Section 53-9-33 - Surface coal mining and reclamation permit; requisites for approval of application for permit; schedule of notices of violation; permit to mine on prime farmland; restriction on transfer of rights; modification of permit provisions(1) Upon the basis of a complete application for permit or a complete application for modification or reissuance of a permit, including public notification and an opportunity for public hearing as required by Section 53-9-37, the permit board shall issue, deny or modify the permit within the time required under Section 53-9-37 and shall notify the applicant in writing of its action within the time required under Section 53-9-39. The applicant for a permit or modification of a permit shall have the burden of establishing that its complete application is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter and regulations promulgated under this chapter. The action of the permit board shall be effective upon the initial decision by the permit board as recorded in the minutes of the permit board.(2) No permit or modification shall be issued or granted unless the application affirmatively demonstrates, and the permit board finds in writing on the basis of the information set forth in the application or from information otherwise available which shall be documented in the written findings of the permit board and made available to the applicant, that:(a) The permit application is accurate and complete, and the applicant and application have complied with all requirements of this chapter and the regulations promulgated under this chapter;(b) The applicant has demonstrated that reclamation as required by this chapter and the regulations promulgated under this chapter can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit application;(c) The assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining in the area on the hydrologic balance as specified in Section 53-9-25, has been made by the state geologist and the proposed operation has been designed to prevent material damage to hydrologic balance outside the permit area;(d) The area proposed to be mined is not included within an area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining under Section 53-9-71, or is not within an area that is the subject of an administrative proceeding for that designation commenced under Section 53-9-71; and(e) If the private coal estate has been severed from the private surface estate, the applicant shall have submitted to the permit board: (i) The written consent of the surface owners to the extraction of coal by surface mining methods; or(ii) A conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract the coal by surface mining methods. Any determination made by the permit board under paragraph (e) of this subsection shall not be construed as an adjudication of property rights.
(3) If the area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland the permit board shall issue a permit to mine on prime farmland if the permit board finds in writing that the operator has satisfied the requirements of subsection (2) of this section and has the technological capability to restore the mined area within a reasonable time to equivalent or higher levels of yield as nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area under equivalent levels of management and can meet the soil reconstruction standards in the regulations promulgated under Section 53-9-45.(4) No transfer, assignment or sale of the rights granted under any permit issued under this chapter shall be made without approval of the permit board.(5) The permit board shall, within a period of time established in regulations promulgated by the commission, review outstanding permits and may require reasonable modification of the permit provisions during the term of that permit. Any modification shall be based upon a written finding and subject to notice and hearing requirements established by this chapter and regulations promulgated under this chapter.Laws, 1979, ch. 477, §§ 15(2)-15(4); Laws, 1997, ch. 306, § 16, eff. 3/10/1997.