Title XXVIII, Mines and Minerals

reclamation. A permittee may conduct other mining operations from premises covered by a strip mining permit with approval of the cabinet, subject to the provisions of KRS Chapters 351 and 352. In applying to the cabinet for the approval, he shall furnish the cabinet with a revise…

(1) No application for a permit and no operation shall be approved or allowed by the cabinet if there is found on the basis of the information set forth in the application that the requirements of this chapter or administrative regulations will not be observed or that there is no…

Funding from reclamation development fund -- Waste materials in permit area only -- Exclusions. (1) Under the provisions of this chapter and administrative regulations adopted by the cabinet, a permittee shall prepare and the permittee or operator shall carry out a method of oper…

other underground mining -- Variances -- Release of bond. (1) As determined by administrative regulations of the cabinet, time and distance limits shall be established requiring backfilling, grading, and planting to be kept current, so that all reclamation efforts proceed in an e…

regulations. (1) The permittee shall assume responsibility for successful revegetation as required in KRS 350.435 for a period of five (5) full years after the last year in which augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work occurs. The cabinet shall promulgate admini…

sites. The General Assembly finds that the reclamation of coal mine sites can benefit from pollinator habitat sites. These sites are an important conservation resource which will encourage and protect the habitat for pollinators like honeybees, bumble bees, and other bee species.…

planting. (1) It shall be the duty of a permittee and operator to commence the reclamation of the area of land affected by the operation as contemporaneously as practicable after the beginning of operations on that area in accordance with plans previously approved by the cabinet.…

(1) An easement of necessity for the completion of reclamation activities, created by this subsection, requires satisfaction of these circumstances: (a) An entity has, by court order or approved plan of reorganization, become responsible for performance of reclamation under a sur…

(1) When the planting of a permit area is completed, the permittee shall file a planting report with the cabinet on a form to be prescribed and furnished by the cabinet, giving the following information: (a) Identification of the operation; (b) The type of planting or seeding, in…

All trees, shrubs, grasses, and legumes required by this chapter and regulations to be planted or seeded on the area of land affected shall become the property of the landowner, unless the permittee and the landowner agree otherwise.

Within sixty (60) days after the date of expiration of a permit, the permittee shall file with the cabinet a report stating the exact number of acres of land affected by the operation, the extent of the reclamation already accomplished by him, and such other information as may be…

Ineligibility for future permits -- Notice or order effective upon delivery. (1) When any of the requirements of this chapter or administrative regulations adopted pursuant thereto or the orders of the cabinet have not been complied with, the cabinet shall forthwith cause a notic…

disturbed area for which bond has been forfeited and collected. (1) When a bond for an interim or preinterim program permit was forfeited prior to July 15, 1988, by the cabinet, and the entire forfeited amount is not necessary to establish proper drainage and revegetation on the …

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the mountaintop removal method of strip mining coal under the conditions set forth in this chapter or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.

-- Regulations -- Approval by cabinet. (1) No surface coal mining permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall be transferred by sale, assignment, lease, or otherwise except upon the written approval by the cabinet of a joint application submitted by both the transferor and the t…

transferred to fiscal courts -- Remainder for Division of Mine Permits. (1) All prior enactments of this General Assembly to the contrary notwithstanding, all funds received by the Energy and Environment Cabinet through the payment of fees and civil penalties shall be deposited i…

other funds -- Access to land. (1) In the reclamation of land affected by surface coal mining operations for which it has funds available, the cabinet may avail itself of any services which may be provided by other state agencies or by agencies of the federal government, and may …

reclamation -- Bond. (1) The Energy and Environment Cabinet shall promulgate permanent program administrative regulations for the mining and reclamation of land disturbed or removed by operations resulting from or incident to underground coal mining. The regulations shall recogni…

(1) The Commonwealth, acting by and through its Energy and Environment Cabinet, shall have the power to acquire, either by negotiation or by exercise of the power of eminent domain, land which has been affected or disturbed by strip or auger mining, or by other surface coal minin…

The cabinet shall have the power to backfill, grade, plant and perform other acts of restoration and reclamation, or contract for the performance of such restoration work, on any lands acquired under KRS 350.152 to 350.163 and 350.240, to the extent and subject to such conditions…

subdivision -- Return of money to revolving fund. (1) After restoration of the acquired land, the cabinet may, with the approval of the Governor, transfer jurisdiction of such land, or any portion thereof, to any state agency that can best utilize such land for public purposes. (…

No land, with respect to which a bond conditioned upon the restoration thereof is in effect, shall be acquired pursuant to the provisions of KRS 350.152 to 350.163 and 350.240, nor shall this chapter be construed to relieve any person from any obligation to backfill, grade, plant…

All acquisitions and disposals of land or any interests therein pursuant to the authority granted by KRS 350.152 to 350.163 and 350.240 shall be governed by the applicable provisions of KRS Chapters 45 and 56.

