(a) Within 30 days
of receipt of a petition, the Department will notify the petitioner by
certified mail whether or not the petition is complete as required by §
86.123 (relating to procedures:
petitions). If the 30-day requirement of this subsection cannot be met due to
the staff limitations of the Department, the Department may process the
petitions in accordance with the priority system authorized by subsection
(b)(2). Within this 30-day period, the Department will also notify an applicant
with pending surface mining operation permit applications in the area covered
by the petition.
(1) The Department will
determine whether identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the
petition. If the Department finds there are not identified coal resources in
that area, it may return the petition to the petitioner with a statement of the
findings.
(2) The Department may
reject petitions for designations or terminations of designations which are
frivolous. A frivolous petition is one in which the allegations of harm lack
serious merit. Once the requirements of §
86.123 are met, each accepted
petition will be considered and acted upon by the Department under the
procedures of this part.
(3) When
considering a petition for an area which was previously and unsuccessfully
proposed for designation, the Department will determine if the new petition
presents new allegations of fact. If the petition does not contain new
allegations of fact, the Department will refuse to consider the petition and
may return the petition to the petitioner, with a statement of its findings and
a reference to the record of the previous designation proceedings when the
facts were considered.
(4) If the
Department determines that the petition is frivolous, it will return the
petition to the petitioner, with a written statement of the reasons for the
determination. If the petition is incomplete, the Department will indicate the
categories of information needed to make the petition complete. The Department
will hold the incomplete petition until the petitioner has been given 30 days
to make the application complete.
(5) The Department will notify the person who
submits a petition of an application for a permit received which proposes to
include an area covered by the petition.
(6) The Department may determine not to
process any petition for a designation under §
86.122 (relating to criteria for
designating lands as unsuitable) insofar as it pertains to an area for which an
administratively complete surface mining operation permit application has been
filed and the first newspaper notice has been published. The Department will
provide written notice to the petitioner with a statement of its findings. Once
a petition has been returned to the petitioner under this section, the
Department may proceed to issue a decision on a permit application received for
mining in the area included within the petition.
(b) Within 3 weeks after the determination
that a petition is complete, the Department will send notice of receipt of the
petition to, and request submissions of relevant information from, other
interested governmental agencies, the petitioner, intervenors and other persons
known to the Department to own or have an interest in the property.
(1) Within 3 weeks after the determination
that a petition is complete, the Department will notify the general public of
the receipt of the petition and request submissions of relevant information by
a newspaper advertisement placed once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in the
locale of the area covered by the petition, in the newspaper of largest
circulation in the region, and in the Pennsylvania
Bulletin.
(2) The
Department may establish a priority system to decide the order in which
petitions or classes of petitions submitted under this section will be
processed. A high priority will be given to petitions which include areas where
surface mining operation permit applications are pending.
(c) Until 3 days before the Department holds
a hearing under §
86.125 (relating to procedures:
hearing requirements), a person may become an intervenor in the proceeding by
filing allegations of facts describing how the designation determination
directly affects the intervenor, supporting evidence, a short statement
identifying the petition to which the allegations pertain, a request for
intervenor status and the name, address and telephone number.
(d) Beginning immediately after a complete
petition is filed, the Department will compile and maintain a record consisting
of documents relating to the petition filed with or prepared by the Department.
The Department will make the record available for public inspection free of
charge, and copying at reasonable cost, during normal business hours at the
Department's district mining office in the county or multicounty area in which
the land petitioned is located, and at the main office of the
Department.
(e) Prior to designating
land areas unsuitable for surface mining operations, the Department will
prepare a detailed statement, using existing and available information on the
potential resources of the area, the demand for resources, and the impact of
the designation on the environment, the economy and the supply of
coal.
(f) The Department will
prepare a recommendation on each complete petition received under this section
and submit it to the EQB within 12 months of receipt of the complete
petition.
Notes
The
provisions of this § 86.124 adopted December 19, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 4789,
effective 7/31/1982, 12 Pa.B.
2382; amended July 30, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2473, effective
7/31/1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382;
amended June 15, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3383, effective 7/27/1991, 21 Pa.B. 3316; amended December 13,
1996, effective 12/14/1996, 26
Pa.B. 5962; amended November 28, 1997, effective
11/29/1997, 27 Pa.B. 6186;
amended October 8, 1999, effective 10/9/1999, 29 Pa.B.
5289.
The provisions of this § 86.124 amended under
the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P. S. §§
1396.1-1396.19a); the Coal Refuse
Disposal Control Act (52 P. S. §§
30.51-30.66); The Clean Streams Law
(35
P. S. §§
691.1-691.1001); sections 1920-A of
The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §§
510-20 and
510-30).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
86.6 (relating to extraction of
coal incidental to government-financed construction or government-financed
reclamation projects); 25 Pa. Code §
86.37 (relating to criteria for
permit approval or denial); 25 Pa. Code §
86.103 (relating to procedures);
25 Pa. Code §
86.121 (relating to areas
designated unsuitable for mining); 25 Pa. Code §
86.126 (relating to procedures:
decision); 25 Pa. Code §
86.127 (relating to data base and
inventory system requirements); and 25 Pa. Code §
86.130 (relating to areas
designated as unsuitable for
mining).
