Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a)
Show cause order.
(1) The Compliance Manager shall issue an
order to a permittee requiring him or her to show cause why his or her permit
and right to mine under the Act should not be suspended or revoked, if the Coal
Administrator determines that a pattern of violations of any requirement of the
Act, this Chapter, the applicable program, or any permit condition required by
the Act exists or has existed, and that the violations were caused by the
permittee willfully or through unwarranted failure to comply with those
requirements or conditions. Violations by any person conducting surface coal
mining operations on behalf of the permittee shall be attributed to the
permittee, unless the permittee establishes that they were acts of deliberate
sabotage. The Compliance Manager shall promptly file a copy of any order to
show cause with the Department.
(2)
The Coal Administrator may determine that a pattern of violations exists or has
existed, based upon two or more inspections of the permit area within any
12-month period, after considering the circumstances, including:
(A) The number of violations, cited on more
than one occasion, of the same or related requirements of the Act, this
Chapter, the applicable program, or the permit;
(B) The number of violations, cited on more
than one occasion, of different requirements of the Act, this Chapter, the
applicable program, or the permit; and
(C) The extent to which the violations were
isolated departures from lawful conduct.
(3) The Coal administrator shall promptly
review the history of violations of any permittee who has been cited for
violations of the same or related requirements of the Act, this Chapter, the
applicable program, or the permit during three or more State inspections of the
permit area within any 12-month period. If, after such review, the Coal
Administrator determines that pattern of violations exists or has existed, he
or she shall issue written findings and pursuant to these findings the
Compliance Manager shall issue an order to show cause as provided in Paragraph
(a)(1) of this Section.
(b) If the permittee files an answer to the
show cause order and requests a hearing, a public hearing shall be provided as
set forth in the Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Department shall give 30
days written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to the
Director, the Coal Administrator, the permittee, and any intervenor. Upon
receipt of a notice, the Department shall publish it, if practicable, in a
newspaper of general circulation in the area of the surface coal mining and
reclamation operation, and shall post it at the State or field office closest
to those operations.
(c) If the
Department revokes or suspends the permit and permittee's rights to mine under
the Act, the permittee shall immediately cease surface coal mining operations
on the permit area and shall:
(1) If the
permit and the right to mine under the Act are revoked, complete reclamation
within the time specified in the order; or
(2) If the permit and the right to mine under
the Act are suspended, complete all affirmative obligations to abate all
conditions, practices, or violations as specified in the order.
(d) Whenever a permittee fails to
abate a violation contained in a notice of violation or cessation order within
the abatement period set in the notice or order or as subsequently extended,
the Coal Administrator shall review the permittee's history of violations to
determine whether a pattern of violations exists pursuant to this Section, and
shall issue written findings to the Compliance Manager who shall issue an order
to show cause as appropriate pursuant to Section
460:20-61-7(b)(2).
Amended at 19 Ok Reg
2841, eff 8-27-02
