Illinois Administrative Code › Title 62 - MINING › Part 1761 - AREAS DESIGNATED BY ACT OF CONGRESS › Section 1761.16 - Submission and Processing of Requests for Valid Existing Rights Determinations

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Basic framework
			 for valid existing rights determinations. The following table identifies the
			 agency responsible for making a valid existing rights determination and the
			 definition that it must use, based upon which subsection of Section
			 1761.11
			 applies and whether the request includes Federal lands.
Subsection of 62 Ill. Adm. Code
						  1761.11
						  that provides protection
Protected feature
Type of land to which request pertains
Agency responsible for determination
Applicable definition of valid existing rights
(a)
National parks, wildlife refuges, etc.
Federal
OSM
Federal1
(a)
National parks, wildlife refuges, etc.
Non-Federal
Department
Federal1
(b)
Federal lands in national
						  forest3
Federal
OSM
Federal1
(c)
Public parks and historic places
Does not matter
Department
Regulatory program2
(d)
Public roads
Does not matter
Department
Regulatory program2
(e)
Occupied dwellings
Does not matter
Department
Regulatory program2
(f)
Schools, churches, parks, etc.
Does not matter
Department
Regulatory program2
(g)
Cemeteries
Does not matter
Department
Regulatory program2
1 Definition in
						  30
						  CFR 761.5.
2 Definition in Section
						  1761.5.
3 Neither
						  30 USC
						  1272(e) nor
						  30
						  CFR 761.11 provides special protection for
						  non-Federal lands within national forests. Therefore, this table does not
						  include a category for those lands.
When the Department is the agency responsible for valid
				existing rights determinations, the procedures under subsections (b) through
				(g) of this Section apply.
b) The applicant or permittee must submit a
			 request for a valid existing rights determination to the Department if it
			 intends to conduct surface coal mining operations on the basis of valid
			 existing rights under Section
			 1761.11
			 or wishes to confirm the right to do so. Such request may be submitted before
			 preparing and submitting an application for a permit or boundary revision for
			 the land.
1) Requirements for property rights
			 demonstration. The applicant or permittee must provide a property rights
			 demonstration under Section
			 1761.5(a)
			 if the request relies upon the good faith/all permits standard or the needed
			 for and adjacent standard in Section
			 1761.5(b).
			 This demonstration must include the following items:
A) A legal description of the land to which
			 the request pertains.
B) Complete
			 documentation of the character and extent of the current interests in the
			 surface and mineral estates of the land to which the request
			 pertains.
C) A complete chain of
			 title for the surface and mineral estates of the land to which the request
			 pertains.
D) A description of the
			 nature and effect of each title instrument that forms the basis for the
			 request, including any provision pertaining to the type or method of mining or
			 mining-related surface disturbances and facilities.
E) A description of the type and extent of
			 surface coal mining operations that the applicant or permittee claims the right
			 to conduct, including the method of mining, any mining-related surface
			 activities and facilities, and an explanation of how those operations would be
			 consistent with State property law.
F) Complete documentation of the nature and
			 ownership, as of the date that the land came under the protection of Section
			 1761.11, of all property rights for the surface and mineral estates of the land
			 to which the request pertains.
G)
			 Names and addresses of the current owners of the surface and mineral estates of
			 the land to which the request pertains.
H) If the coal interests have been severed
			 from other property interests, documentation that the owners of other property
			 interests in the land to which the request pertains have been notified and
			 provided reasonable opportunity to comment on the validity of the applicant's
			 or permittee's property rights claims.
I) Any comments received in response to the
			 notification provided under subsection (b)(1)(H) of this Section.