GENERAL45150

• Permit No: M2002003
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 3/13/2002
• Doc Name: U.S. Forest Service Coordination
• From: DMG
• To: South Park Ranger District
• Permit Index Doc Type: General Correspondence
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

--~'~"~
STATE OF COLORADO
DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
March 13, 2002
Ms. Sazah Mayben
District Ranger
South Park Ranger District
P.O. Box 219
Fairplay, CO 80440
RE: State - U.S. Forest Service coordination, File No M-2002-003
Deaz Ms. Mayben:
Thank you for your recent correspondence concerning operations in your U.S. Forest Service
District. In your letter you have requested a number of actions of the Division of Minerals and
Geology (DMG).
GEOLOGY
RECLAMATION
MINING•SA FETY
DIVISION OF
MINERALS
Bill Owens
Governor
Greg E. Walther
Eze<utive Director
Michael B. Long
Division Director
As you know we process two levels of permitting. We issue Notices of Intent (NOI) for prospecting
and reclamation permits for mining operations. Each of these processes has different permitting and
processing time line requirements. (A complete explanation of the respective processes is available
through a review of our Rules and Regulations.) Our statute, under which we process NOI's does
not require that the applicant provide proof of right of entry. Applicants, however, for a mining and
reclamation permit must show that the applicant has a valid right of entry. Thus, we can not deny
an NOI on the basis of a lack of right of entry. We can, however, deny an application for a mining
and reclamation permit if it lacks a valid right of entry. In addition, applications for mining and
reclamation permits must be approved or denied by us within a specific statutory time period, or the
application is automatically approved. NOI's do not have a statutory time period for us to make a
decision. As a matter of policy, we process all applications timely.
While it always works best if we can coordinate our review and approval activities, that does not
always happen given our restricted and statutory review periods, We can not require an applicant to
seek your approval first. We encourage applicants to settle-up with agencies such as yours prior to
submittal to DMG. In addition, you may have requirements that are outside our statutory
performance standards that may need to be worked out between you and the applicant. If an
applicant submits their application to us prior to meeting with your staff, we must complete our
process within the allowed time period. If your agency requires additional items in the plan, then
the applicant may have to submit a revision to the DMG approved permit, or submit an entirely new
permit application.
We can require a permit revision and recalculate the reclamation bond if changes fall within our
performance standards. If not, then I assume you would then require a sepazate bond be posted.
For example, you might require some aesthetic action that is beyond the scope of our regulations.