Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1)
(a)
Within 30 days of receipt of a petition, the department shall notify the
petitioner by certified mail whether or not the petition is complete under ARM
17.24.1144(2) or
(3).
(b) 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 no identified coal resources in that area, it shall provide the
petitioner with a statement of the findings.
(c) Once the requirements of ARM
17.24.1144 are met, no party bears
any burden of proof, but each accepted petition must be considered and acted
upon by the department pursuant to the procedures of this rule.
(d) When considering a petition for an area
which was previously and unsuccessfully proposed for designation, the
department shall determine if the new petition presents new allegations of
facts. If the petition does not contain new allegations of facts, the
department may not consider the petition and shall provide the petitioner with
a statement of its findings and a reference to the record of the previous
designation proceedings where the facts were considered.
(e) If the department determines that the
petition or a portion thereof is incomplete or frivolous, it shall provide 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 allegation of harm lacks serious merit. The
department is not required to process a petition that is incomplete, frivolous,
or filed by a person who does not have an interest that is or may be adversely
affected.
(f) The department shall
notify the person who submits a petition of any application for a permit
received that contains a proposal to include any area covered by the
petition.
(g) The receipt of any
petition after the close of the public comment period on a permit application
relating to the same mine plan area does not prevent the department from
issuing a decision on that permit application. The department may refuse to
process any petition received thereafter and shall provide the petitioner with
a statement why the department cannot consider the petition. For the purposes
of this rule, "close of the public comment period" means at the close of any
informal conference held under ARM
17.24.403, or, if no conference is
requested, the close of the period for filing written comments and objections
under 17.24.402.
(2)
(a)
Promptly after receipt of the petition, the department shall notify the general
public that a petition has been filed. The notice must be a newspaper
advertisement in the newspaper providing the broadest circulation in the locale
of the petition area. The notice must be published once a week for 2
consecutive weeks. A similar notice must be placed in the Montana
Administrative Register. The notice must include a request for submission of
relevant information.
(b) Within 3
weeks after the determination that a petition is complete, the department shall
circulate copies of the petition to, and request submissions of relevant
information from, other interested governmental agencies, the petitioner,
intervenors, 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) Promptly after the
determination has been made that a petition is complete, the department shall
request submissions of relevant information from the general public by a
newspaper advertisement placed once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in the
newspaper of broadest circulation in the locale of the petition area, and in
the Montana Administrative Register.
(3) Until 3 days before the department holds
a hearing under ARM
17.24.1146, 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.
(4) 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 and for copying at reasonable cost during all normal
business hours at all its offices or, upon request, at a county courthouse or
library.
AUTH:
82-4-205, MCA; IMP:
82-4-227,
MCA