Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 460 - Department of Mines › Chapter 20 - The Permanent Regulations Governing the Coal Reclamation Act of 1979 › Subchapter 7 - Areas Designated by Act of Congress as Unsuitable for Mining › Section 460:20-7-3 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
For the purposes of this Subchapter
:
"Cemetery"
means any area of land where human
				  bodies are interred. Community or institutional building means any structure,
				  other than a public building or an occupied dwelling, which is used primarily
				  for meetings, gatherings or functions of local civic organizations or other
				  community groups; functions as an educational, cultural, historic, religious,
				  scientific, correctional, mental-health or physical health care facility; or is
				  used for public services, including, but not limited to, water supply, power
				  generation or sewage treatment.
"
Community or institutional building
" means any
				  structure, other than a public building or an occupied dwelling, which is used
				  primarily for meetings, gatherings, or functions of local civic organizations
				  or other community groups; functions as an educational, cultural, historic,
				  religious, scientific, correctional, mental-health, or physical-health care
				  facility; or is used for public services, including, but not limited to, water
				  supply, power generation, or sewage treatment.
"Occupied dwelling"
means any building that is
				  currently being used on a regular or temporary basis for human
				  habitation
.
"Publicly-owned park"
means a public park that
				  is owned by a Federal, State or local governmental entity.
"Public building"
means any structure that is
				  owned or leased, and principally used by a governmental agency for public
				  business or meetings.
"Public park"
means an area or portion of an
				  area dedicated or designated by any Federal, State, or local agency primarily
				  for public recreational use, whether or not such use is limited to certain
				  times or days, including any land leased, reserved, or held open to the public
				  because of that use.
"Public road"
means a road
:
(A) Which has been designated as a public road pursuant to
				  the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located;
(B) Which is maintained with public funds in a manner similar
				  to other public roads of the same classification within the
				  jurisdiction;
(C) For which there is substantial (more than incidental)
				  public use; and
(D) Which meets road construction standards forother public
				  roads of the same classification in the local jurisdiction.
"Significant forest cover"
means an existing
				  plant community consisting predominantly of trees and other woody
				  vegetation.
"Significant recreational, timber, economic, or other
				  values incompatible with surface coal mining operations"
means those
				  significant values which could be damaged by, and are not capable of existing
				  together with, surface coal mining operations because of the undesirable
				  effects mining would have on those values, either on the area included in the
				  permit application or on off-site areas which could be affected by mining.
				  Those values to beevaluated for their importance include:
(A) Recreation, including hiking, boating, camping, skiing or
				  other related outdoor activities;
(B) Timber management and silviculture;
(C) Agriculture, aquaculture or production of other natural,
				  processed or manufactured products which enter commerce;
(D) Scenic, historic, archaeologic, esthetic, fish, wildlife,
				  plants or cultural interests.
"Surface operations and impacts incident to an
				  underground coal mine"
means all activities involved in or related to
				  underground coal mining which are either conducted on thesurface of the land,
				  produce changes in the land surface or disturb the surface, air, or water
				  resources of the area, including all activities listed in 45 O.S. Section
				  742.2(49) and the definition of surface coal mining operations appearing in
				  Section
				  460:20-1-5.
"Valid existing rights"
means: a set of
				  circumstances under which a person may, subject to the Department's approval,
				  conduct surface coal mining operations on lands where 45 O.S. Section 783 and
				  Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  would otherwise prohibit such operations. Possession of valid existing rights
				  only confers an exception from the prohibitions of 45 O.S. Section 783 and
				  Section
				  460:20-7-4.
				  A person seeking to exercise valid existing rights must comply with all other
				  pertinent requirements of the Act and this Chapter.
(A) Property rights demonstration. Except as provided in
				  paragraph (C) of this definition, a person claiming valid existing rights must
				  demonstrate that a legally binding conveyance, lease, deed, contract, or other
				  document vests that person, or a predecessor in interest, with the right to
				  conduct the type of surface coal mining operationsintended. This right must
				  exist at the time that the land came under the protection of 45 O.S. Section
				  783 and Section
				  460:20-7-4.
