Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) The requirements
of 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1700 through 1850 apply to all coal exploration and
surface coal mining and reclamation operations, except:
1) The extraction of coal by a landowner or
lessee for the landowner's or lessee's own noncommercial use from land owned or
leased by him or her where 250 tons or less of coal are removed in any 12
consecutive months. Noncommercial use does not include the extraction of coal
by one unit of an integrated company or other business or nonprofit entity
which uses the coal in its own manufacturing or power plants;
2) The extraction of coal incidental to the
extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed
162/3% of the total mineral
tonnage mined for purposes of commercial use or sale in accordance with 62 Ill.
Adm. Code 1702;
3) Coal exploration
on lands subject to the requirements of 43 CFR 3480 - 3487(1994); and
4) The extraction of coal on Federal lands
except to the extent provided under a cooperative agreement with the United
States. (Section 1.06 of the Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and
Reclamation Act [225 ILCS
720/1.06(d) ])
b) The Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, Office of Mines and Minerals (Department) shall, within 60 days
after a request from any person who intends to conduct surface coal mining
operations, make a written determination whether the operation is exempt under
subsection (a). The Department shall, within 30 days after receipt of a request
for exemption under subsection (a), publish notice of the request in a
newspaper of general circulation in the area of the proposed exempted
operation. Prior to the time a determination is made, any person may submit,
and the Department shall consider, any written information relevant to the
determination. A person requesting that an operation be declared exempt shall
have the burden of establishing the exemption. If a written determination of
exemption is reversed through subsequent administrative or judicial action, any
person who has made a complete and accurate request for an exemption and relied
upon the determination shall not be cited for violations which occurred prior
to the date of the reversal.
c) The
requirements of 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1800 through 1850 (the permanent program
regulations) apply to all surface coal mining and reclamation operations for
which the surface coal mining operation is required to obtain a permit under
the Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act (the State Act)
[225 ILCS 720 ] on and after February 1, 1983. 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1815 and 1840
through 1846 apply to both coal exploration operations and surface coal mining
and reclamation operations regardless of whether a permit is required, except
as otherwise specified in those rules.
d) Existing structures
1) Each structure used in connection with a
coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations shall comply
with the performance standards and the design requirements of the permanent
program regulations except that:
A) The
Department shall exempt an existing structure which meets the performance
standards of the permanent program regulations but does not meet the design
requirements of the permanent program regulations from meeting those design
requirements. The Department shall grant this exemption as part of the permit
application process after both obtaining the information 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1780.12
or
1784.12
require and after the Department makes the findings required in 62 Ill. Adm.
Code
1773.15(c)(6);
and
B) If a performance standard in
62 Ill. Adm. Code 280 (interim program regulations) is at least as stringent as
the comparable performance standard of the permanent program regulations, an
existing structure which meets the performance standards of the interim program
regulations shall be exempted by the Department from meeting the design
requirements of the permanent program regulations. The Department will grant
this exemption as part of the permit application process after obtaining the
information 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1780.12
or
1784.12
require and after the Department makes the findings required in 62 Ill. Adm.
Code
1773.15(c)(6).
2) The exemptions provided in
subsections (d)(1)(A) and (d)(1)(B) shall not apply to:
A) The requirements for existing and new
waste piles used either temporarily or permanently as dams or embankments;
and
B) The requirements to restore
the approximate original contour of the land.
3) The permittee shall modify or reconstruct
an existing structure which meets a performance standard of the interim program
regulations which is incompatible with the permanent program regulations to
meet the design standard of the permanent program regulations, pursuant to 62
Ill. Adm. Code
1773.15(c)(6),
1780.12
and 1784.12.
4) The permittee shall
modify or reconstruct an existing structure which does not meet the performance
standards of the interim program regulations and which the applicant proposes
to use in connection with a coal exploration or surface coal mining and
reclamation operation to meet the design standards of the permanent program
regulations prior to issuance of the permit.
e) Effective dates
1) Any person conducting coal exploration on
or after February 1, 1983, shall either file a notice of intention to explore
or obtain approval of the Department, as required by 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1772.
2) Coal exploration
performance standards in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1815 apply after August 3,
1982.
f) Termination of
jurisdiction
1) The Department may terminate
its jurisdiction under the regulatory program over the reclaimed site of a
completed surface coal mining and reclamation operation, or increment thereof,
when:
A) The Department determines in writing
that under the initial program, all requirements imposed under 62 Ill. Adm.
Code 280 have been successfully completed; or
B) The Department determines in writing that
under the permanent program, all requirements imposed under the regulatory
program have been successfully completed or, where a performance bond was
required, the Department has made a final decision in accordance with 62 Ill.
Adm. Code
1800.40 to
release the performance bond fully.
2) Following a termination under subsection
(f)(1) above, the Department shall reassert jurisdiction under the regulatory
program over a site if it is demonstrated that the bond release or written
determination referred to in subsection (f)(1) above was based upon fraud,
collusion or misrepresentation of a material fact.