Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
(a)
(1) Within 60 days of receipt of a petition,
the division shall notify the petitioner by certified mail whether the petition
is complete under 4VAC25-130-764.13(b) or (c). Complete, for a designation or
termination petition, means that the information required under
4VAC25-130-764.13(b) or (c) has been provided.
(2) The division shall determine whether any
identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the petition, without
requiring any showing from the petitioner. If the division finds there are not
any identified coal resources in that area, the Director shall return the
petition to the petitioner with a statement of the findings.
(3) If the Director determines that the
petition is incomplete, frivolous, or that the petitioner does not meet the
requirements of 4VAC25-130-764.13(a), he 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 division
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 Director may choose not to consider the
petition and may return the petition to the petitioner, with a statement of his
findings and a reference to the record of the previous designation proceedings
where the facts were considered.
(5) The Director 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 Director may determine not to 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 division may issue a decision on a complete and accurate
permit application and the Director shall inform the petitioner why he cannot
consider the part of the petition pertaining to the proposed permit
area.
(b)
(1) Promptly after a petition is received,
the Director 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 the Virginia Register of Regulations. The Director shall
make copies of the petition available to the public and shall provide copies of
the petition to other interested governmental agencies, intervenors, persons
with an ownership interest of record in the property, and other persons known
to the Director to have an interest in the property. Notice to the person with
an ownership interest of record in the property shall be by certified
mail.
(2) Promptly after the
determination that a petition is complete, the Director 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 the Virginia Register of
Regulations.
(c) Until
three days before the Director holds a hearing under 4VAC25-130-764.17, any
person may intervene in the proceeding by filing allegations of facts
describing how the designation determination directly affects the intervenor,
supporting evidence, a short statement identifying the petition to which the
allegations pertain, and the intervenor's name, address and telephone
number.
(d) Beginning from the date
a petition is filed, the Director shall compile and maintain a record
consisting of all documents relating to the petition filed with or prepared by
the Director. The Director shall make the record available to the public for
inspection, free of charge, and for copying at reasonable cost during all
normal hours at the Director's Richmond office and the Division's Big Stone Gap
office. The division shall also maintain information at a public office or
public building in the area in which the petitioned area is located and make
this information available to the public for inspection free of charge and for
copying at reasonable cost during all normal business hours. At a minimum, this
information shall include a copy of the petition.
Statutory Authority
§§ 45.1-161.3 and 45.1-230 of the Code of
Virginia.
