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2) Whether there is a reasonable basis in law and fact to support the Board's order <br />that Cotter pay civil penalties for violations of the Mined Land Reclamation Act that are <br />incorporated within its permit. <br />3) Whether the Board may enforce its order in the absence of a stay. <br />4) Whether the Board's orders were sufficiently clear so as to be understandable to a <br />person of ordinary intelligence. <br />5) Whether the Board properly exercised its discretion to decline further evidence on <br />an impossibility defense that it had determined, after significant testimony, was not credible. <br />STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW <br />Regulatory Background. The Act sets forth a comprehensive regulatory scheme <br />governing mineral extraction and the reclamation of land affected by such extraction. See C.R.S. <br />§§ 34 -32 -101 to 127 (2010). The legislature created the Board to carry out the regulatory <br />scheme set forth in the Act, and granted it broad authority to accomplish its directive. See C.R.S. <br />§ 34 -32- 105(4) (2010) (granting the Board jurisdiction and authority over all persons and <br />property, public and private, necessary to enforce the Act's provisions). The heart of the Act's <br />regulatory scheme is the requirement that every mining operator in Colorado obtain and maintain <br />a valid reclamation permit. See C.R.S. § 34 -32 -109 (2010). Permits represent the vehicle by <br />which the Board implements and enforces the reclamation standards adopted pursuant to the Act. <br />See C.R.S. § 34 -32 -116 (2010). In order to maintain the required permit, each operator must <br />remain in compliance with the Act and the Rules promulgated by the Board pursuant to the Act <br />( "Rules "). See C.R.S. §§ 34- 32- 109(5)(a) and 103(6)(a)(I) (2010). The Act requires that the <br />Board holds hearings to enforce its standards when necessary. See C.R.S. §§ 34 -32 -110 -112 and <br />