225 ILCS 720/2.04
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 225 - PROFESSIONS, OCCUPATIONS, AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS|225 ILCS 720/ - Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act.|Article II - Permits

 (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7902.04)Sec. 2.04.     Notice and Public Review of Applications.     (a) At the time  of submission of a permit application, the applicant shall (1) place a public  notice of the application in a local newspaper of general circulation in  the locality of the proposed mining operations to appear at least once a  week for four consecutive weeks, and (2) file the application for public  inspection at the county seat of each county containing land to be affected  under the permit.  Information which pertains to coal seams, test borings,  core samplings, or soil samples required to be part of a permit application  shall be made available to any person with an interest which is or may be  adversely affected.  Information which pertains only to the analysis of  the chemical and physical  properties of the coal (excepting information regarding mineral or elemental  content which is potentially toxic in the environment) need not be made  available for public  inspection.  On the written request of the applicant, such information shall  be kept confidential by the Department and not made a matter of public record.(b) The contents and other requirements for the public notices and filings  required by this Section shall be prescribed by the Department by rule.(c) When an application is received, the Department shall notify various  local governmental bodies, planning agencies, sewage and water treatment  authorities, and water companies in the locality in which the proposed mining  will take place, of the operator's intention to mine a particularly described  tract of land and state the permit application's number and where a copy  of the application may be inspected.  Written comments on the permit application  may be submitted to the Department in the manner and within the time prescribed  by the Department by rule.  Immediately on receipt of such comments, the  Department shall transmit a copy of them to the applicant, and shall file  them for public inspection at the same locations at which the application  is available for public inspection.(d) Any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected  or any person who is an officer of any government agency, or the county  board of a county to be affected under a proposed permit, may file written  objections to a permit application and may request an informal conference  with the Department.  If no informal conference is requested, or if the  issues in question are not resolved by the informal conference, such interested  person, officer, or county  board may request a public hearing within 80 days after the first newspaper  notice required by subsection (a) of this Section.  If a hearing is requested,  the Department shall hold at least one hearing in the locality affected  by the permit, and shall hold a hearing in each county to be affected under  the proposed permit in which a county  board has requested a hearing.  The Department may provide funds to county  boards to assist them under this Section, provided funds are specifically  appropriated for such purpose.(e) By rule the Department shall establish hearing dates which provide  reasonable time in which to have reviewed the proposed plans, and procedural  rules for the calling and conducting of the public hearing.  Such procedural  rules shall include provisions for reasonable notice to all parties, including  the applicant, and reasonable opportunity for all parties to respond by  oral or written testimony, or both, to statements and objections made at  the public hearing.  County boards and the public shall present their recommendations  at these hearings.(f) A complete record of the hearings and all testimony shall be made  by the Department and recorded stenographically or electronically.  Such  record shall be maintained and shall be accessible to the public until final  release of the applicant's performance bond.(g) If all parties requesting a hearing withdraw their requests, the hearing  need not be held.    (Source: P.A. 81-1015.)