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believing a violation existed, and announced a date for a public hearing on the matter in <br />front of the Board. <br />4. Section 34-32.5-109(1), C.R.S. (2003) of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the <br />Extraction of Construction Materials ("Act") requires an operator to obtain a reclamation <br />permit prior to engaging in a new mining operation. <br />5. Section 34-32.5-123 of the Act provides that any person who operates a mine without first <br />obtaining a permit shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000.00 per day nor <br />more than $5,000.00 per day for each day the land has been affected. In addition, Section <br />34-32.5-123 of the Act authorizes the Board to assess civil penalties in an amount necessary <br />to cover costs incurred by the Division in investigating an alleged violation. <br />6. Section 34-32.5-124(2) of the Act provides that if the Board determines that any provision <br />of the Act or of any permit has been violated, it may issue a cease and desist order and set <br />forth corrective actions to be undertaken by the operator. <br />Because the Operator conducted mining operations without an approved permit, it is <br />appropriate that the Boazd find the Operator in violation of Section 34-32.5-109(1) of the <br />Act. <br />Because the Operator engaged in a new operation without a permit, it is appropriate that the <br />Board assess civil penalties of not less than $1,000.00 per day nor more than $5,000.00 per <br />day for each day the land has been affected, calculated from the date of the Division <br />inspection (June 10, 2004) through the date of the Board hearing (July 29, 2004) or a total of <br />49 days. It is also appropriate to assess the Operator civil penalties of $1,019.52, based on <br />18 hours of staff time at $56.64 per hour, to cover the Division's costs to investigate this <br />violation. <br />