				  Applicable State statutory or case law will govern interpretation of documents
				  relied upon to establish property rights, unless Federal law
				  provides
otherwise. If no
applicable State law exists, custom and
				  generally accepted usage at the time and place that the documents came into
				  existence will govern their interpretation.
(B) Except as provided in paragraph (C) of this definition, a
				  person claiming valid existing rights also must demonstrate compliance with one
				  of the following standards:
(i) Good faith/all permits standard. All permits and other
				  authorizations required to conduct surface coal mining operations had been
				  obtained, or a good faith effort to obtain all necessary permits and
				  authorizations had been made, before the land came under the protection of
				  Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 . At a minimum, an application must have been submitted
				  for any permit required under this chapter.
(ii) Needed for and adjacent standard. The land is needed for
				  and immediately adjacent to a surface coal mining operation for which all
				  permits and other authorizations required to conduct surface coal mining
				  operations had been obtained, or a good faith attempt to obtain all permits and
				  authorizations had been made, before the land came under the protection of
				  Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 . To meet this standard, a person must demonstrate that
				  prohibiting expansion of the operation onto that land would unfairly impact the
				  viability of the operation as originally planned before the land came under the
				  protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 . Except for operations in existence before August 3,
				  1977, or for which a good faith effort to obtain all necessary permits had been
				  made before August 3, 1977, this standard does not apply to lands already under
				  the protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 when the regulatory authority approved the permit for
				  the original operation or when the good faith effort to obtain all necessary
				  permits for the original operation was made. In evaluating whether a person
				  meets this standard, the agency making the determination may consider factors
				  such as:
(I) The extent to which coal supply contracts or other legal
				  and business commitments that predate the time that the land came under the
				  protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 depend upon use of that land for surface coal mining
				  operations.
(II) The extent to which plans used to obtain financing for
				  the operation before the land came under the protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 rely upon use of that land for surface coal mining
				  operations.
(III) The extent to which investments in the operation before
				  the land came under the protection of Section 20-7-4 and 45 O.S. Section 783
				  rely upon use of that land for surface coal mining operations.
(IV) Whether the land lies within the area identified on the
				  life-of-mine map submitted under Sections
				  460:20-25-10(3)
				  and
				  460:20-29-10(3)
				  ofthis Chapter before the land came under the protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  of this Chapter.
(C) Roads. A person who claims valid existing rights to use
				  or construct a road across the surface of lands protected by
				  Section.460:20-7-4
				  or 45 O.S. Section 783 must demonstrate that one or more of the following
				  circumstances exist if the road is included within the definition of "surface
				  coal mining operations" in Section
				  460:20-1-5 of this
				  chapter:
(i) The road existed when the land upon which it is located
				  came under the protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783, and the person has a legal right to use the road for
				  surface coal mining operations.
(ii) A properly recorded right of way or easement for a road
				  in that location existed when the land came under the protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783, and, under the document creating the right of way or
				  easement, and under subsequent conveyances, the person has a legal right to use
				  or construct a road across the right of way or easement for surface coal mining
				  operations.
(iii) A valid permit for use or construction of a road in
				  that location for surface coal mining operations existed when the land came
				  under the protection of Section
				  460:20-7-4
				  and 45 O.S. Section 783 .
(iv) Valid existing rights exist under Paragraphs (A) and (B)
				  of this definition.
(D) "Valid existing rights" does not mean mere expectation of
				  a right to conduct surface coal mining operations or the right to conduct
				  underground coal mining. Examples of rights which alone do not constitute valid
				  existing rights include, but are not limited to coal exploration permits or
				  licenses, applications or bids for leases, or where a person has only applied
				  for a State or Federal permit.
Amended at 16 Ok Reg
				  3526, eff 9-13-99; Amended at 19 Ok Reg 2841, eff
				  8-27-02