Southwestern Colorado’s mining potential is once again gaining more attention due to changes in federal regulations and a greater demand for minerals, particularly for green energy technologies. With rising investments in mining activity, San Miguel has noticed an increase in mining exploration permit applications in recent years. To help mitigate the environmental impact of these activities and to make the region’s mining regulations more cohesive, the county is updating the Land Use Code (section 6-3) regulations.
With the mining LUC amendment, San Miguel County aims to streamline mining regulations to protect the environment and increase oversight of “ancillary activities,” including transporting materials and site recovery.
“The uptick in exploration is real. And in my mind, although I’m not an expert, when you go exploring for something, it usually means that you’ve got a notion that what you’re looking for is present at some level,” Commissioner Lance Waring said. Waring was one of the people who encouraged the San Miguel County Planning Commission to look into updating the LUC several years ago.
“My desire here is to get ahead of potential mining development mining operations by having updated regulations that reflect the changes in our county,” Waring added.
The San Miguel County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) and the Planning Commission held a joint work session on Thursday, March 13 to go over the most recent draft of the mining draft regulations, following a public comment period.
“This is a regulatory approach. The intent of our mining regulations is to mitigate the impacts of the proposed activity,” Planning Director Kaye Simonson said during the meeting.
The draft mining regulations will define “mining operations” to encompass hardrock minerals, construction materials and coal. Federal and state regulations have different rules for each. The aim of the county’s new mining regulations is to mitigate the impacts of development and mineral exploration — while complementing and not competing with federal and state regulations. These mining regulations mainly pertain to private activity on federal land.
“There’s an interrelation of federal law and permitting, state law and permitting, and then local law and permitting,” Simonson said. “The regulations are focused on mitigating impacts of the activity, not on dictating whether or not mining may occur on federal land. The mining regulations are intended to complement, not conflict with federal and state regulations.”
Sometimes this means that federal or state rules will supersede the LUC mining codes.
“We recognize that federal and state regulations may preempt San Miguel County’s regulations,” Simonson said.
The idea is to lower the harmful effects of mining activity, and it is not the aim of the LUC amendment to decide whether to authorize mining or mineral exploration on federal land.
With the updated regulations, applicants for mining permits will be required to provide reports, plans and studies that analyze the impacts of their project as well as a plan to mitigate those impacts. Emergency procedures are also a required standard to authorize mining operations.
“An applicant for mining would be required to provide reports, plans and studies that analyze the impacts of the project and explain in those materials how the applicant can mitigate those impacts,” Simonson said.
The design of the draft mining regulations is similar to the county’s updated solar, which were completed in 2024 — although the solar rules concentrate on siting and construction, whereas the updated mining protections will address the effects of operations, such as blasting, noise, vibration and environmental impacts. The county’s code will also regulate milling and processing.
On federal land, mining and exploratory applications do require environment protection plans involving wildlife managers like CPW, and the county’s updated regulations will also likely incorporate robust wildlife protections.
The county’s mining regulations will add on to other rules to protect threatened species like the Gunnison sage-grouse, including the BLM Gunnison sage-grouse Resource Management Plan (RMP), which established a framework to conserve and improve habitat for the bird on BLM lands. An amendment in October 2024 extends the buffer zone around Gunnison sage-grouse habitat to one-mile, establishes three new Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and limits surface disturbances in sage-grouse habitats.
In a series of executive orders, President Donald Trump revoked many permitting regulations in an attempt to increase domestic energy and critical mineral mining development. Trump’s declared “National Energy Emergency” sets out to “identify all agency actions that impose undue burdens on the domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals and undertake steps to revise or rescind such actions” and expedite the permitting process, among other moves to try to establish the United States’ “mineral dominance.”
The updated mining regulations will also detail regulations for milling and processing, such as application requirements and review standards for wastewater collection and treatment.
“What I am responsible for, as a commissioner, is the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the county,” Waring said.
The county will now work on a third draft of the mining draft regulations, and the next step will be a public hearing, following an extended 30-day comment period.
