§ 207.9 — Permit approval or denial

Iowa § 207.9

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title V: AGRICULTURE
• Ch. 207: COAL MINING

Text

1. Upon the basis of a complete mining application and reclamation plan or a revision or
renewal, the division shall grant, require modification of, or deny the application for a permit
inareasonabletimesetbythedivisionandnotifytheapplicantinwriting. Theapplicantshall
havetheburdenofestablishingthattheapplicationisincompliancewithalltherequirements
ofthischapter. Withintendaysaftergrantingofapermit,thedivisionshallnotifythepolitical
subdivision in which the area of land to be affected is located that a permit has been issued
and shall describe the location of the land.
2. A permit or revision application shall not be approved unless the application
affirmatively demonstrates and the division finds in writing on the basis of the application
or other information documented in the approval, and made available to the applicant, the
following:
a. The permit application is accurate, complete and in compliance with all the
requirements of this chapter.
b. The applicant has demonstrated that reclamation as required by this chapter and the
state program can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit
application.
c. The division has assessed the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining in
the area on the hydrologic balance and the proposed operation has been designed to prevent
material damage to hydrologic balance outside permit area.
d. The area proposed to be mined is not included within an area designated unsuitable for
coal mining or is not within an area proposed for such designation.
e. If the private mineral estate has been severed from the private surface estate, the
applicant has submitted any of the following:
(1) The written consent of the surface owner to the extraction of coal.
(2) A conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract the coal by surface
mining.
(3) If the conveyance does not expressly grant the right to extract coal by surface mining
methods, the surface-subsurface legal relationship as determined in accordance with state
law. This chapter does not authorize the division to adjudicate property rights disputes.
3. The applicant shall file with the permit application a schedule listing any and all notices
ofviolationsofthischapterandanylaworruleofthefederalorastategovernmentpertaining
to air or water environmental protection incurred by the applicant in connection with a coal
mining operation during the three previous years. The schedule shall also indicate the final
resolution of the notice of violation. If any information available to the division indicates

that a coal mining operation owned or controlled by the applicant is currently in violation of
this chapter or the other laws referred to in this subsection, the permit shall not be issued
until the applicant submits proof that such violation has been corrected or is in the process of
being corrected to the satisfaction of the regulatory authority which has jurisdiction over the
violation and the permit shall not be issued to an applicant after a finding by the division after
an opportunity for a hearing that the applicant, or the operator specified in the application,
controls or has controlled mining operations with a demonstrated pattern of willful violations
of this chapter.
4. If the area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland, the division shall, after
consultation with the United States secretary of agriculture, and pursuant to regulations
issued by the secretary with the concurrence of the secretary of agriculture, grant a permit to
mine on prime farmland if the division finds in writing that the operator has the technological
capability to restore such mined area, within a reasonable time, to equivalent or higher
levels of yield as nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area under equivalent levels
of management and can meet the soil reconstruction standards established by section 207.7.
Any operator who mines coal on agricultural land shall restore such mined area, within a
reasonable time, to equivalent or higher levels of yield as nonmined agricultural land of
similar quality in the surrounding area under equivalent levels of management.
5. Withinsixtydaysapersonhavinganinterestwhichisormaybeadverselyaffectedmay
appeal the decision of the division granting or denying a permit as a contested case under
chapter 17A.

Legislative History

[C81, §83.9]