DRMS delays tourist-mine rulemaking, seeks more input on dual permitting

Michael Cunningham, director of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, opened a rulemaking hearing on proposed tourist-mine rules and announced the hearing will be continued to Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. to allow more time for stakeholder input and rule revisions.

The continuation comes after the Mine Safety Training Program filed the notice of rulemaking, draft red-line rules and a statement of basis and purpose with the Colorado Secretary of State on Sept. 26; those materials were published in the Colorado Register on Oct. 10 and posted on the division’s website. Cunningham said staff held a stakeholder meeting on Nov. 13 and that a separate group of tourist-mine owners and operators recently met to discuss the drafts and plan to submit written comments focused on whether a tourist mine may also operate as an active producing mine (a “dual permitting” issue).

Cunningham said the division will accept additional written comments and specifically asked for input on how the statutory definition of “tourist mine” in Colorado Revised Statutes 34-20-102(12) should affect the dual-permitting question. He said Mine Safety Training Program staff will revise the draft rules to incorporate suggested language—including changes related to the dual-permitting issue and Mine Land Reclamation Board policy 20.2—and that the revised text should be shared with stakeholders in December. A second stakeholder meeting will be scheduled in January prior to the resumed formal hearing.

On those grounds, Cunningham said he found a continuance of the rulemaking to be necessary and reasonable and set the formal rulemaking hearing for Feb. 12 at 9:00 a.m. He asked staff to notify stakeholders and interested parties of the new schedule and encouraged parties to submit comments in December so staff can consider them before the January stakeholder meeting.

The hearing record includes the statutory citation Cunningham relied on for authority to promulgate rules for tourist mines (Colorado Revised Statutes 34-21-104) and cites Mine Land Reclamation Board policy 20.2 as relevant to the drafting effort. No formal vote was recorded at the session; the proceeding closed after Cunningham invited further questions and then adjourned.