                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

 APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF PERMIT (§ 45.2-1013)

A. Upon the basis of a complete mining application and reclamation plan or a
revision or renewal thereof, as required by the federal act and pursuant to
state regulations, including public notification and opportunity for public
hearing, the Director shall grant, require modification of, or deny the
application for a permit in a reasonable time established by regulation and
shall notify the applicant in writing. The applicant shall have the burden of
establishing that the application is in compliance with all of the requirements
of state regulations. Within 10 days after the granting of a permit, the
Director shall notify the government officials in the county or city in which
the area of land to be affected is located that a permit has been issued and
shall describe the location of the land.

B. No permit or revision application shall be approved unless the application
affirmatively demonstrates, and the Director finds in writing on the basis of
the information set forth in the application or from information otherwise
available, which shall be documented in the approval and made available to the
applicant, that:

   1. The permit application is accurate and complete and that all the
   requirements of the federal act and state regulations have been complied with;

   2. The applicant has demonstrated that reclamation as required by the federal
   act and state regulations can be accomplished under the reclamation plan
   contained in the permit application;

   3. An assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining
   in the area on the hydrologic balance has been made by the Director in
   accordance with regulation, and the proposed operation has been designed to
   prevent material damage to hydrologic balance outside the permit area;

   4. The area proposed to be mined is not included within an area designated as
   unsuitable for coal surface mining pursuant to this chapter or located within
   an area under study for such designation in an administrative proceeding
   commenced pursuant to this chapter; and

   5. In any case in which the private mineral estate has been severed from the
   private surface estate, the applicant has submitted to the Director:
   				a. The written consent of the surface owner to the extraction of coal by
   surface mining methods;
   				b. A conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract
   coal by surface mining methods; or
   				c. If the conveyance does not expressly grant the right to extract coal by
   surface mining methods, evidence that the surface-subsurface legal
   relationship will be determined in accordance with the laws of the
   Commonwealth. Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the Director to
   adjudicate any property rights dispute.

C. The applicant shall file with each permit application a schedule listing all
notices of violations of the federal act, this chapter, and any law, rule, or
regulation of the United States, the Commonwealth, or any department or agency
in the United States pertaining to air or water environmental protection,
incurred by the applicant in connection with any coal surface mining operation
during the three-year period preceding the date of application. The schedule
shall also indicate the final resolution of each such notice of violation. Where
the schedule or other information available to the Director indicates that any
coal surface mining operation owned or controlled by the applicant is currently
in violation of any law, rule, or regulation referred to in this subsection, the
permit shall not be issued until the applicant submits proof that such violation
has been corrected or is in the process of being corrected to the satisfaction
of the authority, department, or agency that has jurisdiction over such
violation. No permit shall be issued to an applicant after a finding by the
Director, following an opportunity for a hearing, that the applicant or the
operator specified in the application controls or has controlled any mining
operation with a demonstrated pattern of willful violations of the federal act
or this chapter of such nature and duration and with such resulting irreparable
damage to the environment as to indicate an intent not to comply with the
federal act or this chapter.

D. If the Director finds an application in compliance with subsection B and the
area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland pursuant to &#xA7; 507(b)(16)
of the federal act, the Director shall comply with applicable regulations issued
by the Secretary in determining whether to issue a permit for such area.

HISTORY: 1979, c. 290, § 45.1-238; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.