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<br />Membe~•s of the Mined Land Reclamation Board <br />Page <br />;crepax-ed to do that. That endeavor will involve a more in-depth <br />legal analysis. <br />'Phe Counties letter concludes that the fees and financial assurance <br />:requirements of the MLRA and the Construction Materials Act have <br />been Hraived for counties in light of the provisions of ~ 34-32- <br />:111(7), C.R.S. (1995 Repl. Vol.) and the Colorado Supreme Court <br />decision in Romer v.Board of County Commissioners for the County of <br />14e1d, 19 Brief Times Reporter 942 (Colo. 1995). The Counties' <br />Letter is accompanied by a legal memorandum that argues that 34-32- <br />:L11(7) is explicit in exempting counties from reclamation fees and <br />inancial assurances as follows: <br />Government subdivisions working on public roads and using <br />mined materials for the task are exempt from the fee and <br />financial assurance requirements of the Mined Land <br />Reclamation Act, whether such activity is conducted under <br />contract with the state transportation department or <br />otherwise. Thus the category of "Special permits" <br />mentioned in the section's title includes those permits <br />issued to government subdivision operators without the <br />payment of a fee, among others also described. 1 <br />As di~:cussed below, I have concluded that the above-referenced <br />opinion is partially correct insofar as it applies to construction <br />of public roads and extends to application fees and financial <br />assurance requirements. The exemption does not extend to the <br />:statutory requirement to pay annual fees. <br />I:2. Discussion <br />The statutory provision at issue occurs in subsection 34-32-111(7), <br />C'. R.S. (1995 Repl. Vol.) and provides, in relevant part: <br />In the case where a governmental subdivision, acting as <br />a~z operator, requires a permit solely for the purpose of <br />mining construction materials for the construction of <br />public roads under a contract with the state department <br />o:E highways, or otherwise; the governmental subdivision <br />shall be exempted from the requirements of paragraphs (c) <br />acid (d) of subsection (2) of this section. <br />Faragr:iphs (c) and (d) of subsection (2) of section 34-32-111 <br />Provide that the application for a section 111 permit shall consist <br />cf: <br />(c) The application fee as specified in section 34-32-127(2); and <br />(d) i~ financial warranty in the amount of two thousand five <br />hundre;d dollars per acre. <br />