Opinion ID: 2639890
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Annual labor must be performed by September 1.

Text: DNR has authority to define the labor year for mining claims. Alaska Statute 38.05.210(a) grants authority to DNR to establish the date of the commencement of the year during which labor or improvements are to be performed and, through regulations, DNR established that the labor year runs from noon on September 1 through noon the following September 1. [22] The mining year is the same regardless of whether a miner performs labor or makes a cash payment. Federal mining law defines the mining year using the same dates. [23] There is no question that DNR acted within its delegated authority to establish a deadline for annual labor, and the fact that federal and state mining law define the mining year using the same dates demonstrates that the state's choice of September 1 is reasonable and not arbitrary. Even Chalovich concedes that DNR is well within its rights to set a September 1 deadline for the receipt of cash-in-lieu payments. His concern is not with the deadline for labor but with the definition of timeliness and the penalty for late performance.