16 Tex. Admin. Code § 12.80 - Procedures: Initial Processing, Record Keeping, and Notification Requirements
(a) Initial
processing procedures.
(1) Within 30 days of
receipt of a petition, the Commission shall notify the petitioner by certified
mail whether or not the petition is complete under §§
12.79(b) or (c)
of this title (relating to Procedures: Petitions). Complete, for a designation
or termination petition, means that the information required under §§
12.79(b) or (c)
of this title (relating to Procedures: Petitions) has been provided.
(2) The Commission shall determine whether
any identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the petition,
without requiring any showing from the petitioner. If the Commission finds
there are not any identified coal resources in that area, it shall return the
petition to the petitioner with a statement of the findings.
(3) If the Commission determines that the
petition is incomplete, frivolous, or that the petitioner does not meet the
requirement of §
12.79(a) of this
title (relating to Procedures: Petitions), it shall return the petition to the
petitioner with a written statement of the reasons for the determination and
the categories of information needed to make the petition complete. A frivolous
petition is one in which the allegations of harm lack serious merit or
available information shows that either no mineable coal resources exist in the
petitioned area or the petitioned area is not or could not be subject to
related surface coal mining operations and surface impacts incident to an
underground coal mine or an adjoining surface mine.
(4) When considering a petition for an area
which was previously and unsuccessfully proposed for designation, the
Commission shall determine if the new petition presents significant new
allegations of facts with evidence which tends to establish the allegations. If
the petition does not contain such materials, the Commission may choose not 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 where the facts were considered.
(5) The Commission shall notify the person
who submits a petition of any application for a permit received which includes
any area covered by the petition.
(6) The Commission may determine not to
process any petition received in so far as it pertains to lands for which an
administratively complete permit application has been filed and the first
newspaper notice has been published. Based on such a determination, the
Commission may issue a decision on a complete and accurate permit application
and shall inform the petitioner why the Commission cannot consider the part of
the petition pertaining to the proposed permit area.
(b) Public notice and hearing procedures.
(1) Promptly after a petition is received,
the Commission shall notify the general public of the receipt of the petition
by a newspaper advertisement placed in the locale of the area covered by the
petition. The notice shall be published in the county newspaper of the largest
circulation in the county, for each county of the petitioned area and in the
Texas Register. The Commission shall make copies of the
petition available to the public and shall provide copies of the petition to
other interested governmental agencies, intervenors, persons with an ownership
interest of record in the property, and other persons known to the Commission
to have an interest in the property. Proper notice to persons with an ownership
interest of record in the property shall comply with the requirements of
applicable State law.
(2) Promptly
after the determination that a petition is complete, the Commission shall
request submissions from the general public of relevant information by a
newspaper advertisement placed once a week for two consecutive weeks in the
locale of the area covered by the petition, in the county newspaper of the
largest circulation in the county, for each county of the petitioned area, and
in the Texas Register.
(c) Right of intervention. Until three days
before the Commission holds a hearing under §
12.81 of this title (relating to
Procedures: Hearing Requirements), any person may intervene 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, and the intervenor's
name, address and telephone number.
(d) Record-keeping procedures. Beginning from
the date a petition is filed, the Commission shall compile and maintain a
record consisting of all documents relating to the petition filed with or
prepared by the Commission. The Commission shall make the record available to
the public for inspection free of charge and for copying at reasonable cost
during all normal hours at the main office of the Commission. The Commission
shall also maintain information at or near the area in which the petitioned
land is located and make this information available to the public for
inspection free of charge and for copying at reasonable cost during all normal
business hours. At a minimum, this information shall include a copy of the
petition.
Notes
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