reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AL Code § 9-16-12 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 1 - Surface Mining Reclamation Generally.|Section 9-16-12 - Disposition of Fees and Penalties.

Section 9-16-12Disposition of fees and penalties. (a) All fees and penalties collected under the provisions of this article shall be deposited in the General Fund of the State Treasury. (b) All funds received from the forfeiture of bonds, sureties, cash, or governmental securities shall be placed in the State Treasury and credited to a special agency account created and designated as the Surface Mining Reclamation Fund. The department shall, for each bond, surety, or deposit of cash or securities forfeited, utilize the proceeds of the forfeiture for the reclamation of affected lands. The director may establish and carry out a systematic schedule for the reclamation and revegetation of lands which have been affected by strip mining operations and to which there is no obligation on any person to reclaim or revegetate. The department may cause the reclamation work to be done by employees of other governmental agencies or through contracts with qualified vendors. The department and any contractor shall have the right of access to the land affected to carry out the reclamation. (c) The department may accept and use any funds, facilities, or personnel available for the purposes of this article. (Acts 1969, No. 399, p. 773, §12; Act 99-579, p. 1307, §2.)
AL Code § 9-16-13 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 1 - Surface Mining Reclamation Generally.|Section 9-16-13 - Administration of Article.

Section 9-16-13Administration of article. Any act authorized to be done by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations of the State of Alabama may be performed by the inspector, assistant inspector or any employee of the department when designated by the director. The superintendent may adopt and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations respecting the administration of this article and in conformity therewith. (Acts 1969, No. 399, p. 773, §13.)
AL Code § 9-16-14 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 1 - Surface Mining Reclamation Generally.|Section 9-16-14 - Applicability of Provisions of Article.

Section 9-16-14Applicability of provisions of article. The provisions of this article shall not apply to surface mining activities of the State Department of Transportation or any city, county or municipality incident to their activities in constructing, repairing and maintaining the public road system in Alabama. The provisions of this section shall also extend to any person, firm or corporation contracting with the State Department of Transportation or any city, county or municipality to construct, repair and maintain public roads; provided, that such contracts contain standards for the reclamation of all affected surface mining areas; and provided further, that such standards have been approved by the department. (Acts 1969, No. 399, p. 773, §15.)
AL Code § 9-16-15 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 1 - Surface Mining Reclamation Generally.|Section 9-16-15 - Article Supplemental; Repeal of Conflicting Laws.

Section 9-16-15Article supplemental; repeal of conflicting laws. It is intended that this article shall supplement existing law regarding the inspection or regulation of mining, water pollution and water impoundment and that only provisions of such law which directly conflict with or are inconsistent with this article are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict or inconsistency. (Acts 1969, No. 399, p. 773, §16.)
AL Code § 9-16-70 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-70 - Short Title.

Section 9-16-70Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as "The Alabama Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1981." (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §1.)
AL Code § 9-16-75 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-75 - Adoption of Rules Pursuant to Alabama Administrative Procedure Act; Written Notification of Commission's Rulemaking Activities.

Section 9-16-75Adoption of rules pursuant to Alabama Administrative Procedure Act; written notification of commission's rulemaking activities. In adopting, amending or repealing any rule, including any regulation or standard, the commission shall observe the requirements of the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act (Section 41-22-1 et seq.). Any person may request written notification of the commission's rule-making activities by making such request in writing to the commission. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §6; Acts 1983, No. 83-774, p. 1415, §5; Acts 1990, No. 90-107, p. 129, §3.)
AL Code § 9-16-76 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-76 - Conflict of Interest; Penalty.

Section 9-16-76Conflict of interest; penalty. No officer or employee of the commission performing any function or duty under this article, shall have a direct or indirect financial interest in underground or surface coal mining operations. Whoever knowingly violates the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $2,500.00, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, and shall relinquish his commission seat. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §7.)
AL Code § 9-16-77 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-77 - Division of Hearings and Appeals.

Section 9-16-77Division of Hearings and Appeals. (a) There is created a Division of Hearings and Appeals within the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to enforce this article. The division shall have such powers and authority as required by law and as delegated by the director. (b) The commission may hire or contract with hearing officers to hear and determine appeals from regulatory, enforcement, or other activities of the commission. A hearing officer shall be a member of and in good standing with the Alabama State Bar. (c) No person shall serve as a hearing officer who has any direct or indirect financial interest in an underground or surface coal mining operation or who has been employed by or represented any coal mine operator within the previous 24 months. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §8; Act 2010-498, p. 768, §1.)
AL Code § 9-16-78 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-78 - Hearing Officer; Powers; Witness Fees.