(1) The cabinet is authorized and empowered to receive and accept from the Commonwealth or any of its agencies and from federal agencies, appropriations or grants to accomplish the purposes of this chapter, and to receive and accept aid or contributions from any source of either …

This chapter shall not be construed as repealing any of the laws of the Commonwealth relating to the pollution of the waters thereof, any conservation or mining laws, but shall be held and construed as ancillary and supplemental thereto.

Any agency, unit, or instrumentality of federal, state, or local government, including any publicly owned utility or publicly owned corporation of federal, state, or local government, which proposes to engage in surface coal mining operations, as defined by KRS 350.010(1), shall …

All surface coal mining operations operating under a permit from the cabinet shall display appropriate signs at the entrances, clearly setting forth the name, business address, phone number of the permittee and the permit number of the surface coal mining and reclamation operatio…

of regulation. Irrespective of date of issuance of a permit, all permittees, operators, and persons shall immediately conform to any statutes enacted or regulations adopted on the effective date of the statute or regulation. This section shall not require the regrading or replant…

The Energy and Environment Cabinet may adopt reasonable regulations for the reclamation of land disturbed or removed in the mining of clay. Such regulations shall encourage water impoundments and shall follow the standards established in Article III of the Interstate Mining Compa…

A person shall not conduct mining for limestone, dolomite, sand, gravel, clay, fluorspar, or other vein minerals without first obtaining a permit from the cabinet. However, no permit shall be required for the excavation of limestone, dolomite, sand, gravel, clay, fluorspar, or ot…

affected by violation -- Intervention by cabinet. (1) Any person with an interest which is or may be adversely affected having knowledge that any of the provisions of this chapter or regulations adopted thereunder are not being enforced by any public officer or employee, whose du…

regulation -- Notice -- Hearing -- Order -- Judicial review. Any person may petition the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet to initiate a proceeding for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of any regulation under this chapter. (1) Notice and an opportunity shall be pr…

-- Permitting process -- Requirements for disposal -- Authority for administrative regulations. (1) The cabinet may issue a permit under this chapter authorizing the disposal of coal combustion by-products at surface coal mining operations. (2) This section shall apply to the dis…

processing and coal underground development waste. (1) The General Assembly finds that: (a) The backstowing of coal processing and coal underground development waste is a disposal method which, under appropriate conditions, is authorized under state and federal coal mining laws; …

appraisal purposes when access to property denied -- When effective -- Appraisal and calculation of damages -- Independent appraisal by property owner or legal occupant -- Payment of damages -- Payment of entry fee for appraisal purposes. (1) (a) As used in this section, "he or s…

The Interstate Mining Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows: ARTICLE I Findings and Purposes (a) The party States find that: 1. Mining and the contributions thereof to the econ…

(1) The "Mining Council," hereinafter called "the council," is hereby established in the office of the Governor. The council shall be the advisory body referred to in Article V(a) of the Interstate Mining Compact. No member of the council shall receive any compensation on account…

In accordance with Article V(i) of the compact, the commission shall file copies of its bylaws and any amendments thereto with the Energy and Environment Cabinet.

The permittee or person shall restore the land affected to a condition capable of supporting the uses which it was capable of supporting prior to any mining, or higher or better uses of which there is reasonable likelihood, so long as the use or uses do not present any actual or …

Except as provided in KRS 350.450(2)(a) to (e), the permittee, operator, or person shall with respect to all surface coal mining operations backfill, compact (where advisable to insure stability or to prevent leaching of toxic materials), and grade in order to restore the approxi…

The permittee or operator shall remove the topsoil from the land in a separate layer, replace it on the backfill area, or if not utilized immediately, segregate it in a separate pile from other spoil and when the topsoil is not replaced on a backfill area within a time short enou…

The permittee, operator, or person shall minimize disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance at the mine site and in associated offsite areas and to the quality and quantity of water in surface and ground water systems both during and after surface coal mining operations a…

(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as affecting in any way the right of any person to enforce or protect, under applicable law, his interest in water resources affected by a surface coal mining operation or an underground coal mine. (2) Each permittee or operator of a…

The permittee, operator, or other person shall design, locate, construct, operate, maintain, enlarge, modify, and remove or abandon, in accordance with the standards and criteria developed pursuant to subsection (f) of Section 515 of Public Law 95-87, "Surface Mining Control and …

The permittee or operator shall: (1) Provide adequate advance written notice to local governments and residents who might be affected by the use of such explosives by publication of the planned blasting schedule in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality and by mailing…

The permittee or other person shall establish on the regraded areas, and all other lands affected, a diverse, effective, and permanent vegetative cover of the same seasonal variety native to the area of land to be affected and capable of self-regeneration and plant succession at …