ENFORCE27418

• Permit No: C1987072
• IBM Index Class Name: Enforcement
• Doc Date: 3/31/1987
• Doc Name: MODIFICATION OF OSM CESSATION ORDER
• Violation No.: CV0000000
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

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STr~TE OF COLORADO
Roy Romer, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
MINED LAND RECLAMATION DIVISION
DAVID C. SHELTON, Director
May 1, 1987
Mr, Robert Hagen
Albuquerque Field Office
Office of Surface Mining
625 Silver Avenue, S. W.
Suite 310
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87107
RE: Reasons to Vacate Federal Cessation Orders
Dear Mr, Hagen:
One of the issues I discussed with you pertaining to the recent La Plata Mine
Cessation Order (C.O.) was whether the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) would
vacate the Federal C. O. if the state issued a C. O, in its place. The initial
response I received from you at our April 16, 1987 meeting was that this could
not be done. This conclusion was based on a discussion one of your staff had
with the Department of the Interior Solicitor, Stewart Sanderson, who is
located in Denver. The firmness of your response precluded further discussion
of the matter during that meeting. Further, I was not prepared to argue with
you and your staff the merits of that position; that meeting being the first
time I was informed of the solicitor's opinion.
I was, however, perplexed by your position, It did not make sense to me
legally, nor did it make sense as a matter of policy with respect to state
primacy. After the meeting, I read the pertinent parts of the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and thought that it could be read more
broadly than represented in the April 16 meeting. I called you on April 21,
and expressed my concern to you and asked if you would mind if I talked to
Stewart Sanderson about the issue. You had no objection to my doing so.
I called the Denver Solicitor's Office and Stewart Sanderson was out of the
office fora few days and unavailable. I was directed to John Kunz, another
solicitor assigned to OSM matters. I explained the issue to Mr. Kunz who said
he would review it, The key points I presented to him are as follows:
The Albuquerque Field Office (AFO) had represented to me that a C.O.
could not be vacated by the Secretary for reasons other than a
finding that the violation did not occur (See 521(a)(2)),
423 Centennial Building, 1313 Sherman Street Denver, Colorado 80203-2273 Tel. [phone]