Chapter 22, Chapter 22

(a) If an informal conference has been held, the secretary shall issue and furnish the applicant for a permit and persons who were parties to the informal conference with the written finding granting or denying the permit, in whole or in part, and stating the reasons therefor wit…

(a) The director shall establish a planning process to enable objective decisions based upon competent and scientifically sound data and information as to which, if any, land areas of this state are unsuitable for all or certain types of surface-mining operations pursuant to the …

(a) For purposes of this section, the term "production blasting" means blasting that removes the overburden to expose underlying coal seams and does not include construction blasting. (b) For purposes of this section, the term "construction blasting" means blasting to develop hau…

(a) The permittee may file a request with the secretary for the release of a bond or deposit. The permittee shall publish an advertisement regarding the request for release in the same manner as is required of advertisements for permit applications. A copy of the advertisement sh…

(a) Nothing in this article affects in any way the rights of any person to enforce or protect, under applicable law, the person's interest in water resources affected by a surface mining operation. (b) Any operator shall replace the water supply of an owner of interest in real pr…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected may commence a civil action in the circuit court of the county to which the surface mining operation is located on the person's own behalf to compel compl…

The provisions of this article do not apply to any of the following activities: (a) The extraction of coal by a landowner for the landowner's own noncommercial use from land owned or leased by the landowner. (b) The extraction of coal as an incidental part of federal, state, coun…

No land or interest in land owned by the state may be leased, and no present lease may be renewed by the state, nor any agency of the state, for the purpose of conducting surface mining operations thereon unless said lease or renewal has been first authorized by an act of the Leg…

(a) Except where exempted by section twenty-six of this article, it is unlawful for any person to engage in surface-mining as defined in this article as an incident to the development of land for commercial, residential, industrial or civic use without having first obtained from …

In order to encourage advances in surface mining and reclamation practices or to allow post-mining land use for industrial, commercial, residential, agricultural or public use, including recreational facilities, the director may authorize departures, in individual cases and on an…

As used in this article, unless used in a context that clearly requires a different meaning, the term: (a) "Adequate treatment" means treatment of water by physical, chemical or other approved methods in a manner so that the treated water does not violate the effluent limitations…

The director is responsible for the training, examination and certification of persons engaging in or directly responsible for blasting or use of explosives in surface mining operations.

(a) Blasting shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and laws established to regulate blasting. (b) If the Department of Environmental Protection establishes after an inspection that a blast at a surface coal mine operation as defined by the provisions of subdivision (2),…

(a) No employee of the division engaged in the enforcement or administration of this article or employee of the surface mine board performing any function or duty under this article shall have a direct or indirect financial interest in any surface-mining operation. Whoever knowin…

(a) Imposition of tax. -- Upon every person in this state engaging in the privilege of severing, extracting, reducing to possession or producing coal for sale, profit or commercial use, there is hereby imposed an annual tax equal to 2¢ per ton of coal produced by such person for …

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to clarify that from the date of its enactment, the special tax on coal imposed pursuant to the provisions of section thirty-two of this article is intended to be in addition to any other taxes imposed on every person in this state engaging…

(a) As a result of any administrative proceeding under this article, at the request of any person, a sum equal to the aggregate amount of all costs and expenses, including attorney fees, as determined by the court or the Surface Mine Board to have been reasonably incurred by the …

The office of explosives and blasting within the Department of Environmental Protection is hereby terminated, and its authority and functions are transferred to the Division of Mining and Reclamation. With this transfer, all records, assets, and contracts, along with the rights a…

(a) All authority to promulgate rules pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code is hereby transferred from the office of explosives and blasting to the Division of Mining and Reclamation as of the effective date of enactment of this section and article during …

(a) The Division of Mining and Reclamation shall establish and manage a process for the filing, administration and resolution of claims related to blasting. (b) Claims which may be filed and determined under the provisions of this section shall be those arising from both of the f…

(a) All orders, determinations, rules, permits, grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, waivers, bonds, authorizations and privileges which have been issued, made, granted or allowed to become effective prior to the enactment of this article shall remain in effect according to…

The secretary shall transfer to the Division of Mining and Reclamation any personnel and assets presently used to perform or used in the performance of the duties and functions required by sections thirty-four through thirty-nine of this article.

The provisions of §22-2-10 of this code concerning the treatment of mine drainage are applicable to property governed by §22-3-1 et seq. of this code.

