Mined Land Reclamation Board moves construction-materials draft rules into formal rulemaking

Russ Means, minerals program director, told stakeholders at an informal meeting that the division plans to file draft construction-materials rules with the Colorado Secretary of State to begin the formal rulemaking process, with publication scheduled for Oct. 25, 2025 and a formal promulgation hearing set for Jan. 21 at 1313 Sherman.

The rule package for construction materials will be processed concurrently with a separate hard-rock rulemaking, Means said; stakeholders who want formal party status must file separate requests for each rulemaking. Means asked stakeholders to submit party-status requests by close of business Friday, Nov. 7, and to indicate explicitly whether the submission is for the construction-materials rulemaking or for hard rock.

Why it matters: the notice and comment schedule sets the legal timeline for changes to the state’s mined-land rules for construction materials. The schedule determines when stakeholders can take formal roles in hearings, when written comments will be considered during formal stakeholder meetings and when the Mined Land Reclamation Board will receive a final promulgation package.

Details of the schedule and process provided during the meeting include:

• Draft filing and publication: Means said the division will file the draft redlines and a statement of basis and purpose with the Colorado Secretary of State before Oct. 15 to meet the Secretary of State’s publication schedule; the division expects publication of the formal notice on Oct. 25, 2025. Means said staff had posted the final drafts last week and had emailed them to stakeholders earlier this week.

• Party status: Requests to be a formal party in the rulemaking are due by close of business Friday, Nov. 7. Means asked requesters to indicate construction materials rulemaking specifically; if a stakeholder wants party status in both the construction-materials and hard-rock rulemakings, the stakeholder should submit a separate form for each.

• Written comments: Formal written comments from parties are due Dec. 3. Means said the division expects to hold a formal stakeholder meeting on Dec. 10 to review written comments and suggested edits, then reconvene on Jan. 7 with a revised final draft to aim for submittal to the board.

• Nonparty comments and public comment: Nonparty written comments for board consideration are due Jan. 9; public-comment opportunities to address the board will be available during the normal board hearing schedule and must be requested by Jan. 15, the week before the board meeting.

• Promulgation hearing: The division is aiming for formal promulgation on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 1313 Sherman; a virtual option will be available, though staff encouraged in-person attendance if possible.

Jeff Fugate, a division staff member, told the group that "everything that we're, filing with the secretary of state, it's gonna be on the division's website," and that the division uploads recordings and submitted written comments to the rulemaking page, typically by the close of the next business day. Means acknowledged a short delay in distributing the most recent redlines and apologized for the timing, but said the changes from prior drafts were minimal based on stakeholder input.

The meeting was the fourth informal stakeholder session on this package, and staff described the upcoming formal meetings as the next step to resolve outstanding written comments and reach consensus before the board considers final promulgation.

No formal votes or board actions took place at the informal stakeholder meeting; staff outlined procedural deadlines and opportunities for involvement.

Next steps: stakeholders who want formal party status should submit the requested form by Nov. 7 and indicate which rulemaking they are joining; parties should consider filing formal written comments by Dec. 3 and plan to participate in the Dec. 10 and Jan. 7 formal stakeholder meetings or the Jan. 21 promulgation hearing.