Illinois Administrative Code › Title 62 - MINING › Part 1785 - REQUIREMENTS FOR PERMITS FOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF MINING › Section 1785.17 - Prime Farmlands

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Scope
1) This Section applies to any person who
			 conducts or intends to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations
			 on prime farmlands historically used for cropland.
2) This Section does not apply to:
A) Lands on which surface coal mining and
			 reclamation operations are conducted pursuant to any permit issued prior to
			 August 3, 1977; or
B) Lands on
			 which surface coal mining and reclamation operations are conducted pursuant to
			 any renewal or revision of a permit issued prior to August 3, 1977;
			 or
C) Lands included in any
			 existing surface coal mining operations for which a permit was issued for all
			 or any part thereof prior to August 3, 1977, provided that:
i) Such lands are part of a single continuous
			 surface coal mining operation begun under a permit issued before August 3,
			 1977; and
ii) The permittee had a
			 legal right to mine the lands prior to August 3, 1977, through ownership,
			 contract, or lease but not including an option to buy, lease or contract;
			 and
iii) The lands contain part of
			 a continuous recoverable coal seam that was being mined in a single continuous
			 mining pit (or multiple pits if the lands are proven to be part of a single
			 continuous surface coal mining operation) begun under a permit issued prior to
			 August 3, 1977.
3) For the purposes of this Section:
A) "Renewal" of a permit shall mean a
			 decision by the Department to extend the time by which a permittee may complete
			 mining within the boundaries of the original permit and "revision" of the
			 permit shall mean a decision by the Department to allow changes in the method
			 of mining operations within the original permit area, or the decision of the
			 Department to allow amendment, pursuant to State law, prior to June 1, 1982, or
			 other incidental boundary changes to the original permit;
B) A pit shall be deemed to be a single
			 continuous mining pit even if portions of the pit are crossed by a road,
			 pipeline, railroad, or powerline or similar crossing;
C) A single continuous surface coal mining
			 operation is presumed to consist only of a single continuous mining pit under a
			 permit issued prior to August 3, 1977, but may include non-contiguous parcels
			 if the operator can prove by clear and convincing evidence that, prior to
			 August 3, 1977, the non-contigous parcels were part of a single permitted
			 operation. For the purpose of the paragraph, clear and convincing evidence
			 includes, but is not limited to, contracts, leases, deeds or other properly
			 executed documents (not including options) that specifically treat separate
			 parcels as one surface coal mining operation.
4) All applicants for an exemption shall
			 supply the Department with a scale map of the area proposed to be exempted,
			 delineating all prime farmland soils and showing the total number of acres
			 proposed for exemption to the nearest acre, and the numbers of acres of each
			 prime farmland soil type in the area proposed to be exempted.