DRMS outlines rulemaking schedule tied to Senate Bill 25-054 and launches bond backlog project

Russ Baines, a DRMS staff member, told the Mined Land Reclamation Board on June 18 that the division will begin an informal stakeholder process next week to develop rule changes tied to Senate Bill 25-054 (the Legacy Mining and Modernization Act) and to address inconsistencies between hard-rock and construction-materials rules.

Baines said the new law, signed May 16 and effective Aug. 14, 2025, creates a 110R (reclamation-only) permit, removes some antiquated financial-warranty types and requires rule updates. DRMS plans an informal stakeholder kickoff on June 25, then monthly stakeholder meetings on the fourth Wednesday of each month through October. The division intends to produce a final draft in October, start the formal rulemaking and Secretary of State filing process in December, and hold formal board rulemaking hearings in early 2026 (tentatively January–February), with final promulgation and administrative review to follow.

Baines said DRMS will separate meetings for hard-rock and construction-materials stakeholders, post red-line rule drafts on the agency website, solicit written informal feedback and identify contentious issues in the informal phase so the formal hearing process can focus on unresolved topics. He emphasized that some differences between the two rule sets are driven by statute and cannot be wholly harmonized.

Separately, Baines described a DRMS project to reduce a backlog of overdue reclamation bond recalculations. The division found several older permits where bond amounts were set by statute at the time of permit issuance (a 1993 statute set specific per-acre bond amounts for certain historic permits), creating cases where the posted bond has not been updated. Baines said only about three or four such legacy permits remain but that staff will prioritize a wider set of overdue bond recalculations and has assigned responsibility for reducing the backlog over the next two fiscal years. He said the effort will be reflected in staff performance evaluations and senior staff will track progress.

Board members asked who would be included in stakeholder outreach. Baines said the informal outreach list includes all active permit holders in DRMS’s e-permitting system, industry groups, environmental groups, county planning offices and any interested individuals; notices and the informal meeting schedule are posted on the DRMS website.

Ending: DRMS will host the informal stakeholder kickoff on June 25 and post red-lined rule drafts on its website. The division said it will return to the board with draft rules and a schedule for formal hearings after the informal process, and it will provide periodic updates on the bond-recalculation backlog.