§1263 Public Notice and Public Hearings

Summary

When someone applies for a new or changed surface coal mining permit, they must put a notice in a local paper once a week for four consecutive weeks and give a copy of that notice to the permit office when they apply. The permit office must tell local governments, planning agencies, sewage and water treatment authorities, and water companies where the mine would be, the permit number, and where people can look at the mining and reclamation plan. Those local groups can send written comments about environmental effects that are in their job area, if they do so within a reasonable time set by the permit office. The permit office must send those comments to the applicant right away and make them available to the public where the application is posted. Anyone who might be hurt by the proposed mine, or any federal, state, or local official, can file written objections within thirty days after the last newspaper notice. The permit office must give those objections to the applicant and make them public. If objections are filed and people ask for an informal conference, the permit office will hold one near the proposed mine if the request is timely. The permit office will advertise the conference date, time, and place in the local paper at least two weeks before it happens. The office can let parties visit the site to gather information. A written or electronic record of the conference must be kept unless everyone agrees not to make one, and that record must stay available until the applicant’s performance bond is finally released. If the land already had the required federal lease hearings and decisions covering the same matters, those hearings and decisions count here and become part of the record.