a seismograph in the field for approximately one month without giving the operator prior notice, observing loaded blast areas, observing undisturbed areas around blasted areas for flyrock, observing active blasting safety procedure, and reviewing blasting records.

No violations were issued as a result of this review. DMG's methods of preventing blasting off-site impacts are effective.

Off-Site Impacts - Haul Roads

Review of this topic occurred during the evaluation year; however, two of the mines selected for review did not exhibit the characteristics that were expected. Therefore, DMG and OSM will continue the review again next evaluation year on additional mines.

The focus of the review was to determine how effectively DMG was implementing its program to prevent off-site impacts associated with haul road construction and maintenance outside a sedimentation pond network. Surface water runoff from haul roads is not required to be collected and treated in a sedimentation pond. The review concentrated only on the hydrologic consequences of haul roads. These roads typically rely on sediment control measures such as silt fences, hay bales, and revegetation, as examples, to meet various standards such as to control or prevent erosion, pollution of water, damage to public or private property, and to control or prevent additional contributions of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside the permit area.

Three mines were evaluated during this review. Team members met prior to each field evaluation and planned the review. The three permits were reviewed to determine site specific haul road requirements. Evaluation consisted of a field review of all roads that fell into this category and included observation of each road structure such as culverts, ditches, ditch relief drains, and any other sediment control feature. Outslopes were inspected for revegetation and adjacent areas were observed for sediment deposited off the disturbed area. The three mines reviewed did not exhibit any signs of off-site impacts associated with the haul road systems.

No violations were issued for conditions observed during this review. DMG has been successful in implementing its approved program.

B. Reclamation Success - Phase I Bond Release

DMG and OSM did not have an adequate sample during the evaluation year to make a definitive finding. Only one Phase I bond release application was received and reviewed by DMG during this period and the mine site met the Phase I bond release criteria. DMG and OSM will continue this study in evaluation year 1999 with one change; those mines for which a proposed decision is issued by DMG for the evaluation year will be subject to review. This change is being made to broaden the opportunities and the number of mines available for review.

• Public Participation - Bond Release

DMG is providing opportunities for public participation in bond release in accordance with its program. In addition to fulfilling its own obligations, DMG is monitoring operator compliance with their public notification obligations, and requiring corrective action where necessary.

• Other Oversight Study - Permit Stipulations

The focus of this review was to determine whether or not the stipulations DMG places on permitting decisions are appropriate. Stipulations were deemed appropriate if they complied with approved Colorado program Rule 2.08.4 and were not used to remedy completeness deficiencies in permit applications.