Title 9

(a) All fees and penalties collected under the provisions of this article shall be deposited in the General Fund of the State Treasury. (b) All funds received from the forfeiture of bonds, sureties, cash, or governmental securities shall be placed in the State Treasury and credit…

Any act authorized to be done by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations of the State of Alabama may be performed by the inspector, assistant inspector or any employee of the department when designated by the director. The superintendent may adopt and promulgate re…

The provisions of this article shall not apply to surface mining activities of the State Department of Transportation or any city, county or municipality incident to their activities in constructing, repairing and maintaining the public road system in Alabama. The provisions of t…

It is intended that this article shall supplement existing law regarding the inspection or regulation of mining, water pollution and water impoundment and that only provisions of such law which directly conflict with or are inconsistent with this article are hereby repealed to th…

Unless clearly indicated otherwise by the context, as used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) AFFECTED LAND. The area of land from which overburden has been removed or upon which overburden has been deposited after October 1, 1970. (2) CONTEMPOR…

The objective of this article is to provide for the safe and reasonable reclamation of lands upon which surface disturbances will be created by certain types of surface mining so as to protect the taxable value of property and preserve natural resources within the state and to pr…

(a) No operator shall engage in any surface mining, as defined in this article, after October 1, 1970, without a valid permit from the department to engage in the surface mining. A separate permit shall be required for each such surface mining operation that is not contiguous to …

(a) Any operator desiring a permit shall file an application with the department upon a form furnished by the department containing all of the following: (1) A brief description of the tract or tracts of land and the estimated number of acres to be affected by the applicant’s sur…

(a) An operator desiring to amend a permit issued to him to include additional land may file an amended application with the department. Upon receipt of the amended application, such increase in the bond or surety as may be required under the provisions of this article and paymen…

(a) Every operator to whom a permit is issued pursuant to this article and who engages in surface mining on lands described in the permit shall: (1) Submit to the department, no later than 90 days after expiration of the permit period, a map or aerial photograph showing the locat…

(a)(1) Any bond provided in this article to be filed with the department by the operator shall be in the form as the secretary prescribes, payable to the State of Alabama and conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all applicable requirements of this article and co…

Inspectors of the department may enter upon the lands of the landowner at any reasonable time for the purpose of inspection to determine whether the provisions of this article have been complied with. (Acts 1969, No. 399, p. 773, §8.)

Any record, report or information required to be submitted to the regulatory authority by a licensee or permittee pursuant to this article shall be available to the public, except as provided elsewhere in this article and except that upon a verified representation to the regulato…

The regulatory authority is hereby vested with the authority and responsibility for consulting with all institutions of this state which own lands or mineral interests relating to all coal leases proposed to be entered into by such institutions. The regulatory authority is hereby…

Any person engaged in the business of coal brokering or operating a coal sales agency in the State of Alabama and each and every person, corporation or other legal entity operating an electric system for the sale of electric energy for resale, sale to the public or sale to its me…

(a) All sums received through the payment of fees, the forfeiture of bonds, the recovery of civil penalties or appropriations by the Legislature shall be placed in the State Treasury and credited to an open account designated as the Alabama Surface Mining Fund. This fund, which s…

The regulatory authority shall make every effort to obtain maximum reimbursement from the Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for the costs of performing its duties under this article. The regulatory authority is authorized to accept, administer a…

(a) If Public Law 95-87, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder or any part of such Public Law 95-87, is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, then such provisions of this article, or such rules or regulations as were adopted in order to comply with the p…

This article is cumulative and is intended to preempt local, municipal, county and state regulation of surface coal mining operations and to supplement existing state law and no part hereof shall be construed to repeal or supersede an existing state law specifically enacted for t…

This article shall become effective immediately upon: (1) Its passage and approval by the Governor, or upon its otherwise becoming a law; and (2) Upon the approval of the state regulatory program by the Secretary of Interior pursuant to Section 503 of P. L. 95-87, 30 U.S.C. §1253…

This article shall be known and may be cited as “The Alabama Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1981.” (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §1.)

