Ill. Admin. Code tit. 62, § 280.20 - General Provisions
The following regulations shall apply to all surface coal mining operations:
a) Determinations
1) All requests for a determination must be
submitted to the Regulatory Authority in writing. Each submission shall set
forth facts necessary to the determinations, the specific request requiring
action and contain a citation to the Federal Regulation Section involved.
Letters of request for determination shall be attested as to the truth of the
facts stated therein and notarized.
2) Acknowledgement of receipt of a request
for a determination will state:
A) Notice that
the request is incomplete and that additional information is
required.
B) Notice that the
request appears to be complete.
3) All determinations shall be available for
public inspection at the office of the Authority .
b) Deadlines. All persons engaged in surface
coal mining operations are required to meet all deadlines set forth in the
Federal Regulations for submitting requests for determination of compliance
with the performance standards. The honoring of requests for determination
after federal deadlines have expired shall not be binding upon the Office of
Surface Mining nor any person other than the Regulatory Authority, and such
requests shall not constitute a bar or defense to federal
enforcement.
c) Conflicts
1) In the event a permittee believes there is
a conflict within a combined permit between conditions imposed by Section 4 and
conditions imposed by Section 17, the permittee shall request a finding by the
Authority.
2) The request shall set
out the alleged conflicting conditions, including the pertinent rules and
facts, and may include comments by the permittee. The permittee shall also
include a statement as to which condition or rule is more stringent.
Regulations which provide for control of surface coal mining operations, and as
to which there is no similar provision in the Federal Act or Section 17
Regulations, shall be construed consistent with Section 17 Regulations.
Conflicts shall not be deemed to exist unless conformance with a given standard
or condition significantly interferes with or precludes conformity with another
standard or condition.
d) Stringency. The Federal Surface
Regulations shall apply to all surface coal mining operations in connection
with surface mining of coal in Illinois. The Federal Underground Mine
Regulations shall apply to all surface coal mining operations in connection
with underground coal mines in Illinois. Standards used and conditions imposed
in the administration and enforcement of Section 17 shall be no more stringent
than required by the Federal Act and Federal Regulations thereunder. If any
other provision of the Illinois Act, or any provision of the Section 4
Regulations, or a provision of any other State law or regulation thereunder,
now or hereafter effective, provides for more stringent land use and
environmental control standards or conditions upon surface coal mining
operations than the Federal Act or Regulations, it shall be applicable and
enforceable in accordance with its terms. The Regulatory Authority shall
determine which of any conflicting standards or conditions are more stringent,
taking into account factors of technological practicability, cost,
environmental protection and the goal of reclamation to optimal
conditions.
e) Permit Applications.
Applications shall be filed with the Regulatory Authority , Land Reclamation
Division, at its offices in Springfield, Illinois, and shall, at a minimum,
contain information sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant will comply
with all requirements of the Illinois Act , Section 17 Regulations, and, if
applicable, Section 4 Regulations. The application shall be submitted on forms
provided by the Regulatory Authority, with supplements as deemed
necessary.
f) Requirement of a
Permit. No person shall open, develop or operate a surface coal mining
operation without a permit issued by the Authority, or without a permit
expressly deemed to exist under these Regulations, nor shall any person open,
develop or operate a surface coal mining operation except in compliance with
such permit and determinations of the Authority.
1) All existing surface mines must possess a
Section 4 permit which incorporates Section 17 conditions.
2) All existing underground coal mines must
possess a Section 17 permit.
3) All
new surface mines which are subject to Section 4 must possess a combined
permit .
4) All new underground coal
mines must possess a Section 17 permit.
5) All other new surface coal mining
operations which are not subject to Section 4 or exempt and under Section 17
must possess a Section 17 permit.
