State audit finds gaps in Mine Subsidence Protection Program; DRMS lays out multi-year fixes

Michael Cunningham, director at the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS), told the Mined Land Reclamation Board on June 18 that the division will move to implement seven findings from a May 2025 performance audit of the Mine Subsidence Protection Program by the Office of the State Auditor.

The audit, requested by the Legislative Audit Committee in 2024, found the program largely follows its rules but identified areas where written procedures, federal agreements and program rules were out of alignment with current practice, Heidi Wagner, the Office of the State Auditor project supervisor, told the board.

The audit matters because the program operates as a state trust that uses a mix of participant fees and trust assets to inspect homes, adjudicate claims and pay awards for mine subsidence damage. The audit authors and DRMS staff said inconsistent rules and expired federal agreements create legal and operational risk and can confuse homeowners and staff.

DRMS told the board it has already set implementation targets for a set of near- and longer-term actions. The near-term items include renewing the memorandum of understanding and updating the program’s plan of operations with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) by December 2025, and completing a comparative analysis of program rules and establishing written standard operating procedures…