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The Bridger Coal Company of Point of Rocks, Wyoming (Permit No. 338) has applied for Phase 2 and Phase 3 bond release from the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Wyoming. This permit was originally approved on May 22, 1975. The coal mining permit area is located in: T20N, R100W and R101W; T21N, R100W and R101W and T22N, R100W and R101W, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The area is approximately 7 miles NE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming. This area can be found on the Ten Mile Rim, Black Rock South, Bitter Creek NW, and Point of Rocks USGS quadrangle map(s). The Phase 2 parcels to be released from bond are located in Sections 7, 21, 22, 27, 34, 35 in T21N, R100W; Sections 12 and 13 in T 21N, R 101W; and Sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 23, 26, 27, 35 in T20N, R100W. The Phase 3 parcels to be released from bond are in Sections 7, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 35 in T 21N, R100W; Sections 12 and 13 in T21N, R101W; and Sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 23, 26, 27, 35 in T 20N, R 100W. This bond release request includes 1167.5 acres of Category V land that qualify for Phase 2 release of $697,523 and 1695.9 acres of Category V lands that qualify for Phase 3 release of $1,688,695. The total bond requested for release is $2,386,218. The reclamation of the parcels occurred between 1976 and 2011. The parcels qualify for full release as they have been contoured, had soil replaced, farming completed, and vegetation has passed the required verifications for revegetation success to return the lands to wildlife habitat and grazing land.
Information regarding the mining operation, reclamation procedures and areas proposed for release may be reviewed in the Office of the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality in Cheyenne and Lander, Wyoming. Written objections to the proposed bond release request must be received by the Administrator of the Land Quality Division, Department of Environmental Quality, 200 W. 17th Street, Suite 10, Cheyenne, WY 82002 before the close of business (December 26, 2022). Objections may also be submitted by the same deadline via the Land Quality Division?s electronic comment portal at http://lq.wyomingdeq.commentinput.com/. If written objections are filed, and a public hearing is requested, the Environmental Quality Council (Council) shall hold a public hearing within sixty (60) days after the final date for filing objections unless a different period is stipulated to by all parties. The Council shall publish notice of the time, date, and location of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the proposed operation once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks immediately prior to the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted as a contested case in accordance with the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act (W.S. ?16-3-101 through ?16-3-115), with a right of judicial review as provided in that act. Without prejudice to the objector or applicant?s right to a hearing before the Council, the Administrator may hold an informal conference to resolve written objections after notification to all parties. The Administrator shall make a record of the conference unless waived by all parties, which shall be accessible to all parties. The Administrator shall furnish all parties of the conference with a written finding of the Division based on the conference, and the reasons for the finding.
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