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• DR~iFT <br />Minutes, July 22-24, 1992 Subject To Board Approval 24 <br />The Board discussed the issua of the Division maintaining cash <br />reserves. They said the Division should identify problems that may <br />arise that would affect the cash reserves and budget for those <br />problems, rather than maintainirg funds that could not be used during a <br />fiscal year. At this time, Ron (:attany briefly discussed the fiscal <br />problems currently facing the State and how this could affect each <br />Department or Division of the St~rte through the General Fund. <br />The consensus of the Board was that they would like more information <br />before providing a suggestion for the amount of cash reserves that <br />should be maintained by the Division. Mr. Humphries said he would like <br />to fill the 20 authorized positions and leave .8 FTC for IML work. <br />At this time, Mr. Long and Mr. Humphries discussed the amount of <br />resources the Division spent during the past year while dealing with <br />the Battle Mountain Resources and Summitville problems. The Division <br />has a computerized time slip program which is used to keep track of <br />Staff time. Mr. Humphries said 1,184 hours were spent through June 1, <br />1992 on the Summitville case, e~:cluding the Director and Attorney <br />General. He said this equals 8.8 months and includes inspecti9n~,_ <br />enforcements, report preparations, meetings, etc., for a total of <br />$36,455 in Staff time, excludincl 1;ravel. The Division has spent 654 <br />hours during the same time period on the Battle Mountain case; this <br />equals 3 to 4 months and a total of $15,278. It was noted that the <br />time spent on this case is equivalent to a full time Specialist's time. <br />Mr. Long asked the Board for _guidance regarding the Division's handling <br />of the large problem cases in the future. However, he said his <br />preference would be to immediately assign whatever Staff is needed to <br />these types of cases, in order to resolve problems as expeditiously as <br />possible. Mr. Long said the Divi;icn will attempt to prevent the types <br />of problem cases from arising in the future through the initial <br />permitting process, specifically f'or large heap leach or chemical <br />treatment operations. <br />Board Member Cooley asked if there was a mechanism by which the <br />operator could offset some of i:he costs incurred by the State for <br />consultations, technical work, e~:c., regarding permitting, revising or <br />amending these types of large operations. Mr. Cattany suggested <br />proposing legislation that would allow the Division to collect a <br />portion of the civil penalty to offset the cost of Staff's time, when <br />the amount of time exceeds a cerl:ain number of hours. Mr. Cooley said <br />he would oppose a procedure which would allow funds collected through <br />civil penalties to be used by the Division. <br />Mr. Long and Mr. Humphries addressed the problems the Division incurs <br />through the establishment and enforcement of settlement agreements. <br />Mr. Humphries said settlement agreements absorb a large amount of <br />resources, i.e., in Staff time, Attorneys' fees, etc. He said the <br />Division would prefer not to enter into settlement agreements in the <br />future, unless it is necessary. Mr. Long said that settlement <br />agreements, in some cases, may delay enforcement actions. <br />