Alabama Administrative Code › Title 880 - ALABAMA SURFACE MINING COMMISSION › Chapter 880-X-7B - AREAS UNSUITABLE FOR MINING AREAS DESIGNATED BY THE ACT › Section 880-X-7B-.11 - Submission And Processing Of Requests For Valid Existing Rights Determinations

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) All valid existing rights determinations shall be made by the regulatory authority other than requests pertaining to Federal land protected under Rule 880-X-7B-.06(a) and (b) lying within a national forest, national park, wildlife refuge or the like. Valid existing right shall be determined by the Office of Surface Mining.
(2) What you must submit as part of a request for a valid existing rights determination. You must submit a request for a valid existing rights determination to the appropriate regulatory authority under paragraph (a) of this section if you intend to conduct surface coal mining operations on the basis of valid existing rights under Rule 880-X-7B-.06 or wish to confirm the right to do so. You may submit this request before preparing and submitting an application for a permit or permit revision for the land, unless the applicable regulatory program provides otherwise.
(a) Requirements for property rights demonstration. You must provide a property rights demonstration under paragraph (a) of the definition of valid existing rights at Rule 880-X-2A-.06 if your request relies upon the good faith/all permits standard or the needed for and adjacent standard in paragraph (b) of the definition of valid existing rights at Rule 880-X-2A-.06. This demonstration must include the following items:
1. A legal description of the land to which your request pertains.
2. Complete documentation of the character and extent of your current interests in the surface and mineral estates of the land to which your request pertains.
3. A complete chain of title for the surface and mineral estates of the land to which your request pertains.
4. A description of the nature and effect of each title instrument that forms the basis for your request, including any provision pertaining to the type or method of mining or mining-related surface disturbances and facilities.
5. A description of the type and extent of surface coal mining operations that you claim 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.
6. Complete documentation of the nature and ownership, as of the date that the land came under the protection of Rule 880-X-7B-.06 or Ala. Code §
										9-16-96(e), of all property rights for the surface and mineral estates of the land to which your request pertains.
7. Names and addresses of the current owners of the surface and mineral estates of the land to which your request pertains.
8. If the coal interests have been severed from other property interests, documentation that you have notified and provided reasonable opportunity for the owners of other property interests in the land to which your request pertains to comment on the validity of your property rights claims.
9. Any comments that you receive in response to the notification provided under paragraph (b)(1)(viii) of this section.