Avoiding a Patchwork of Local Mining Regulations: Colorado Supreme Court Invalidates County Cyanide Heap Leaching Ban and Affirms State interest Mineral Development

摘要

On January 12th, the Colorado Supreme Court reversed the Colorado Court of Appeals and issued a decision that will have profound and lasting impact on mining and natural resource development in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West. In Colorado Mining Association v. Board of County Commissioners of Summit County, 2009 WL 60506 (Colo. 2009), the Court invalidated a Summit County ordinance that banned the use of toxic or acidic chemicals, such as cyanide, for mineral processing in vat or heap leach operations in the county - effectively prohibiting certain types of mining techniques common in the industry. The Court concluded that the Summit County ordinance impermissibly conflicts with and is impliedly preempted by the Mined Land Reclamation Act ("MLRA") (a state statute amended in 1993). The Court held that by specifically empowering the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board ("MLRB") to authorize and regulate the use of mining techniques that would be banned under the county ordinance, the Colorado Legislature - through the MLRA- identified a sufficiently dominant state interest in the use of such chemicals for mineral development.