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The federal impetus of the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act <br />(CSCMRA), 14 COLO. REV. STAT. §§ 34 -33 -101 through -137 (1984 Repl. Vol.), is the <br />Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), 30 U.S.C.S. §§ 1201 <br />- 1328 [P.L. 95 -87, 91 Stat. 447 (1977)]. In its legislative findings under SMCRA, <br />Congress stated: <br />§ 1201. Findings. <br />The Congress finds and declares that— <br />(c) many surface mining operations result in disturbances of surface <br />areas that burden and adversely affect commerce and the public welfare <br />by . . . polluting the water . . . and by counteracting governmental <br />programs and efforts to conserve soil, water, and other natural resources. <br />[Emphasis supplied.] <br />The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act, 14 COLO. REV. STAT. §§ 34 -32 -101 <br />through -125 (1984 Repl. Vol.), is companion to CSCMRA. <br />The SMCRA scheme forces states in which coal mining takes place to adopt <br />standards, issue and enforce permits according to criteria set, reviewed and approved <br />by the United States, id. at §§ 1201(f), 1251(a) and (b). While the name of the <br />legislation would lead one, naively perhaps, to believe that Congress' real concern was <br />directed to surface mines, typically strip mining, the broad definition of "surface coal <br />mining operations" includes, "surface operations and surface impacts incident to an <br />underground coal mine." Id. § 1291(28)(A). This definition is basically copied into the <br />Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act (CSCMRA), id. § - 103(26)(a). <br />While SMCRA addressed a number of areas, a paramount concern was to <br />minimize coal mining disturbances to the "hydrologic balance," by "prevent[ing] to the <br />Mid - Continent Answer Brief <br />- 26 - Appeal No. 93 CA 297 <br />