In re the Title, Ballot Title, Submission Clause, & Summary, Adopted April 4th, 1990, Pertaining to the Proposed Initiative on Surface Mining

797 P.2d 1275, 112 Oil & Gas Rep. 51, 14 Brief Times Rptr. 906, 1990 Colo. LEXIS 462, 1990 WL 85058
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 25, 1990
DocketNo. 90SA200
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 797 P.2d 1275 (In re the Title, Ballot Title, Submission Clause, & Summary, Adopted April 4th, 1990, Pertaining to the Proposed Initiative on Surface Mining) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Title, Ballot Title, Submission Clause, & Summary, Adopted April 4th, 1990, Pertaining to the Proposed Initiative on Surface Mining, 797 P.2d 1275, 112 Oil & Gas Rep. 51, 14 Brief Times Rptr. 906, 1990 Colo. LEXIS 462, 1990 WL 85058 (Colo. 1990).

Opinion

Justice VOLLACK

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this original proceeding under section 1-40-102(3), IB C.R.S. (1989 Supp.), Robert Michael Flanagan (Flanagan), a registered elector of the state of Colorado, challenges the legal sufficiency of the title, submission clause, and summary of an initiated measure for a proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution on the subject of surface mining on the eastern slope of the Front Range. The ballot title, submission clause, and summary were approved by the Initiative Title Setting Review Board (the Board). We affirm the Board’s action.

I.

A.

The Colorado Constitution reserves to the People the power to propose a law or constitutional amendment by means of an initiative. Colo. Const, art. V, § 1(2). The Board was created to assist in the People’s exercise of the initiative power, In re Increase of Taxes on Tobacco Products Initiative, 756 P.2d 995, 996 (Colo.1988); In re Proposed Initiative Concerning Drinking Age in Colorado, 691 P.2d 1127, 1130 (Colo.1984), and is composed of the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the director of the Office of Legislative [1277]*1277Legal Services. § 1-40-101(2), IB C.R.S. (1989 Supp.). Before a proposed law or constitutional amendment may be submitted to the voters for their approval or rejection, the Board is required to fix a title for the proposed measure, a ballot title and submission clause, and a summary. § 1-40-101(2).

Subsection 1-40-101(2) directs the Board to consider, in setting a title, “the public confusion that might be caused by misleading titles.” Subsection 1-40-101(2) also requires the Board to, “whenever practicable, avoid titles for which the general understanding of the effect of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote will be unclear.” Subsection 1-40-101(2) also provides that the title “shall correctly and fairly express the true intent and meaning” of the proposed law or constitutional amendment. Subsection 1-40-101(2) also states:

Ballot titles shall be brief, shall not conflict with those selected for any petition previously filed for the same election, and shall be in the form of a question which may be answered “yes” or “no” and which shall unambiguously state the principle of the provision sought to be added, amended, or repealed.

Subsection 1-40-101(2) requires the summary adopted by the Board to be “clear and concise.” Subsection 1-40-101(2) provides: “The summary shall be true and impartial and shall not be an argument, nor likely to create prejudice, either for or against the measure.”

Section 1-40-102(8) authorizes any registered elector to file a motion for hearing with the Secretary of State, on the basis that the titles, summary, and submission clause are “unfair” or “do not clearly express the true meaning and intent of the proposed law or constitutional amendment.” If the Board denies the motion for rehearing, the registered elector is authorized to petition this court for a review of the Board’s action. Id.

B.

Respondent Citizens Against Mountain Scars (CAMS) has proposed an initiative that prohibits surface mining of aggregate or gravel, including related activities, in the mountains along the east slope of the Front Range within view of the cities or counties of Denver, Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Boulder, Pueblo, and Fort Collins, if that mining “may scar the land surface.” The proposed initiative, which is reproduced in the appendix of this opinion, also provides that

surface mining of aggregate or gravel, including related activities, that may scar the land surface shall be prohibited within view of any of the following areas designated by the State of Colorado, any county, city and county, city, town, or other general purpose unit of local government of the State of Colorado: state and county parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, and officially designated hiking trails.

CAMS submitted the initiative to the Board, which set the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary.

The Board set the following title for the initiative:

AN AMENDMENT TO THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION PROHIBITING SURFACE MINING OF AGGREGATE OR GRAVEL, INCLUDING RELATED ACTIVITIES, THAT MAY SCAR THE LAND SURFACE ALONG THE EAST SLOPE OF THE FRONT RANGE, AND ELSEWHERE IN THE STATE, WITHIN VIEW OF PARKS, MONUMENTS, WILDLIFE REFUGES, AND HIKING TRAILS DESIGNATED BY THE STATE OF COLORADO OR BY A LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND PROVIDING FOR MINING RECLAMATION REGULATION BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

The Board designated the following ballot title and submission clause for the initiative:

SHALL THERE BE AN AMENDMENT TO THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION PROHIBITING SURFACE MINING OF AGGREGATE OR GRAVEL, INCLUDING RELATED ACTIVITIES, THAT MAY SCAR THE LAND SURFACE ALONG THE EAST SLOPE OF THE FRONT RANGE, AND ELSEWHERE [1278]*1278IN THE STATE, WITHIN VIEW OF PARKS, MONUMENTS, WILDLIFE REFUGES, AND HIKING TRAILS DESIGNATED BY THE STATE OF COLORADO OR BY A LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND PROVIDING FOR MINING RECLAMATION REGULATION BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS?

The summary prepared by the Board states:

The purpose of this amendment is to halt the destruction of scenic resources by prohibiting the surface mining of aggregate or gravel and activities related to such mining in the mountains along the east slope of the Front Range within view of Denver, Colorado Springs, Mani-tou Springs, Boulder, Pueblo, and Fort Collins. The measure also prohibits such mining and related activities within view of state and county parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, and hiking trails which have been designated by the State of Colorado or a general purpose unit of local government. Noise or pollution of any kind from such mining operations and related activities which affects such designated areas shall be prohibited. A general purpose unit of local government may also exercise the authorities specified in the section.
The Mined Land Reclamation Board shall be required to give notice to and to confer with any general purpose unit of local government that may be affected by an application or other request that may be submitted to the MLRB. Any such local government may adopt reclamation or performance bond requirements for aggregate or gravel surface mines which are in addition to or more stringent than any such requirements promulgated by the MLRB. Such requirements shall be incorporated by the MLRB as permit conditions or as conditions for performance bond release and may be enforced by the MLRB and by the local government. Any such local government may also adopt civil or criminal penalties or enforcement provisions for violations of its adopted requirements.
The measure requires that each performance bond posted by each aggregate or gravel surface mine as of January I, 1991, shall be reviewed and modified by the MLRB to ensure that it is adequate to pay all costs to reclaim any surface area disturbed by such operations and their related activities. Such review is to be completed by January 1, 1994.
All provisions of the initiative shall become effective January 1, 1992.

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Bluebook (online)
797 P.2d 1275, 112 Oil & Gas Rep. 51, 14 Brief Times Rptr. 906, 1990 Colo. LEXIS 462, 1990 WL 85058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-title-ballot-title-submission-clause-summary-adopted-april-colo-1990.