30 U.S.C. § 1260 — Permit approval or denial

Page 282 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 1260 (c) Bond of applicant without separate surety; al- ternate system The regulatory authority may accept the bond of the applicant itself without separate surety when the applicant demonstrates to the satis- faction of the regulatory authority the exist- ence of a suitable agent to receive service of process and a history of financial solvency and continuous operation sufficient for authoriza- tion to self-insure or bond such amount or in lieu of the establishment of a bonding program, as set forth in this section, the Secretary may approve as part of a State or Federal program an alternative system that will achieve the ob- jectives and purposes of the bonding program pursuant to this section. (d) Deposit of cash or securities Cash or securities so deposited shall be depos- ited upon the same terms as the terms upon which surety bonds may be deposited. Such se- curities shall be security for the repayment of such negotiable certificate of deposit. (e) Adjustments The amount of the bond or deposit required and the terms of each acceptance of the appli- cant’s bond shall be adjusted by the regulatory authority from time to time as affected land acreages are increased or decreased or where the cost of future reclamation changes. (Pub. L. 95–87, title V, § 509, Aug. 3, 1977, 91 Stat. 479.) § 1260. Permit approval or denial (a) Basis for decision; notification of applicant and local government officials; burden of proof Upon the basis of a complete mining applica- tion and reclamation plan or a revision or re- newal thereof, as required by this chapter and pursuant to an approved State program or Fed- eral program under the provisions of this chap- ter, including public notification and an oppor- tunity for a public hearing as required by sec- tion 1263 of this title, the regulatory authority shall grant, require modification of, or deny the application for a permit in a reasonable time set by the regulatory authority and notify the ap- plicant in writing. The applicant for a permit, or revision of a permit, shall have the burden of es- tablishing that his application is in compliance with all the requirements of the applicable State or Federal program. Within ten days after the granting of a permit, the regulatory author- ity shall notify the local governmental officials in the local political subdivision in which the area of land to be affected is located that a per- mit has been issued and shall describe the loca- tion of the land. (b) Requirements for approval No permit or revision application shall be ap- proved unless the application affirmatively dem- onstrates and the regulatory authority finds in writing on the basis of the information set forth in the application or from information other- wise available which will be documented in the approval, and made available to the applicant, that— (1) the permit application is accurate and complete and that all the requirements of this chapter and the State or Federal program have been complied with; (2) the applicant has demonstrated that rec- lamation as required by this chapter and the State or Federal program can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit application; (3) the assessment of the probable cumu- lative impact of all anticipated mining in the area on the hydrologic balance specified in section 1257(b) of this title has been made by the regulatory authority and the proposed op- eration thereof has been designed to prevent material damage to hydrologic balance out- side permit area; (4) the area proposed to be mined is not in- cluded within an area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining pursuant to section 1272 of this title or is not within an area under study for such designation in an administra- tive proceeding commenced pursuant to sec- tion 1272(a)(4)(D) or section 1272(c) of this title (unless in such an area as to which an admin- istrative proceeding has commenced pursuant to section 1272(a)(4)(D) of this title, the oper- ator making the permit application dem- onstrates that, prior to January 1, 1977, he has made substantial legal and financial commit- ments in relation to the operation for which he is applying for a permit); (5) the proposed surface coal mining oper- ation, if located west of the one hundredth me- ridian west longitude, would— (A) not interrupt, discontinue, or preclude farming on alluvial valley floors that are ir- rigated or naturally subirrigated, but, ex- cluding undeveloped range lands which are not significant to farming on said alluvial valley floors and those lands as to which the regulatory authority finds that if the farm- ing that will be interrupted, discontinued, or precluded is of such small acreage as to be of negligible impact on the farm’s agricultural production, or (B) not materially damage the quantity or quality of water in surface or underground water systems that supply these valley floors in (A) of subsection (b)(5): Provided, That this paragraph (5) shall not af- fect those surface coal mining operations which in the year preceding August 3, 1977, (I) produced coal in commercial quantities, and were located within or adjacent to alluvial valley floors or (II) had obtained specific per- mit approval by the State regulatory author- ity to conduct surface coal mining operations within said alluvial valley floors. With respect to such surface mining operations which would have been within the purview of the foregoing proviso but for the fact that no coal was so produced in commercial quantities and no such specific permit approval was so re- ceived, the Secretary, if he determines that sub- stantial financial and legal commitments were made by an operator prior to January 1, 1977, in connection with any such operation, is author- ized, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, to enter into an agree- ment with that operator pursuant to which the Secretary may, notwithstanding any other pro- Page 283 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 1261 1 So in original. Probably should be followed by ‘‘in’’. 