Mined Land Reclamation Board kicks off 2025–26 rulemaking to align hard‑rock and construction‑materials regulations

Good morning. My name is Russ Means. I'm the minerals program director, and, I'd like to welcome you to, the kickoff meeting for the, 20 25, 26, rulemaking, for both hard rock and construction materials. Today, our objective and stuff is just primarily to outline our process and stuff of what we're looking, to do and stuff over, this next period of time.

Why it matters: At the meeting, Division staff said the rulemaking is being driven by Senate Bill 25‑54 (the Legacy Mining Modernization Act), signed by Governor Polis on 05/16/2025 and set to take effect on Aug. 14, 2025, and by a desire to remove inconsistencies that have developed between the hard‑rock and construction‑materials regulations. Staff described three primary goals: incorporate new statutory language created by SB 25‑54 (including a reclamation‑only 110r hard‑rock permit), harmonize language and procedures between the two rule sets, and modernize filings through electronic submittal and financial‑warranty processes.

Division presentation and stakeholder process: Russ Means, minerals program director, said the division will run an extended informal stakeholder process before moving into the formal rulemaking required by statute. "We're trying to be as transparent as possible," Means said, describing publicly available spreadsheets of submitted comments and a schedule of monthly stakeholder meetings. He told attendees the division plans to bifurcate sessions so construction‑materials meetings occur in the morning and hard‑rock meetings in the afternoon to reduce time burdens on stakeholders.

Jeff Fugate, the division's attorney, said the redline drafts will be extensive and that most edits are intended to improve consistency rather than make substantive changes: "Very few of the changes are actually substantive." Fugate asked stakeholders to use the informal meetings to identify substantive issues and potential improvements that staff may have missed.

Timing and next steps: Staff provided a tentative calendar. Informal stakeholder meetings will be held once a month (the fourth Wednesday), with construction materials from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and hard rock from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., continuing through October and a planned combined meeting on Oct. 22. The division said it will avoid meetings in November and December and expects to publish final drafts in the Colorado Register and enter the formal rulemaking process after the holidays, with tentative rulemaking hearings for construction materials in March and for hard rock in April 2026; staff cautioned those dates are tentative and will depend on progress and stakeholder feedback. Means noted the statutory publication requirement under Colorado Revised Statutes, CRS 24‑4‑103, and explained the rule‑making hearing cannot occur fewer than 20 days after publication.

Document access and comment process: Staff said redlined drafts will be posted on the DRMS website and that copies can be requested directly (the meeting chat question asked: "When do you anticipate making the proposed changes available online?"). Means answered: "they should be available early next week." He described an online comment form that will populate a public spreadsheet of submitted edits, and asked stakeholders to keep submissions focused ("try to keep it to 1 rule and be specific as possible").

What was not decided: No formal board votes or regulatory changes were adopted at the meeting; staff framed the event as an informational kickoff and scheduling session. The board itself will take any final votes on proposed rules during the formal hearings, after publication and consideration of testimony.

Ending: Means closed by reiterating the division's intent to give stakeholders ample time to review rules 1 and 2 before the July meeting and thanked attendees for participating.