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..- III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII STATE OF COLORADO DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY Department o(Natural Resources 1313 Sherman 51., Room 215 Denver, CO 80203 Phone: 1]03) 866-3567 FAX DO31 832-8106 February 21, 1994 Mr. Robert Hagen Office of Surface Mining Albuquerque Field Office 505 Marquette Ave Suite 1200 Albuquerque New Mexico 87102 RE: Ten-Day Notice 91-02-116-05, Fruita Mines No. 1 and 2 Dear Mr. Hagen: of ooh ,~`~ 9 ~~ •~~ ~/B /6~ Roy Rome Governor Michael e. long D rvision Direaa On February 16, 1994 the Division received your correspondence pertaining to the above referenced Ten-Day Notice. In its correspondence, the AFO requested that the Division determine which form of alternative enforcement it would pursue in regard to the Fruita Mines. The AFO correspondence addresses various portions of the Colorado regulations pertaining to alternative enforcement, and states that the bond cannot be forfeited because a pattern of violations has not been found. The Division is concerned that in its correspondence, the Albuquerque Field Office has mis-interpreted the requirements of the Colorado Regulations, and thus inappropriately requests the State to take specific measures while ignoring other options available to the State in conformance with the Regulations. It is the position of Colorado that as the Regulatory Authority, the State may exercise its discretion in the implementation of the program in instances where the regulations provide appropriate alternatives. The Colorado Rules for Coal Mining implement the provisions of the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. The Rules at Section 5.04, which implement the statutory citations contained in the AFO correspondence, clearly provide the State appropriate discretion in their implementation. The Colorado Rules state that, regarding each of the alternative enforcement options available to it, the Division m~ exercise its authority to proceed. The State asserts that it has been provided the statutory authority by the Act, and the regulatory authority provided by the Cooperative Agreement, to exercise this discretion.