Section 9-16-78Hearing officer; powers; witness fees. (a) No hearing officer shall participate in a hearing if he or she has an interest therein. At any such hearing all testimony shall be given under oath and be recorded, but need not be transcribed unless an appeal is made. (b) The manner in which hearings before hearing officers shall be presented and the conduct of hearings and appeals before hearing officers shall be in accordance with regulations prescribed by the regulatory authority. (c) In the discharge of his or her duties under this article, any hearing officer shall have power to administer oaths, certify to official acts, take and cause to be taken depositions of witnesses, issue and serve subpoenas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, payrolls, documents, records, and testimony, provide for site inspections or inspections of other operations. In the event of failure of any person to comply with any subpoena lawfully issued, or on the refusal of any witness to produce evidence or to testify as to any matter regarding which he or she may be lawfully interrogated, it shall be the duty of any court of competent jurisdiction or of the judge thereof, upon the application of the hearing officer in the name of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to compel obedience by proceedings for contempt. Witness fees and other expenses involved in the proceedings under this article shall be paid to the extent necessary at rates specified by the director. Such expenses shall be deemed a part of the expense of administering this chapter. (d) There shall be no ex parte communications of any kind relating to commission business, or proposed or pending cases, by or with any hearing officer by any party or representative of any party, or by any employee or representative of the commission. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §9; Acts 1986, No. 86-106, p. 113, §3; Act 2010-498, p. 768, §1.)
AL Code § 9-16-80 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-80 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Division - Creation; Director; Chief; Transfer of Books, Records, Powers, Rights, and Personnel.

Section 9-16-80Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Division - Creation; director; chief; transfer of books, records, powers, rights, and personnel. (a) There is hereby created a Division of Surface Mining Control and Reclamation within the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to enforce the provisions of this article. The division shall have such powers and authority as may be delegated by the director of the commission. (b)(1) The director shall appoint a chief of the division and shall fix his compensation as an unclassified employee in the state Merit System. (2) The chief shall be the chief executive officer of the division and shall administer in the name of the division that power and authority delegated to the division by the director. The chief may, with the approval of the director, establish such sections within the division as may be necessary to enforce this article and the rules, regulations and standards promulgated thereunder. (c) Any books, records, equipment, facilities, notes, accounts receivable, bank accounts, contracts and all property of any kind, tangible or intangible, of the Alabama Surface Mining Reclamation Commission acquired or used in the administration of Article 2, Chapter 16, Title 9, shall be transferred to the reconstituted commission in such manner as the director of the commission deems appropriate. No suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against the Director of the Alabama Surface Mining Reclamation Commission or any other official, officer or employee of the State of Alabama in his official duties under Article 2, Chapter 16, Title 9 shall abate by reason of the taking effect of this article. All power, rights, and duties conferred upon the Alabama Surface Mining Reclamation Commission, its commissioners, director, employees or other officials by Article 2, Chapter 16, Title 9 shall be conferred upon the reconstituted commission as the director may delegate solely for the purposes of winding up, continuing to enforce as may be necessary and concluding all obligations, liabilities, duties, orders, litigation or any other business commenced or incurred under Article 2, Chapter 16, Title 9. (d) All personnel employed by the Alabama Surface Mining Reclamation Commission shall be transferred to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §12.)
AL Code § 9-16-86 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-86 - Permits - Revisions; Application; Revision or Modification by Authority.

Section 9-16-86Permits - Revisions; application; revision or modification by authority. (a)(1) During the term of the permit the permittee may submit an application for a revision of the permit, together with a revised reclamation plan, to the regulatory authority. (2) An application for a revision of a permit shall not be approved unless the regulatory authority finds that reclamation as required by this article can be accomplished under the revised reclamation plan. The revision shall be approved or disapproved within a period of time established by the regulatory authority's regulations. The regulatory authority shall establish guidelines for a determination of the scale or extent of a revision request for which all permit application information requirements and procedures, including notice and hearings, shall apply; provided, that any revisions which propose significant alterations in the reclamation plan shall, at a minimum, be subject to notice and hearing requirements. (3) Any extensions to the area covered by the permit except incidental boundary revisions must be made by application for another permit. (b) No transfer, assignment, or sale of the rights granted under any permit issued pursuant to this article shall be made without the written approval of the regulatory authority. (c) The regulatory authority shall within a time limit prescribed in regulations promulgated by the regulatory authority review outstanding permits and may require reasonable revision or modification of the permit provisions during the term of such permit; provided, that such revision or modification shall be based upon a written finding and subject to notice and hearing requirements established by this article. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §18.)
AL Code § 9-16-87 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-87 - Permits - Coal Exploration.

Section 9-16-87Permits - Coal exploration. (a) Coal exploration operations including the removal of coal samples for testing, assaying or other associated non-commercial purposes which substantially disturb the natural land surface may be conducted after filing a notice of intention to explore, including a description of the exploration area, the period of proposed exploration and provisions for reclamation in accordance with Section 9-16-90. (b) Information submitted to the regulatory authority pursuant to this section as confidential concerning trade secrets or privileged commercial or financial information which relates to the competitive rights of the person or entity intended to explore the described area shall not be available for public examination. (c) Any person who conducts any coal exploration activities which substantially disturb the natural land surface in violation of this section or regulations issued pursuant thereto shall be subject to the enforcement provisions of this article. (d) No operator shall affect more than one-half acre in any one location or remove more than 250 tons of coal pursuant to an exploration permit without the specific written approval of the regulatory authority. The written approval may be conditioned upon specific performance standards, reclamation standards, and a reclamation bond as required by regulations promulgated hereunder. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §19; Acts 1983, No. 83-774, p. 1415, §7.)
AL Code § 9-16-97 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-97 - Water Rights.