2 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘of the’’. vision of law, lease other Federal coal deposits to such operator in exchange for the relinquish- ment by such operator of his Federal lease cov- ering coal deposits involving such mining oper- ations, or pursuant to section 1716 of title 43, convey to the fee holder of any such coal depos- its involving such mining operations the fee title to other available Federal coal deposits in exchange for the fee title to such deposits so in- volving such mining operations. It is the policy of the Congress that the Secretary shall develop and carry out a coal exchange program to ac- quire private fee coal precluded from being mined by the restrictions of this paragraph (5) in exchange for Federal coal which is not so pre- cluded. Such exchanges shall be made under sec- tion 1716 of title 43; (6) in cases where the private mineral estate has been severed from the private surface es- tate, the applicant has submitted to the regu- latory authority— (A) the written consent of the surface owner to the extraction of coal by surface mining methods; or (B) a conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract the coal by sur- face mining methods; or (C) if the conveyance does not expressly grant the right to extract coal by surface mining methods, the surface-subsurface legal relationship shall be determined in ac- cordance with State law: Provided, That nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize the regulatory authority to adju- dicate property rights disputes. (c) Schedule of violations The applicant shall file with his permit appli- cation a schedule listing any and all notices of violations of this chapter and any law, rule, or regulation of the United States, or of any de- partment or agency in the United States per- taining to air or water environmental protec- tion incurred by the applicant in connection with any surface coal mining operation during the three-year period prior to the date of appli- cation. The schedule shall also indicate the final resolution of any such notice of violation. Where the schedule or other information available to the regulatory authority indicates that any sur- face coal mining operation owned or controlled by the applicant is currently in violation of this chapter or such other laws referred to 1 this sub- section, the permit shall not be issued until the applicant submits proof that such violation has been corrected or is in the process of being cor- rected to the satisfaction of the regulatory au- thority, department, or agency which has juris- diction over such violation and no permit shall be issued to an applicant after a finding by the regulatory authority, after opportunity for hearing, that the applicant, or the operator specified in the application, controls or has con- trolled mining operations with a demonstrated pattern of willful violations of this chapter of such nature and duration with such resulting ir- reparable damage to the environment as to indi- cate an intent not to comply with the provisions of this chapter. (d) Prime farmland mining permit (1) In addition to finding the application in compliance with subsection (b) of this section, if the area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland pursuant to section 1257(b)(16) of this title, the regulatory authority shall, after con- sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, and pursuant to regulations issued hereunder by the Secretary of 2 Interior with the concurrence of the Secretary of Agriculture, grant a permit to mine on prime farmland if the regulatory au- thority finds in writing that the operator has the technological capability to restore such mined area, within a reasonable time, to equiva- lent or higher levels of yield as non-mined prime farmland in the surrounding area under equiva- lent levels of management and can meet the soil reconstruction standards in section 1265(b)(7) of this title. Except for compliance with subsection (b), the requirements of this paragraph (1) shall apply to all permits issued after August 3, 1977. (2) Nothing in this subsection shall apply to any permit issued prior to August 3, 1977, or to any revisions or renewals thereof, or to any ex- isting surface mining operations for which a per- mit was issued prior to August 3, 1977. (e) Modification of prohibition After October 24, 1992, the prohibition of sub- section (c) shall not apply to a permit applica- tion due to any violation resulting from an un- anticipated event or condition at a surface coal mining operation on lands eligible for remining under a permit held by the person making such application. As used in this subsection, the term ‘‘violation’’ has the same meaning as such term has under subsection (c). (Pub. L. 95–87, title V, § 510, Aug. 3, 1977, 91 Stat. 480; Pub. L. 102–486, title XXV, § 2503(a), Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3102; Pub. L. 109–432, div. C, title II, § 208, Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3019.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 109–432 struck out at end ‘‘The authority of this subsection and section 1265(b)(20)(B) of this title shall terminate on September 30, 2004.’’ 1992—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102–486 added subsec. (e). § 1261. Revision of permits (a) Application and revised reclamation plan; re- quirements; extensions to area covered (1) During the term of the permit the per- mittee may submit an application for a revision of the permit, together with a revised reclama- tion plan, to the regulatory authority. (2) An application for a revision of a permit shall not be approved unless the regulatory au- thority finds that reclamation as required by this chapter and the State or Federal program can be accomplished under the revised reclama- tion plan. The revision shall be approved or dis- approved within a period of time established by the State or Federal program. The regulatory