                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

 INSPECTIONS AND MONITORING (§ 45.2-1019)

A. For the purpose of administering and enforcing any permit issued under this
chapter or determining whether any person is in violation of any requirement of
this chapter or any regulation adopted hereunder:

   1. The Director shall require any permittee to (i) establish and maintain
   appropriate records; (ii) make monthly reports to the Division; (iii) install,
   use, and maintain any necessary monitoring equipment or methods; (iv) evaluate
   results in accordance with such methods, at such locations and intervals and
   in such manner as the Director prescribes; and (v) provide other information
   relative to a coal surface mining and reclamation operation as the Director
   deems reasonable and necessary;

   2. For any coal surface mining and reclamation operation that removes or
   disturbs strata that serve as aquifers and thereby significantly ensure the
   hydrologic balance of water use, either on or off the mining site, the
   Director shall specify monitoring sites at which the permittee shall record
   (i) the quantity and quality of surface drainage above and below the mine site
   and in the potential zone of influence; (ii) the level, amount, and
   characteristics of samples of groundwater and aquifers that are potentially
   affected by mining or are located directly below the deepest coal seam to be
   mined; and (iii) amount of precipitation. The Director shall specify certain
   records of well logs and borehole data to be maintained. The monitoring, data
   collection, and analysis required by this section shall be conducted according
   to standards and procedures set forth in regulations adopted by the Director
   in order to assure their reliability and validity; and

   3. Any authorized representative of the Director, without advance notice and
   upon presentation of appropriate credentials, has (i) the right of entry to,
   upon, or through any coal surface mining and reclamation operation and (ii)
   the right to inspect any monitoring equipment, method of exploration, method
   of operation, or records required by this chapter and to copy any such
   records.
   				No search warrant shall be required for any entry or inspection under this
   subsection, except with respect to entry into a building.

B. Inspections by the Director shall (i) occur on an irregular basis averaging
not less than one partial inspection per month and one complete inspection per
calendar quarter for the coal surface mining and reclamation operation covered
by each permit, (ii) occur without prior notice to the permittee or any agent or
employee of the permittee except for necessary on-site meetings with the
permittee, and (iii) include the filing of inspection reports adequate to
enforce the requirements of this chapter and carry out its terms and purposes.

C. Each permittee shall conspicuously maintain at the entrance to each coal
surface mining and reclamation operation a clearly visible sign setting forth
such information as is prescribed by regulation.

D. Each inspector, upon detection of a violation of any requirement of this
chapter or of a regulation adopted hereunder, shall promptly inform the operator
in writing and shall report such violation to the Director in writing.

E. Copies of any records, reports, inspection materials, or information obtained
by the Director under this article shall be made immediately available to the
public at central and sufficient locations in the area of mining so that they
are conveniently available to residents in such areas. However, information that
pertains only to the analysis of the chemical and physical properties of the
coal, excepting information regarding mineral or elemental content that is
potentially toxic in the environment, shall be kept confidential and be exempt
from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (&#xA7; 2.2-3700
et seq.).

HISTORY: 1979, c. 290, § 45.1-244; 1984, cc. 323, 590; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c.
387.