(a) The objective of this article is to provide for the safe, responsible and reasonable reclamation of lands upon which surface disturbances will be created by surface mining and the surface effects of underground mining so as to protect the taxable value of property and preserv…

The following words and phrases, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings: (1) APPLICANT. Any person or legal entity who or which applied for a license or a permit to engage in surface coal mining operations. (2) APPROXIMATE…

(a) There is continued as previously established the Alabama Surface Mining Reclamation Commission under the name of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission for the purpose of transition in implementing and enforcing this article and carrying out the intent and policy stated in Sec…

In addition to any other powers conferred on it by law, the commission shall have the power to do all of the following: (1) Adopt, amend, suspend, repeal, and enforce reasonably necessary rules and regulations, provided such rules and regulations shall not be more stringent than …

In adopting, amending or repealing any rule, including any regulation or standard, the commission shall observe the requirements of the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act (Section 41-22-1 et seq.). Any person may request written notification of the commission’s rule-making acti…

No officer or employee of the commission performing any function or duty under this article, shall have a direct or indirect financial interest in underground or surface coal mining operations. Whoever knowingly violates the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be p…

(a) There is created a Division of Hearings and Appeals within the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to enforce this article. The division shall have such powers and authority as required by law and as delegated by the director. (b) The commission may hire or contract with hearin…

(a) No hearing officer shall participate in a hearing if he or she has an interest therein. At any such hearing all testimony shall be given under oath and be recorded, but need not be transcribed unless an appeal is made. (b) The manner in which hearings before hearing officers …

Procedures for hearings and appeals under this article shall be made as herein provided and in accordance with such general rules and regulations as the regulatory authority may prescribe. These procedures shall take precedence over the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, which…

(a) There is hereby created a Division of Surface Mining Control and Reclamation within the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to enforce the provisions of this article. The division shall have such powers and authority as may be delegated by the director of the commission. (b)(1)…

(a) All surface coal mining operations shall be subject to this article, except as excluded in Section 9-16-99. (b) No person shall engage in or carry out on lands within the state any surface coal mining operations unless such person is a citizen of the United States or, if not …

(a) No person shall engage in surface coal mining operations at a particular location except as a subcontractor of the permittee of that location until such person has been issued a permit by the regulatory authority for that location in accordance with the provisions of this sec…

(a) Each application for a surface coal mining reclamation permit under this article shall be accompanied by a fee as determined by the regulatory authority, but not to exceed the anticipated cost of reviewing, administering, and enforcing the permit. In no event shall the permit…

(a) Each reclamation plan submitted as part of a permit application pursuant to the provisions of this article shall include, in the degree of detail necessary to demonstrate that reclamation required can be accomplished, a statement of: (1) The identification of the lands subjec…

(a) Upon the basis of a complete mining application and reclamation plan or a revision or renewal thereof, as required by this article, following public notification and opportunity for a public hearing as required by Section 9-16-88, the regulatory authority shall grant, require…

(a)(1) During the term of the permit the permittee may submit an application for a revision of the permit, together with a revised reclamation plan, to the regulatory authority. (2) An application for a revision of a permit shall not be approved unless the regulatory authority fi…

(a) Coal exploration operations including the removal of coal samples for testing, assaying or other associated non-commercial purposes which substantially disturb the natural land surface may be conducted after filing a notice of intention to explore, including a description of …

(a) At the time of submission of an application for a surface coal mining and reclamation permit, or revision of an existing permit, pursuant to the provisions of this article, the applicant shall submit to the regulatory authority a copy of his advertisement of the ownership, pr…

(a) After a surface coal mining and reclamation permit application has been approved but before such a permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the regulatory authority, on a form prescribed and furnished by the regulatory authority, a bond for performance payable to the s…

(a) Any permit issued pursuant to this article to conduct surface mining operations shall require that such surface coal mining operations will meet all applicable performance standards of this article, and such other requirements as the regulatory authority shall promulgate. (b)…

(a) The regulatory authority shall promulgate rules and regulations directed toward the surface effects of underground coal mining operations, and embodying the following requirements. In adopting any rules and regulations, the regulatory authority shall consider all distinct dif…

(a) For the purpose of developing or assisting in the development, administration, and enforcement of this article or in the administration and enforcement of any permit under this article, or of determining whether any person is in violation of any requirement of this article: (…

(a) Whenever, on the basis of any information available to it, including receipt of information from any person, the regulatory authority has reason to believe that any person is in violation of any requirement of this article or any permit condition required by this article, the…

(a) Any permittee or operator who violates any permit condition or who violates any other provision of this article, may be assessed a civil penalty by the regulatory authority, except that if such violation leads to the issuance of a cessation order under Section 9-16-93, the ci…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected, (or any citizen of this state having knowledge that any of the provisions of this article are willfully or deliberately not being enforced and who files …