Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part XV - Office of Conservation-Surface Mining › Subpart 3 - Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Permits and Coal Exploration and Development Procedures Systems › Chapter 33 - Administrative and Judicial Review of Decisions by the Office of Conservation on Permit Applications › Section XV-3301 - Administrative Review

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Within 30
				  days after the applicant or permittee is notified of the final decision of the
				  office concerning the application for the permit, revision or renewal thereof,
				  permit, application for transfer, sale or assignment of rights, or concerning
				  an exploration or development operation under §2115, the applicant,
				  permittee or any person with an interest which is or may be adversely affected
				  may request a hearing on the reasons for the final decision in accordance with
				  this Section.
1. The office shall commence
				  the hearing within 30 days of such request. This hearing shall be of record,
				  adjudicatory in nature, and no person who presided at an informal conference
				  under §3109 shall
				  either preside at the hearing, or participate in the decision following the
				  hearing, or in any administrative appeal therefrom.
2. The office may, under such conditions as
				  it may prescribe, grant such temporary relief as it deems appropriate, pending
				  final determination of the proceeding, if:
a.
				  all parties to the proceeding have been notified and given an opportunity to be
				  heard on a request for temporary relief;
b. the person requesting that relief shows
				  that there is a substantial likelihood that he or she will prevail on the
				  merits of the final determination of the proceeding;
c. the relief is not to affect adversely the
				  public health or safety, or cause significant, imminent environmental harm to
				  land, air or water resources;
d.
				  the relief sought is not the issuance of a permit where a permit has been
				  denied, in whole or in part, by the office.
3. Hearing Authority
a. For the purpose of such hearing, the
				  hearing authority may administer oaths and affirmations, subpoena witnesses and
				  written or printed materials, compel attendance of witnesses or production of
				  those materials, compel discovery, and take evidence including, but not limited
				  to, site inspections of the land to be affected and other surface coal mining
				  and reclamation operations carried on by the applicant in the general vicinity
				  of the proposed operations.
b. A
				  verbatim record of each public hearing required by this Section shall be made,
				  and a transcript made available on the motion of any party or by order of the
				  hearing authority.
c. Ex parte
				  contacts between representatives of the parties before the hearing authority
				  and the hearing authority shall be prohibited.
4. Within 30 days after the close of the
				  record, the hearing authority shall issue and furnish the applicant, and each
				  person who participated in the hearing, with the written findings of fact,
				  conclusions of law, and order of the hearing authority with respect to the
				  appeal.
5. The burden of proof at
				  such hearings shall be on the party seeking to reverse the decision of the
				  office.