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this Board, the Division, and all parties,the Board should therefore consolidate the continued <br /> hearing on this Notice with the hearing on Cotter's notices requesting a second five-year <br /> period of temporary cessation for the Group I Mines. <br /> Cotter also respectfully submits that the hearing on this Notice, and on Cotter's notices of <br /> temporary cessation for the Group I Mines, should be further continued to allow review by <br /> this Board, the Division, and all parties of one or more anticipated Colorado appellate <br /> decisions addressing the laws governing temporary cessation. In Information Network for <br /> Responsible Mining(INFORM), et al. v. Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, docketed <br /> with the Colorado Court of Appeals at 2018CAI 148, INFORM and other organizations <br /> (collectively, "Appellants") appealed the decision of this Board granting a second five-year <br /> period of temporary cessation for Pinon Ridge Mining LLC's Van 4 Shaft, and contended <br /> that the mine was ineligible for such relief under the MLRA and this Board's rules governing <br /> temporary cessation. Many of the legal issues that the Appellants raised in their appeal are <br /> the same or similar to the issues they raised in their objections to Cotter's notices of <br /> temporary cessation for the Group I Mines. For example, in both the appeal and their <br /> objections, Appellants assert that reclamation of a mine site is required when the mine has <br /> failed to produce ore in the previous ten years, and that this Board's rules allow a maximum <br /> of two periods of temporary cessation to begin from the date cessation of ore occurs. Those <br /> same issues will likely be raised in Appellants' objections to this Notice. While the Colorado <br /> Court of Appeals has not yet decided Appellants' appeal, its decision will likely provide <br /> substantial guidance on the circumstances in which mines are eligible for a second period of <br /> temporary cessation and the merits of Appellants' objections. <br /> Given the similarity of the issues between those raised in Appellants' appeal and in their <br /> objections to Cotter's notices of temporary cessation for the Group I Mines, and likely to be <br /> raised in their opposition to this Notice, Cotter submits it would be more efficient to continue <br /> the hearing on each of Cotter's notices of temporary cessation until such time as the <br /> Colorado appellate courts clarify the applicable law. Such clarification will likely simplify <br /> the legal arguments and hearing testimony in this proceeding, and potentially eliminate <br /> lengthy, complex deliberations by this Board and the Division on the meaning of the <br /> applicable statutes and regulations. For this reason, the Board should continue the hearing on <br /> this Notice and Cotter's notices of temporary cessation for the Group I Mines until: (a)the <br /> Colorado Court of Appeals issues its final decision in Information Network for Responsible <br /> Mining(INFORM), et al. v. Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, docketed with the <br /> Colorado Court of Appeals at 2018CAI 148; and (b)the Colorado Supreme Court issues its <br /> final decision in any appeal of the Colorado Court of Appeals decision in 2018CAI 148. <br /> V. Request for tolling <br /> If this Board grants Cotter a second five-year period of temporary cessation for the JD-8 <br /> Mine, it should toll the running of that period from its beginning date until, at minimum, the <br /> date this Board issues its written order granting Cotter the second five-year period of <br /> 4 <br />