Section 9-16-97Water rights. (a) Nothing in this article shall be construed as affecting in any way the right of any person to enforce or protect, under applicable law, his interest in water resources affected by a surface coal mining operation. (b) The operator of a surface coal mine shall replace the water supply of an owner of interest in real property who obtains all or part of his supply of water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other legitimate use from an underground or surface source where such supply has been affected by contamination, diminution, or interruption proximately resulting from such surface coal mine operation. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §29.)
AL Code § 9-16-98 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-98 - Experimental Practices.

Section 9-16-98Experimental practices. In order to encourage advances in mining and reclamation practices or to allow post-mining land use for industrial, commercial, residential, or public use (including recreational facilities), the regulatory authority with approval by the Secretary of Interior may authorize departures in individual cases on an experimental basis from the environmental protection performance standards promulgated under Sections 9-16-90 and 9-16-91 of this article. Such departures may be authorized if (i) the experimental practices are potentially more or at least as environmentally protective, during and after mining operations, as those required by promulgated standards; (ii) the mining operations approved for particular land use or other purposes are no larger or more numerous than necessary to determine the effectiveness and economic feasibility of the experimental practices; and (iii) the experimental practices do not reduce the protection afforded public health and safety below that provided by promulgated standards. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §30.)
AL Code § 9-16-99 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-99 - Surface Mining Operations Not Subject to This Article.

Section 9-16-99Surface mining operations not subject to this article. The provisions of this article shall not apply to any of the following activities: (1) The extraction of coal by a landowner for his own noncommercial use from land owned or leased by him; (2) For surface mining operations affecting two acres or less, the regulatory authority may waive certain requirements of this article where those requirements will not affect the reclamation of the affected lands; (3) The extraction of coal as an incidental part of federal, state or local government-financed highway or other construction under regulations established by the regulatory authority; (4) The extraction of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent of the tonnage of minerals removed for commercial use or sale pursuant to regulations established by the regulatory authority. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §31; Acts 1983, No. 83-774, p. 1415, §4.)
AL Code § 9-16-100 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-100 - Confidentiality of Records.

Section 9-16-100Confidentiality of records. Any record, report or information required to be submitted to the regulatory authority by a licensee or permittee pursuant to this article shall be available to the public, except as provided elsewhere in this article and except that upon a verified representation to the regulatory authority by an applicant, licensee or permittee that a record, report or information, or particular part thereof, to which the regulatory authority has access under this article, if made public, would divulge production or financial data or methods, processes or production unique to the person or would otherwise tend to affect adversely the competitive position of the person, the regulatory authority shall treat the record, report or information or particular portion thereof as confidential in the administration of this article. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §32.)
AL Code § 9-16-101 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-101 - Leases of Certain Lands.

Section 9-16-101Leases of certain lands. The regulatory authority is hereby vested with the authority and responsibility for consulting with all institutions of this state which own lands or mineral interests relating to all coal leases proposed to be entered into by such institutions. The regulatory authority is hereby designated as the agency of the State of Alabama for reviewing and approving such coal leases. Upon submission of any such proposed lease, the regulatory authority shall, within 45 days, by order approve or disapprove such proposed lease; upon failure of the regulatory authority to act within such time, such lease shall be conclusively presumed approved. In any case in which the regulatory authority refuses to approve the execution of such a lease, the proposed lessee may demand a hearing before a hearing officer pursuant to the provisions of Section 9-16-78 and 9-16-79 of this article with all rights of appeal as set forth. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §33.)
AL Code § 9-16-102 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources.|Chapter 16 - Mineral Resources.|Article 3 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation.|Section 9-16-102 - Reports of Certain Coal Sales.

Section 9-16-102Reports of certain coal sales. Any person engaged in the business of coal brokering or operating a coal sales agency in the State of Alabama and each and every person, corporation or other legal entity operating an electric system for the sale of electric energy for resale, sale to the public or sale to its members and each and every industrial purchaser of coal in the State of Alabama shall report, on a form to be furnished by the regulatory authority, at intervals of not less than 60 days, the name, address, license number and permit number of the producer of all coal purchased by it since its last reporting period. In the event that any person named in the preceding sentence purchases coal mined outside of the State of Alabama, such facts shall be so noted on the form described above. Failure of the persons described in this section to render such reports shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable by fine of not more than $5,000.00; provided, that prior to instituting any such action, the regulatory authority, in the case of a first offense only, shall notify such person by certified or registered mail of the failure to comply with this provision of this article and shall afford such person not more than 10 days to furnish such report. Officers, employees and agents of the regulatory authority shall be permitted to inspect the records and books of the persons specified above to determine the accuracy of such reports, such inspection to take place at reasonable times. In no event shall the regulatory authority require disclosure of the amounts of any purchase or the purchase price paid for such coal or of any information other than that set forth above, except by specific subpoena in preparation for hearing or other enforcement action. (Acts 1981, No. 81-435, p. 682, §34.)