Illinois Administrative Code › Title 62 - MINING › Part 1773 - REQUIREMENTS FOR PERMITS AND PERMIT PROCESSING › Section 1773.14 - Opportunity for Public Hearing

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 If no informal conference is requested, or if the issues in question are not
			 resolved by the informal conference, any interested person or county board may
			 request a public hearing within eighty (80) days after the first newspaper
			 notice required by Section
			 1773.13(a).
			 Any person who requests the Department to hold a public hearing with respect to
			 an application must claim, in the request for a public hearing, an interest
			 which is or may be adversely affected by the Department's decision, and shall
			 identify the interest(s) claimed and shall state how the Department's decision
			 may or will adversely affect the interest(s) specified. If a hearing is
			 requested, the Department shall hold at least one (1) 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.
			 Nothing in this Section shall bar any interested person from requesting a
			 public hearing if that person did not request an informal conference.
b) If a public hearing is held pursuant to
			 this Section, the Department shall send notice of any hearing to be held to the
			 applicant, the county board, all interested persons who have requested, in
			 writing, notice with respect to a particular parcel of land to be affected by
			 the proposed surface coal mining and reclamation operation, and to the
			 principal newspaper, television, and radio stations serving the area. The
			 Department shall publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper of general
			 circulation within the county. Such notice shall be published by the Department
			 at least two (2) weeks prior to the scheduled hearing date.
c) The Department shall appoint a hearing
			 officer to conduct the hearing. The hearing officer shall be a licensed
			 attorney or an employee of the Department. The hearing officer shall conduct a
			 fair hearing and shall take all necessary action to avoid delay, to maintain
			 order, and to develop a clear and complete record. He or she shall have all
			 powers necessary to these ends, including but not limited to the power to
			 change the time and place of the hearing and adjourn the hearing from time to
			 time or from place to place within the county of the proposed surface coal
			 mining and reclamation operation and to give due notice of such action
			 consistent with the notice requirement of subsection (a).
d) The hearing shall be informal. The
			 applicant shall appear at any hearing held pursuant to Section
			 1773.14.
1) All participants in the public hearing
			 shall have the right to be represented by counsel, or by some other authorized
			 representative.
2) The hearing
			 officer shall allow the county board, the applicant, and any interested persons
			 to present data, views, or arguments.
3) Where necessary in order to prevent undue
			 prolongation of the hearing, the hearing officer shall establish a time period
			 during which the participants shall be heard. Every effort will be made to
			 allow all persons who wish to make a statement to do so.
4) A verbatim transcript of the hearing shall
			 be maintained by a court reporter appointed by the Department, and shall
			 constitute a part of the record. Copies of the transcript shall be furnished,
			 at cost, upon request to the court reporter. Such record shall be maintained by
			 the Department and shall be accessible to the public at the Department's
			 Springfield Office until final release of the applicant's reclamation
			 performance bond.
5) The record
			 shall remain open for additional written statements responsive to statements or
			 other documents for ten (10) days following the close of the hearing, or for
			 such other reasonable time as the hearing officer may direct. A time for
			 responsive oral statements may be set by the hearing officer.