Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 460 - Department of Mines › Chapter 20 - The Permanent Regulations Governing the Coal Reclamation Act of 1979 › Subchapter 19 - Administrative and Judicial Review of Decisions › Section 460:20-19-2 - Administrative review

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
(a)
General.
Within 30 days after an applicant or permittee is
				notified of the decision of the Department concerning an application for
				approval of exploration required under Subchapter 13 of this Chapter, a permit
				for surface coal mining and reclamation operations, a permit revision, a permit
				renewal, or a transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights, 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 decision, in accordance with this
				Section.
(b)
Administrative
				hearings.
(1) The Department shall
				start the administrative hearing within 30 days of such request. The hearing
				shall be on the record and adjudicatory in nature. No person who presided at an
				informal conference under Section
				460:20-15-5(c)
				shall either preside at the hearing or participate in the decision following
				the hearing or administrative appeal.
(2) The Department may, under such conditions
				as it prescribes, 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 sought will not adversely
				affect the public health or safety, or cause significant, imminent
				environmental harm to land, air, or water resources; and
(D) The relief sought is not the issuance of
				a permit where a permit has been denied, in whole or in part, by the Department
				except that continuation under an existing permit may be allowed where the
				operation has a valid permit issued under Section 745.1 of the Act.
(3) The hearing shall be conducted
				under the following conditions:
(A) 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 appearing 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 of the decision.
(5) The burden of proof at such hearings
				shall be on the party seeking to reverse the decision of the
				Department.