Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Requirement for and timing of review.
(1) The Commission shall review each permit
issued and outstanding under an approved regulatory program during the term of
the permit. This review shall occur not later than the middle of the permit
term and as required by §
12.200 of this title (relating to
Experimental Practices Mining).
(2)
For permits of longer than five-year terms, a review of the permit shall be no
less frequent than the permit midterm or every five years, whichever is more
frequent.
(3) No less frequently
than every 2 1/2 years, the Commission shall conduct a review of any permit
which, in accordance with §
12.100(a) of
this title (relating to Responsibilities), is not required to be renewed but
which nonetheless authorizes the permittee to perform reclamation activities
within the permit area.
(b) Action. After this review, the Commission
may, by order, require reasonable revision or modification of the permit
provisions to ensure compliance with the Act and this chapter (relating to Coal
Mining Regulations).
(c) Notice to
permittee. Copies of the decision of the Commission shall be sent to the
permittee.
(d) Written findings and
appeal. Any order of the Commission requiring revision or modification of
permits, including suspension or rescission, shall be based upon written
findings and shall be subject to the provisions for administrative and judicial
review of §
12.222 and §
12.223 of this title (relating to
Administrative Review, and Judicial Review, respectively), and for review under
§§134.161 - 134.173 of the Act, and §§2001.141 - 2001.147
of the APA (relating to Contested Cases: Final Decisions and Orders; Motions
for Rehearing).
(e) Improvident
issuance. The Commission, when it has reason to believe, based on evidence
sufficient to establish a prima facie case, that a permit was improvidently
issued, shall review a permit under the authority of §134.082 of the Act
and shall, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, make a preliminary
finding and serve written notice of that finding to the permittee that the
permit was improvidently issued if:
(1) under
the violations review criteria of the regulatory program at the time the permit
was issued:
(A) the permit should not have
been issued because of an unabated violation or a delinquent penalty or fee;
or
(B) the permit was issued on the
information that a notice of violation was in the process of being corrected to
the satisfaction of the agency with jurisdiction over the violation, but a
cessation order subsequently was issued; and
(2) the violation, penalty or fee referred to
in paragraph (1) of this subsection:
(A)
remains unabated or delinquent; and
(B) is not the subject of a good faith
appeal, or of an abatement plan or payment schedule with which the permittee or
other person responsible is complying to the satisfaction of the responsible
agency; and
(3) where the
permittee was linked to the violation, penalty or fee through ownership or
control, under the violations review criteria of the regulatory program at the
time the permit was issued an ownership or control link between the permittee
and the person responsible for the violation, penalty or fee still exists, or
where the link was severed the permittee continues to be responsible for the
violation, penalty or fee.
(f) Remedial measures. If the Commission,
under subsection (e) of this section, finds that, because of an unabated
violation or a delinquent penalty or fee a permit was improvidently issued, it
shall use one or more of the following remedial measures:
(1) implement, with the cooperation of the
permittee or other person responsible, and of the responsible agency, a plan
for abatement of the violation or a schedule for payment of the penalty or
fee;
(2) require revision of the
permit to impose a condition that in a reasonable period of time the permittee
abate the violation or pay the penalty or fee;
(3) suspend the permit until the violation is
abated or the penalty fee is paid; or
(4) rescind the permit under subsection (g)
of this section.
(g)
Suspension and rescission. If the Commission elects to rescind an improvidently
issued permit, it shall serve on the permittee a written notice of the proposed
suspension and rescission which includes the reasons for the findings of the
Commission under subsection (e) of this section and states that:
(1) after a specified period of time not to
exceed 60 days, the permit will automatically become suspended, and not to
exceed 60 days thereafter rescinded, unless within those periods the permittee
submits proof, and the Commission finds that:
(A) the finding of the Commission under
subsection (e) of this section was erroneous;
(B) the permittee or operator has abated the
violation on which the finding was based, or paid the penalty or fee, to the
satisfaction of the responsible agency;
(C) the violation, penalty, or fee is the
subject of a good-faith appeal, or of an abatement plan or payment schedule
with which the permittee or operator is complying to the satisfaction of the
responsible agency; or
(D) since
the finding was made, the permittee has severed any ownership or control link
with the person responsible for the violation, penalty, or fee and the
permittee is no longer responsible for the violation, penalty, or
fee.
(2) upon permit
suspension or rescission under this section, the Commission shall issue a
written notice to the permittee requiring that the permittee or operator cease
all surface coal mining and reclamation operations under the permit, except for
violation abatement and for reclamation and other environmental protection
measures as required by the Commission. Notice of permit suspension or
rescission will also be posted at the Commission's office closest to the permit
area.