Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A.
1. Within 30 days of receipt of a petition,
the office shall notify the petitioner by certified mail whether or not the
petition is complete under
§1505. B or C.
2. The office shall determine whether any
identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the petition, without
requiring any showing from the petitioner. If the office 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. The office may reject petitions for
designations or terminations of designations which are frivolous. Once the
requirements of
§1505 are met, no party shall bear any
burden of proof, but each accepted petition shall be considered and acted upon
by the office pursuant to the procedures of this Chapter.
4. When considering a petition for an area
which was previously and unsuccessfully proposed for designation, the office
shall determine if the new petition presents new allegations of fact. If the
petition does not contain new allegations of fact, the office 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. If the office determines that the petition
is incomplete or frivolous, 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.
6. The office shall notify the person who
submits a petition of any application for a permit received which proposed to
include any area covered by the petition.
7. Any petitions received after the close of
the public comment period on a permit application relating to the same mine
plan area shall not prevent the office from issuing a decision on that permit
application. The office may return any petition received thereafter to the
petitioner with a statement why the office cannot consider the petition. For
the purposes of this Section, close of the public comment period shall mean the
close of any informal conference held under §3109, or, if no conference is
requested, at the close of the period for filing written comments and
objections under §3105-3107
B.
1.
Within three weeks after the determination that a petition is complete, the
office shall circulate copies of the petition to, and request submissions of
relevant information from, other interested government agencies, the
petitioner, intervenors, persons with an ownership interest of record in the
property and other persons known to the office to have an interest in the
property.
2. Within three weeks
after the determination that a petition is complete, the office shall notify
the general public of the receipt of the petition and request submissions 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 of largest circulation in the state and in any official state
register of public notices.
C. Until three days before the office holds a
hearing under §1509, 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.
D. Beginning
immediately after a complete petition is filed, the office shall compile and
maintain a record consisting of all documents relating to the petition filed
with or prepared by the office. The office shall make the record available for
public inspection free of charge and copying at reasonable cost during all
normal business hours at a central location of the parish or multiparish area
in which the land petition is located and at the office.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
30:901-932.
