Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) Processing of
Petitions
1) Within 60 days after receipt of a
petition, the Department shall notify the petitioner by certified mail whether
or not the petition is complete under Section
1764.13(b) or
(c). Complete, for a designation or
termination petition, means that the information required under Section
1764.13(b) or (c)
has been provided.
2) The Department shall determine whether any
identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the petition, without
requiring any showing from the petitioner. If the Department finds there are
not any identified coal resources in that area, it shall return the petition to
the petitioner with a statement of the findings.
3) If the Department determines that the
petition is incomplete, frivolous, or that the petitioner does not meet the
requirements of Section
1764.13(a),
it shall return the petition to the petitioner with a written statement of the
reasons for the determination and the categories of information needed to make
the petition complete. A frivolous petition is one in which the allegations of
harm lack serious merit.
4) When
considering a petition for an area which was previously and unsuccessfully
proposed for designation, the Department shall determine if the new petition
presents significant new allegations of facts with evidence which tends to
establish the allegations. If the petition does not contain such material, the
Department shall not consider the petition and shall return the petition to the
petitioner, with a statement of its findings and a reference to the record of
the previous designation proceedings where the facts were considered.
5) The Department shall notify the person who
submits a petition of any application for a permit received which includes any
area covered by the petition.
6)
The Department shall not process any petition received insofar as it pertains
to lands for which an administratively complete permit application has been
filed and the first newspaper notice has been published. Based on such a
determination, the Department may issue a decision on a complete and accurate
permit application and shall inform the petitioner why the Department cannot
consider the part of the petition pertaining to the proposed permit
area.
b) Promptly after
a petition is received, the Department shall notify the general public of the
receipt of the petition by a newspaper advertisement placed in the locale of
the area covered by the petition, in the newspaper providing broadest
circulation in the region of the petitioned area and in any official State
register of public notices. The Department shall make copies of the petition
available to the public and shall provide copies of the petition to other
interested governmental agencies, intervernors, persons with an ownership
interest of record in the property, and other persons known to the Department
to have an interest in the property.
c) Land Report and Public Comment
1) After the petition is determined to be
complete the Department shall prepare a Land Report. Each Land Report shall
evaluate whether mining operations on the land which is subject to the petition
would have any or all of the effects described in 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1762.11.
Each Land Report shall contain a detailed statement on:
A) The potential resources of the
area,
B) The demand for coal
resources, and
C) The impact of a
designation of such lands as unsuitable for mining on the environment, the
economy, and the supply of coal.
2) The Land Report shall state objectively
the information which the Department has, but shall not contain a
recommendation with respect to whether the petition should be granted or
denied. Each Land Report shall be completed not later than eight months after
the petitioner has been notified the petition is complete under subsection
(a)(1).
3) The Department shall
print 100 copies of each Land Report, which shall be distributed as follows:
One copy to each petitioner; one copy to the operator or operators; two copies
to the County Clerks of the counties included in the petition, one of which is
to be forwarded to the county commission or board of supervisors; one copy to
the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and one copy to each
office of the Land Reclamation Division for public use. Remaining copies may be
provided to persons who have filed requests in the proceeding for a copy of the
report.
4) Within three weeks after
the determination that a petition is complete, the Department shall request
submissions from the general public of relevant information, by a newspaper
advertisement placed once a week for two consecutive weeks in the locale of the
area covered by the petition, in the newspaper providing broadest circulation
in the region of the petitioned area, and in any official State register of
public notices.
d) Until
three days before the Department holds a hearing under Section
1764.17, any
person may intervene in the proceeding by filing allegations of facts,
supporting evidence, a short statement identifying the petition to which the
allegations pertain, and the intervenor's name, address, and telephone
number.
e) Beginning immediately
after a complete petition is filed, the Department shall compile and maintain a
record consisting of all documents relating to the petition filed with or
prepared by the Department. The Department shall make the record available for
public inspection, free of charge, during all normal business hours at a
central location of the county or multi-county area in which the land
petitioned is located, and make available for copying at reasonable cost at the
Department's main and regional offices.
