Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 12 - COAL MINING REGULATIONS › Subchapter G - SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS, PERMITS, AND COAL EXPLORATION PROCEDURES SYSTEMS › Division 11 - REVIEW, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, AND APPROVAL OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS AND PERMIT TERMS AND CONDITIONS › Section 12.216 - Criteria for Permit Approval or Denial

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
No permit or revision application shall be approved,
						unless the application affirmatively demonstrates and the Commission finds, in
						writing, on the basis of information set forth in the application or from
						information otherwise available, which is documented in the approval and made
						available to the applicant, that:
(1)
					 the permit application is accurate and complete and that all requirements of
					 the Act and this chapter (relating to Coal Mining Regulations) have been
					 complied with;
(2) the applicant
					 has demonstrated that surface coal mining and reclamation operations, as
					 required by the Act and this chapter (relating to Coal Mining Regulations), can
					 be feasibly accomplished under the mining and reclamation operations plan
					 contained in the application;
(3)
					 the assessment of the probable cumulative impacts of all anticipated coal
					 mining in the cumulative impact area on the hydrologic balance has been made by
					 the Commission, and the operations proposed under the application have been
					 designed to prevent damage to the hydrologic balance outside the proposed
					 permit area;
(4) the proposed
					 permit area is:
(A) not included within an
					 area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining operations under
					 §§
												RSA
					 12.74-
					 RSA
					 12.77 of this title (relating to Criteria for
					 Designating Areas as Unsuitable for Surface Coal Mining Operations) and
					 §§
												RSA
					 12.78-
					 RSA
					 12.85 of this title (relating to Process for
					 Designating Areas as Unsuitable for Surface Coal Mining Operations) or within
					 an area subject to the prohibitions of §
												RSA
					 12.71<subdiv>(a)</subdiv> of this
					 title (relating to Areas Where Surface Coal Mining Operations are Prohibited or
					 Limited); or
(B) not within an area
					 under study for designation as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations or
					 in an administrative proceeding begun under §§
												RSA
					 12.78-
					 RSA
					 12.85 of this title (relating to Process for
					 Designating Areas as Unsuitable for Surface Coal Mining Operations), unless the
					 applicant demonstrates that, before January 4, 1977, he or she made substantial
					 legal and financial commitments in relation to the operation for which he or
					 she is applying for a permit; or
(C) not on any lands subject to the
					 prohibitions or limitations of §12.71(a)(1), (a)(6) or (a)(7) of this
					 title; or
(D) not within 100 feet
					 of the outside right-of-way line of any public road, except as provided for in
					 §
												RSA
					 12.72<subdiv>(a)</subdiv> of this
					 title (relating to Procedures for Compatibility Findings, Public Road Closures
					 and Relocations, Buffer Zones, and Valid Existing Rights Determinations);
					 or
(E) not within 300 feet from any
					 occupied dwelling, except as provided for in §
												RSA
					 12.71<subdiv>(a)(5)</subdiv> of
					 this title;