(a) The secretary shall administer the provisions of this article relating to surface-mining operations. The secretary has within his or her jurisdiction and supervision all lands and areas of the State, mined or susceptible of being mined, for the removal of coal and all other l…

The director shall determine the number of surface mining reclamation supervisors and inspectors needed to carry out the purposes of this article and appoint them as such. All such appointees shall be qualified civil service employees, but no person is eligible for such appointme…

Except as otherwise provided in this article, surface mining reclamation inspectors and inspectors in training shall make all necessary surveys and inspections of surface mining operations required by the provisions of this article, shall administer and enforce all surface mining…

(a) Any person intending to prospect for coal in an area not covered by a surface-mining permit, in order to determine the location, quantity or quality of a natural coal deposit, making feasibility studies or for any other purpose, shall file with the secretary, at least fifteen…

(a) No person may engage in surface mining operations unless he or she has first obtained a permit from the secretary in accordance with the following: (1) All permits issued pursuant to the requirements of this article shall be issued for a term not to exceed five years: Provide…

(a) The surface mining permit application shall contain: (1) The names and addresses of: (A) The permit applicant; (B) the owner of record of the property, surface, and mineral to be mined; (C) the holders of record of any leasehold interest in the property; (D) any purchaser of …

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Quarry Reclamation Act.

(a) Prior to expanding or otherwise altering quarrying operations beyond the activities authorized under an existing quarry permit, a permittee shall obtain approval for modification from the director. The application shall be in writing on forms provided by the division, or the …

(a) When the interest of a permittee of any quarry operation is sold, leased, assigned, or otherwise disposed of, the director may transfer the permit and shall release the transferor from his or her liabilities imposed by this article or rules issued under this article if both t…

(a) For all new permits issued after the effective date of this section, at least thirty days prior to commencing blasting, an operator or an operator's designee shall make the following notifications in writing to all owners and occupants of protected structures that the operato…

(a) Where blasting of overburden or mineral is necessary, the blasting shall be done in accordance with established principles for preventing injury to persons and damage to residences, buildings and communities, and comply with the following: (1) The weight in pounds of explosiv…

Each permit issued by the director pursuant to this article shall require the quarry operation, at a minimum, to meet the following performance standards: (a) The operator shall impound, drain or treat all runoff water so as to reduce soil erosion, damage to agricultural lands an…

The Groundwater Protection Act provisions contained in subsection (b), section four, article twelve of this chapter do not apply to mineral extraction areas of quarry mining sites regulated under this article. All other areas of the mine, including groundwater beneath the mineral…

(a) Nothing in this article affects the rights of any person to enforce or protect, under applicable law, that person's interest in water resources affected by removal of mineral resources. (b) Any permittee shall replace the water supply of an owner of interest in real property …

(a) The application for a new permit shall include a proposed quarrying and reclamation plan. In developing this complete quarrying and reclamation mining plan all reasonable measures shall be taken to eliminate damages to members of the public, their real and personal property, …

(a) Quarries shall meet the final design requirements for slopes and gradients: (1) Final slope gradients of fill areas shall be designed using recognized standards and certified by a professional engineer or other approved professional specialist, except for backfill within the …

(a) The operator shall commence the reclamation of the incremental area of land disturbed by the operator after the completion of all quarrying of that area in accordance with the approved quarrying and reclamation plan. The quarrying and reclamation plan for each operation shall…

The Legislature finds that: The extraction of noncoal minerals by quarrying is a basic, essential and vital industry making an important contribution to the economic well-being of West Virginia. From the small family-owned chert pit to the multinational limestone quarry, quarry a…

(a) Each applicant must provide a certificate of insurance issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in this state for all operators at the site including blasting and quarrying operators. Blasting insurance is not required of quarry operations which do not conduct…

On completion of the reclamation, and after the requirements of the permit have been fully complied with, the director shall release the bond. An amount of the bond or cash deposit, proportioned to the reclaimed portion of the disturbed land in ratio to all of the disturbed land …

(a) Quarry operators who have operated for five years without a serious violation under previous West Virginia mining law or the provisions of this article, in lieu of the bonding requirements of section twenty of this article, shall contribute to the "Bond Pooling Fund," as prov…

(a) All funds received by the division from forfeiture of bonds, civil administrative penalties, or interest from the bond pooling fund shall be deposited into a special interest-bearing account in the state Treasury designated the Quarry Reclamation Fund. The quarry reclamation …

(a) The director may at reasonable times without prior notice and upon presentation of appropriate credentials, enter any quarry and conduct periodic inspections and examine any required documentation to effectively implement and enforce the provisions of this article and rules p…

Any person claiming to be aggrieved or adversely affected by any ruling or order of the director or his or her failure to enter an order may appeal to the surface mine board, pursuant to the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code, for an order vacating or mo…

The permit application fee is $1,000. The fee for the original permit is $1,000. The permit renewal fee of $500 shall be submitted with the renewal application and a progress report map. The fee for transferring a permit is $500. The fee for a minor permit modification is $200 an…

(a) Quarries that are in operation on or before the effective date of this article, shall comply with the following: (1) Within two years of the effective date of this article, all quarry operations shall submit to the director a quarrying and reclamation plan to bring the facili…

No public officer or employee in the division having any responsibility or duty either directly or of a supervisory nature with respect to the administration or enforcement of this article may: (1) Engage in quarrying as a sole proprietor or as a partner; (2) Be an officer, direc…