6) All operations to recover coal from a
deposit (mine waste disposal site) that is not in its natural geological
location (carbon recovery operations), if they have not already done so, must
complete and submit a permit application form provided by the Department for a
Section 17 permit. Carbon recovery operations may continue in operation, or in
preparation to operate, after September 22, 1981, only if a completed
application form was received by that date, pending a final decision by the
Department. For operations contemplated during the interim period between
September 22, 1981, and eight months after permanent program approval, if no
application was filed by September 22, 1981, no operation may commence or
continue until such time as the operator submits and the Department issues the
interim permit. All new and existing carbon recovery operations are subject to
the performance standards of 30 CFR 715, as adopted by Section
280.50 of
these regulations until eight months after a state permanent program is
approved, or until a permanent program permit is issued, whichever is
earlier.
g) Federal Act
Prohibitions. Subject to valid existing rights as determined in writing by the
Regulatory Authority, no surface coal mining operations except those which
existed August 3, 1977, shall be permitted:
1)
on any lands within the boundaries of units of the National Park System, the
National Wildlife Refuge Systems, the National System of Trails, the National
Wilderness Preservation System, the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, including
study rivers designated under Section 5 (a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (
16 U.S.C. 127.1 et seq.) and National Recreation Areas designated by Act of
Congress:
2) on any Federal lands
within the boundaries of any national forest: Provided, however, that surface
coal mining operations may be permitted on such lands if the Secretary of
Interior finds that there are no significant recreational, timber, economic, or
other values which may be incompatible with such surface mining operations, and
surface operations and impacts are incident to an underground coal
mine;
3) which will adversely
affect any publicly owned park or places included in the National Register of
Historic Sites unless approved jointly by the Regulatory Authority and the
federal, state, or local agency with jurisdiction over the park or the historic
site;
4) within one hundred feet of
the outside right-of-way line of any public road, except where mine access
roads or haulage roads join such right-of-way line and except that the
Regulatory Authority may permit such roads to be relocated or the area affected
to lie within one hundred feet of such road, if after public notice and
opportunity for public hearing in the locality a written finding is made that
the interests of the public and the landowners affected thereby will be
protected; or
5) within three
hundred feet from any occupied dwelling, unless waived by the owner thereof,
nor within three hundred feet of any public building, school, church,
community, or institutional building, public park, or within one hundred feet
of a cemetery.
h) Time
for Final Action. Final action on an application shall occur within 120 days of
receipt of a complete application by the Regulatory Authority unless time for
such action is waived by the applicant. For surface coal mining operations
subject to Section 4 requirements, the deadline for final action may be tolled
by notice pursuant to Section 4 Regulations. If no final action occurs within
the time in which final action is required, the applicant upon written notice
to the Regulatory Authority may deem the application denied. The Regulatory
Authority shall acknowledge the receipt of a complete application in writing,
noting the date of receipt.
i)
Violations
1) No person shall open, develop
or operate a surface coal mining operation except in compliance with these
regulations.
2) No person shall
perform any act in connection with the opening, developing or operation of a
surface coal mining operation prior to obtaining a permit, determination ,
approval, exemption, finding or other authorization where such permit,
determination , approval, exemption, finding or other authorization is required
by these regulations or the Federal Regulations.
3) The fact that a person , permittee, owner
or operator is , or would be, entitled to a favorable ruling on a request for a
determination , approval, exemption, finding or other authorization shall not
constitute a defense to an enforcement proceeding brought for failure to timely
request a determination , approval, exemption, finding or other
authorization.
j) Maps
Required. All persons conducting surface coal mining and reclamation operations
must have on file two copies of an accurate map of the operation or permit area
at a scale of 1 inch to 400 feet or larger, showing, as of May 3, 1978, lands
in the permit area from which coal had not yet been removed and the lands
disturbed and structures used to facilitate mining as of that date. One copy of
the map must be on file with the Authority , and one copy must be on file with
the Regional Director , Office of Surface Mining, Region 3, P.O. Box 44294,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204.
k) It
shall be the policy of the Regulatory Authority to honor any court decision of
competent jurisdiction that is binding upon and directed to the Office of
Surface Mining , respecting the interpretation or enforcement of 30 CFR, and the
initial environmental protection regulations of the Secretary of the Interior.
Persons believing that such court decisions require the alteration or deletion
of any of these Regulations, or affect interpretation thereof, are encouraged
to state their conclusions in writing to the Authority , together with citation
of the appropriate court order.
Notes
Amended at 6 Ill. Reg. 1, effective January 14, 1982
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