CO Code § 34-32-103 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 34 - Mineral Resources|Article 32 - Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act|§ 34-32-103. Definitions

 As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:    “Acid or toxic producing materials” means natural or reworked earth materials having acid or toxic chemical and physical characteristics. (1.5) “Affected land” means the surface of an area within the state where a mining operation is being or will be conducted, which surface is disturbed as a result of such operation. Affected lands include but shall not be limited to private ways, roads, except those roads excluded pursuant to this subsection (1.5), and railroad lines appurtenant to any such area; land excavations; prospecting sites; drill sites or workings; refuse banks or spoil piles; evaporation or settling ponds; leaching dumps; placer areas; tailings ponds or dumps; work, parking, storage, or waste discharge areas; and areas in which structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property which result from or are used in such operations are situated. All lands shall be excluded that would be otherwise included as land affected but which have been reclaimed in accordance with an approved plan or otherwise, as may be approved by the board. Affected land shall not include off-site roads which existed prior to the date on which notice was given or permit application was made to the office and which were constructed for purposes unrelated to the proposed mining operation and which will not be substantially upgraded to support the mining operation or off-site groundwater monitoring wells.    “Board” means the mined land reclamation board established by section 34-32-105.    “Department” means the department of natural resources or such department, commission, or agency as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such department. (3.5)   “Designated mining operation” means a mining operation at which:   Toxic or acidic chemicals used in extractive metallurgical processing are present on site;    Acid- or toxic-forming materials will be exposed or disturbed as a result of mining operations; or    Uranium is developed or extracted, either by in situ leach mining or by conventional underground or open mining techniques. A uranium mining operation may seek an exemption from designated mining operation status in accordance with section 34-32-112.5 (2).       The various types of designated mining operations are identified in section 34-32-112.5. Except as provided in subparagraph (III) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3.5), such mining operations exclude operations that do not use toxic or acidic chemicals in processing for purposes of extractive metallurgy and that will not cause acid mine drainage.       “Development” means the work performed in relation to a deposit, following the prospecting required to prove minerals are in existence in commercial quantities but prior to production activities, aimed at, but not limited to, preparing the site for mining, defining further the ore deposit by drilling or other means, conducting pilot plant operations, constructing roads or ancillary facilities, and other related activities.  (4.5) “Director” means the director of the division of reclamation, mining, and safety or such officer as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such director.   (4.7) “Division” means the division of reclamation, mining, and safety or such agency as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such division.  (4.9) “Environmental protection plan” means a plan submitted by a designated mining operation for approval as part of the operator's or applicant's permit for such operation pursuant to rules promulgated by the board for protection of human health or property or the environment in conformance with the duties of operators as prescribed by this article.    “Executive director” means the executive director of the department of natural resources or such officer as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such executive director. (5.5) “Financial warranty” means a warranty of the type described in section 34-32-117 (3) and (4).  (5.7) “In situ leach mining” means in situ mining for uranium through the in-place dissolution of mineral components of an ore deposit by causing a chemical leaching solution, usually aqueous, to penetrate or to be pumped down wells through the ore body and then removing the mineral-containing solution for development or extraction of the mineral values.  (5.8) “In situ mining” means the in-place development or extraction of a mineral by means other than open mining or underground mining.      “Life of the mine” means that a permit granted pursuant to section 34-32-110 or 34-32-115 may continue in effect as long as:   An operator continues to engage in the extraction of minerals and complies with the provisions of this article;    Mineral reserves are shown by the operator to remain in the mining operation and the operator plans to, or does, temporarily cease production for one hundred eighty days or more if he files a notice thereof with the board stating the reasons for nonproduction, a plan for the resumption thereof, and the measures taken to comply with reclamation and other necessary activities as established by the board to maintain the mine in a nonproducing state. The requirement of a notice of temporary cessation shall not apply to operators who resume operating within one year and have included, in their permit applications, a statement that the affected lands are to be used for less than one hundred eighty days per year.    Production is resumed within five years of the date production ended, or the operator files a report requesting an extension of the period of temporary cessation of production with the board stating the reasons for the continuation of nonproduction and those factors necessary to, and his plans for, resumption of production. In no case shall temporary cessation of production be continued for more than ten years without terminating the operation and fully complying with the reclamation requirements of this article.    The board does not take action to declare termination of the life of the mine, which action shall require a sixty-day notice to the operator alleging a violation of, or that inadequate reasons are provided in an operator's report under subparagraph (I), (II), or (III) of this paragraph (a). In such cases, the board shall provide a reasonable opportunity for the operator to meet with the board to present the full case and further provide reasonable time for the operator to bring violations into compliance.       “Life of the mine” includes that period of time after cessation of production necessary to complete reclamation of disturbed lands as required by the board and this article, until such time as the board releases, in writing, the operator from further reclamation obligations regarding the affected land, declares the operation terminated, and releases all applicable performance and financial warranties.       “Mineral” means an inanimate constituent of the earth in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state which, when extracted from the earth, is useable in its natural form or is capable of conversion into a useable form as a metal, a metallic compound, a chemical, an energy source, or a raw material for manufacturing or construction material. For the purposes of this article, this definition does not include coal, surface or subsurface water, geothermal resources, or natural oil and gas together with other chemicals recovered therewith, but does include oil shale.    “Mining operation” means the development or extraction of a mineral from its natural occurrences on affected land. The term “mining operation” includes, but is not limited to, open mining, in situ mining, in situ leach mining, surface operations, and the disposal of refuse from underground mining, in situ mining, and in situ leach mining. The term “mining operation” also includes the following operations on affected lands: Transportation; concentrating; milling; evaporation; and other processing. The term “mining operation” does not include: The exploration and extraction of natural petroleum in a liquid or gaseous state by means of wells or pipe; the development or extraction of coal; the extraction of geothermal resources; smelting, refining, cleaning, preparation, transportation, and other off-site operations not conducted on affected land; or the extraction of construction material where there is no development or extraction of any mineral. (8.5) “Office” means the office of mined land reclamation, created in section 34-32-105 .    “Open mining” means the mining of minerals by removing the overburden lying above such deposits and mining directly from the deposits thereby exposed. The term includes mining directly from such deposits where there is no overburden. The term includes, but is not limited to, such practices as open cut mining, open pit mining, strip mining, quarrying, and dredging.    “Operator” means any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or any department, division, or agency of federal, state, county, or municipal government engaged in or controlling a mining operation.    “Overburden” means all of the earth and other materials which lie above natural minerals and also means such earth and other materials disturbed from their natural state in the process of mining. (11.5) “Performance warranty” means a warranty of the type described in section 34-32-117 (2) .    “Prospecting” means the act of searching for or investigating a mineral deposit. “Prospecting” includes, but is not limited to, sinking shafts, tunneling, drilling core and bore holes and digging pits or cuts and other works for the purpose of extracting samples prior to commencement of development or extraction operations, and the building of roads, access ways, and other facilities related to such work. The term does not include those activities which cause no or very little surface disturbance, such as airborne surveys and photographs, use of instruments or devices which are hand carried or otherwise transported over the surface to make magnetic, radioactive, or other tests and measurements, boundary or claim surveying, location work, or other work which causes no greater land disturbance than is caused by ordinary lawful use of the land by persons not prospecting. The term also does not include any single activity which results in the disturbance of a single block of land totaling one thousand six hundred square feet or less of the land's surface, not to exceed two such disturbances per acre; except that the cumulative total of such disturbances will not exceed five acres statewide in any prospecting operation extending over twenty-four consecutive months.    “Reclamation” means the employment during and after a mining operation of procedures reasonably designed to minimize as much as practicable the disruption from the mining operation and to provide for the establishment of plant cover, stabilization of soil, the protection of water resources, or other measures appropriate to the subsequent beneficial use of such affected lands. Reclamation shall be conducted in accordance with the performance standards of this article.    “Refuse” means all waste material directly connected with the cleaning and preparation of substances mined by a mining operation.     History. Source: L. 76: Entire article R&RE, p. 724, § 1, effective July 1. L. 79: (7) and (8) amended, p. 1305, § 6, effective July 1. L. 81: (3.5), (6)(b), and (11.5) amended, p. 1667, §§ 1, 2, effective June 19. L. 88: (1) and (13) amended and (4.5) and (4.7) added, p. 1201, § 2, effective July 1. L. 92: (1), (4.5), and (4.7) amended and (8.5) added, p. 1937, § 32, effective July 1. L. 93: (1) amended and (1.5), (3.5), and (4.9) added, p. 1175, § 2, effective July 1. L. 96: (4) amended, p. 178, § 1, effective April 18. L. 2006: (1.5) amended, p. 1285, § 1, effective May 26; (4.5) and (4.7) amended, p. 217, § 11, effective August 7. L. 2008: (3.5) and (8) amended and (5.7) and (5.8) added, p. 935, § 1, effective May 20.    Editor's note:   This section is similar to former § 34-32-103 as it existed prior to 1976.   ANNOTATION   Law reviews. For article, “Liabilities of Nonoperating Mineral Interest Owners”, see 51 U. Colo. L. Rev. 153 (1980).   The local land use development code that bans toxic or other acidic chemicals in mining operations is a reclamation standard. The mined land reclamation board is the expert agency established by the general assembly to promulgate mining operation permit regulations and reclamation standards which includes identifying what is or is not a reclamation standard. Colo. Mining Ass'n v. Bd. of County Comm'rs of Summit County, 199 P.3d 718 (Colo. 2009).   The performance standards in the local land use and development code are expressly preempted by the statute because the code regulates reclamation activities as defined by the statute and are the same as those contemplated by the statute. Colo. Mining Ass'n v. Summit County Bd. of County Comm'rs, 170 P.3d 749 (Colo. App. 2007), rev'd on other grounds, 199 P.3d 718 (Colo. 2009).   Whether an operator has temporarily ceased production is a factual question rather than a legal status conferred by the mined land reclamation board for purposes of determining whether the board can approve a second five-year period of temporary cessation without bringing an end to the life of the mine under subsection (6). Consequently, when temporary cessation began no later than 1999 and never resumed, the board could not approve a second five-year period of temporary cessation in 2012. Info. Network v. Colo. Mined Land, , 451 P.3d 1245 .