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S.B. 169
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5 AN ACT RELATING TO COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION; SPECIFYING REASONS
6 FOR THE DENIAL OF A PERMIT TO MINE COAL; AND MAKING TECHNICAL
7 AMENDMENTS.
8 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
9 AMENDS:
10 40-10-11 (Subsection (5) is Repealed 09/30/04), as last amended by Chapter 99, Laws of Utah
11 1997
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
13 Section 1. Section 40-10-11 (Subsection (5) is Repealed 09/30/04) is amended to read:
14 40-10-11 (Subsection (5) is Repealed 09/30/04). Division action on permit application
15 -- Requirements for approval -- Schedule of applicant's mining law violation -- Restoration
16 of prime farmland.
17 (1) (a) (i) [
18 or a revision or renewal of [
19 by this chapter[
20 a [
21 of, or deny the permit application [
22 (ii) The division shall make its decision within a reasonable time set by the division and
23 notify the applicant in writing.
24 (b) The applicant for a permit, or a revision of a permit[
25 establishing that [
26 (c) Within ten days after the granting of a permit, the division shall [
27 local governmental officials in the local political subdivision in which the area of affected land [
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2 (i) notification that a permit has been issued; and [
3 (ii) a description of the location of the land.
4 (2) No permit or revision application shall be approved unless the application affirmatively
5 demonstrates and the division finds in writing on the basis of the information set forth in the
6 application, or from information otherwise available which will be documented in the approval and
7 made available to the applicant, that:
8 (a) the permit application is accurate and complete and that all [
9 chapter have been complied with;
10 (b) the applicant has demonstrated that the reclamation [
11 under this chapter can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit
12 application;
13 (c) the assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining in the area
14 on the hydrologic balance specified in Subsection 40-10-10(2)(c) has been made by the division
15 and the proposed operation [
16 hydrologic balance outside the permit area;
17 (d) the area proposed to be mined is not included within an area:
18 (i) designated as unsuitable for surface coal mining pursuant to Section 40-10-24; or [
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20 (ii) under study for [
21 [
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23 to January 1, 1977, [
24 made to the operation [
25 (e) the proposed surface coal mining operation would not:
26 (i) [
27 irrigated or naturally subirrigated[
28 (A) undeveloped range lands [
29 valley floors [
30 (B) lands [
31 [
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2 (ii) [
3 water systems that supply [
4 Subsection (2)(e) shall not affect those surface coal mining operations which in the year preceding
5 August 3, 1977, produced coal in commercial quantities and were located within or adjacent to
6 alluvial valley floors or had obtained specific permit approval by the division to conduct surface
7 coal mining operations within these alluvial valley floors; and
8 (f) [
9 estate, the applicant has submitted to the division:
10 (i) the written consent of the surface owner to the extraction of coal by surface mining
11 methods[
12 [
13 (A) increase or diminish any property [
14 state [
15 (B) authorize the board or division to adjudicate property right disputes;
16 (ii) a conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract the coal by surface
17 mining methods; or
18 (iii) [
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20 surface-subsurface legal relationship [
21 (3) (a) (i) The applicant shall file with [
22 of any [
23 or its implementing regulations, this chapter, any state or federal program or law approved under
24 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1201 et seq., and any
25 law, rule, or regulation of the United States, State of Utah, or any department or agency in the
26 United States pertaining to air or water environmental protection incurred by the applicant in
27 connection with any surface coal mining operation during the three-year period prior to the date
28 of application.
29 (ii) The [
30 resolution of any notice of violation.
31 (b) [
1 that any surface coal mining operation owned or controlled by the applicant is currently in
2 violation of this chapter or other laws and regulations referred to in this Subsection (3), the permit
3 shall not be issued until the applicant submits proof that the violation has been corrected or is in
4 the process of being corrected to the satisfaction of the division, department, or agency which has
5 jurisdiction over the violation[
6 (c) No permit shall be issued to an applicant after a finding by the board, after opportunity
7 for hearing, that the applicant, or the operator specified in the application, controls or has
8 controlled mining operations with a demonstrated pattern of willful violations of this chapter, the
9 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1201 et seq., the
10 implementing federal regulations, any state or federal programs enacted under the Surface Mining
11 Control and Reclamation Act, or other provisions of the approved Utah program of such nature
12 and duration with such resulting irreparable damage to the environment as to indicate an intent not
13 to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
14 (4) (a) (i) In addition to finding the application in compliance with Subsection (2), if the
15 area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland pursuant to division rules, the division shall
16 grant a permit to mine on prime farmland if the division finds in writing that the operator has the
17 technological capability to restore the mined area within a reasonable time to an equivalent or
18 higher [
19 levels of management and can meet the soil reconstruction standards specified in division rules.
20 (ii) Except for compliance with Subsection (2), the requirements of this subsection shall
21 apply to all permits issued after August 3, 1977.
22 (b) [
23 1977, or to any revisions or renewals of [
24 operations for which a permit was issued prior to August 3, 1977.
25 (5) (a) After October 24, 1992, the prohibition of Subsection (3) [
26 a permit application[
27 occurred at a surface coal mining operation on lands eligible for remining under a permit held by
28 the person making the application.
29 (b) As used in this subsection, the term "violation" has the same meaning as the term has
30 under Subsection (3).
31 (c) Subsection (5) is repealed September 30, 2004.
Legislative Review Note
as of 2-3-98 9:56 AM
A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel
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