Under current regulations, all operations, whether exploration, development, or mining, must be adequately bonded. Certain, but not all, portions of the permit application must be approved by a Professional Engineer. Bonds must be sufficient to allow the State to conduct the reclamation in the event of abandonment by the operator. The form of the bond must be fungible and in the name of the State of Colorado. As you can see from my description of the Colorado regulations, our state adequately regulates both exploration and mining operations on both public and private lands in the state.
Similar regulations apply in most other Western states.
I do not wish to devote time at this hearing to critique specific items of the new rules which are considered by many as objectionable. MEC is also concerned about the negative impact this new rule can have on exploration by individual explorationist who are an integral part the U. S. exploration scene. The self-initiation process provides a very high percentage of the new mineral discoveries in the United States. If any of these issues are the case, we believe such a requirement will be overly restrictive, costly, and unduly time consuming for the nature of the impact such an activity will have on the public lands. These items are not adequately addressed in the new rules.