§ 86.124. Procedures: initial processing, recordkeeping and notification requirements.
(a) Within 30 days of receipt of a petition, the Department will notify the petitioner by certified mail whether or not the petition is complete as required by § 86.123 (relating to procedures: petitions). If the 30-day requirement of this subsection cannot be met due to the staff limitations of the Department, the Department may process the petitions in accordance with the priority system authorized by subsection (b)(2). Within this 30-day period, the Department will also notify an applicant with pending surface mining operation permit applications in the area covered by the petition.
(1) The Department will determine whether identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the petition. If the Department finds there are not identified coal resources in that area, it may return the petition to the petitioner with a statement of the findings.
(2) The Department may reject petitions for designations or terminations of designations which are frivolous. A frivolous petition is one in which the allegations of harm lack serious merit. Once the requirements of § 86.123 are met, each accepted petition will be considered and acted upon by the Department under the procedures of this part.
(3) When considering a petition for an area which was previously and unsuccessfully proposed for designation, the Department will determine if the new petition presents new allegations of fact. If the petition does not contain new allegations of fact, the Department will refuse to consider the petition and may return the petition to the petitioner, with a statement of its findings and a reference to the record of the previous designation proceedings when the facts were considered.
(4) If the Department determines that the petition is frivolous, it will return the petition to the petitioner, with a written statement of the reasons for the determination. If the petition is incomplete, the Department will indicate the categories of information needed to make the petition complete. The Department will hold the incomplete petition until the petitioner has been given 30 days to make the application complete.
(5) The Department will notify the person who submits a petition of an application for a permit received which proposes to include an area covered by the petition.
(6) The Department may determine not to process any petition for a designation under § 86.122 (relating to criteria for designating lands as unsuitable) insofar as it pertains to an area for which an administratively complete surface mining operation permit application has been filed and the first newspaper notice has been published. The Department will provide written notice to the petitioner with a statement of its findings. Once a petition has been returned to the petitioner under this section, the Department may proceed to issue a decision on a permit application received for mining in the area included within the petition.
(b) Within 3 weeks after the determination that a petition is complete, the Department will send notice of receipt of the petition to, and request submissions of relevant information from, other interested governmental agencies, the petitioner, intervenors and other persons known to the Department to own or have an interest in the property.
(1) Within 3 weeks after the determination that a petition is complete, the Department will 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 2 consecutive weeks in the locale of the area covered by the petition, in the newspaper of largest circulation in the region, and in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(2) The Department may establish a priority system to decide the order in which petitions or classes of petitions submitted under this section will be processed. A high priority will be given to petitions which include areas where surface mining operation permit applications are pending.
(c) Until 3 days before the Department holds a hearing under § 86.125 (relating to procedures: hearing requirements), a person may become an intervenor 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, a request for intervenor status and the name, address and telephone number.
(d) Beginning immediately after a complete petition is filed, the Department will compile and maintain a record consisting of documents relating to the petition filed with or prepared by the Department. The Department will make the record available for public inspection free of charge, and copying at reasonable cost, during normal business hours at the Department’s district mining office in the county or multicounty area in which the land petitioned is located, and at the main office of the Department.
(e) Prior to designating land areas unsuitable for surface mining operations, the Department will prepare a detailed statement, using existing and available information on the potential resources of the area, the demand for resources, and the impact of the designation on the environment, the economy and the supply of coal.
(f) The Department will prepare a recommendation on each complete petition received under this section and submit it to the EQB within 12 months of receipt of the complete petition.
Authority The provisions of this § 86.124 amended under the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P. S. § § 1396.1—1396.19a); the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P. S. § § 30.51—30.66); The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. § § 691.1—691.1001); sections 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § § 510-20 and 510-30).
Source The provisions of this § 86.124 adopted December 19, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 4789, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended July 30, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2473, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended June 15, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3383, effective July 27, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 3316; amended December 13, 1996, effective December 14, 1996, 26 Pa.B. 5962; amended November 28, 1997, effective November 29, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 6186; amended October 8, 1999, effective October 9, 1999, 29 Pa.B. 5289. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (238930) to (238932).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 86.6 (relating to extraction of coal incidental to government-financed construction or government-financed reclamation projects); 25 Pa. Code § 86.37 (relating to criteria for permit approval or denial); 25 Pa. Code § 86.103 (relating to procedures); 25 Pa. Code § 86.121 (relating to areas designated unsuitable for mining); 25 Pa. Code § 86.126 (relating to procedures: decision); 25 Pa. Code § 86.127 (relating to data base and inventory system requirements); and 25 Pa. Code § 86.130 (relating to areas designated as unsuitable for mining).
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