§ 14-34-18-6 — Designation of area as unsuitable

(a) The director may designate an area as
unsuitable for coal mining if the designation is based on competent and
scientifically sound data.
(b) The director may designate an area as unsuitable for certain
types of coal mining operations if the operation will:
(1) be incompatible with existing state or local land use plans or
programs;
(2) affect fragile or historic lands in which the operation could
result in significant damage to important historic, cultural,
scientific, and esthetic values and natural systems;
(3) affect renewable resource lands, including aquifers and
aquifer recharge areas, in which the operation could result in a
substantial loss or reduction of long range productivity of water
supply or of food or fiber products; or
(4) affect natural hazard lands, including the following:
(A) Areas subject to frequent flooding.
(B) Areas of unstable geology in which the operation could
substantially endanger life and property.
(c) The director shall designate an area as unsuitable for all or
certain types of surface coal mining if the director determines that
reclamation under this article is not technologically and economically
feasible.
(d) The director shall integrate determinations of the unsuitability
of land for surface coal mining with the land use planning and
regulation processes at the federal, state, and local levels.
[Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-4.1-14-4.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.27.