_ENFORCEMENT - M1978352 (13) - Laserfiche WebLink

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• APPENDIX • BASIS E PURPOSE STATEMENTS RULE I : General Provisions of the Rules of the Mined Land Reclamation Board is hereby amended as follows : 1 . 1 Definitions (4) "Calendar year" BASIS b PURPOSE This definition is important in determining whether or not an applicant qualifies as a limited impact operation. When the Board first considered this definition, two definitions were presented to them. The first was the accepted legal definition of the term, January Ist through December 31st. The second was twelve consecutive months. The Board was informed by the former Director of its staff that he had attended the legislative debates on the bill and the legislature intended the term to mean twelve consecutive months. The Board adopted the latter definition to comply with what was represented to them as legislative intent. Upon clarification of the legislative intent on the definition of the term by SJF-3, the Board recon- sidered and decided to change the definition to conform with the correct legi - slative intent. ® (10) "Filed", "Submitted", "Received" BASIS b PURPOSE It is the intent of this regulation to clearly define for all interested persons the dates upon which an application is filed, submitted and received. This date is important because it initiates the running of the time periods. established by the Act for the granting and denial of permits. The Board adopted the original definition to enable the staff to have the full statutory time to work with an operator to obtain an application which meets the Statutory requirements. It also enables the staff to have time to utilize the expertise of other State agencies. By establishing a definite date for the initiation of all time periods, the operator does not need to wait until the Board meets for this determination. Furthermore, the operator knows the . date and can timely begin his publication requirements. The public is also protected, as required by the Act (CRS 1973, 34-32-114, as amended) in that it will have the full statutory time period to review the application. Other- wise , the applicant could submit such crucial information as the mining and reclamation plans at the last minute and nullify the public's statutory right to have time to review the applications and make meaningful comments there- upon to the Board. The Board is also entitled to have the complete appli - cation in sufficient time for the staff to be able to review the application. The Act contemplated that the Board's staff would have adequate time to re- view the application. The Board's goal is to have the staff and the operator utilize the time frame provided by the Act to work together to help the operator have an application which complies with the Act. The definition of the terms is not meant to deprive an applicant of any rights nor to per- - 47 -