§ 38-18-06 — Written notice and consent required before permit to surface mine land may be issued

North Dakota § 38-18-06

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 38: Mining and Gas and Oil Production
• Ch. 38-18: Surface Owner Protection Act

Text

be issued.
1. Before the public service commission may issue a permit to surface mine land, the
mineral developer shall give the surface owner written notice of the type of land
disturbance or mining operation contemplated by the mineral developer. This notice
must sufficiently disclose the plan of work and operations to enable the surface owner
to evaluate the extent of the land disturbance on the surface owner's use of the
property. The notice must be accompanied by an enlarged United States geological
survey topographic map showing the specific locations to be covered by the mining
operation. The notice and map must be submitted to the surface owner at least thirty
days before the application for a permit to surface mine is to be submitted.
2. The public service commission may not issue a permit to surface mine land unless the
permit application is accompanied by statements of consent, executed by each
surface owner whose land is included within the permit area, to have surface mining
conducted upon the surface owner's land. The requirement established by this section
is in addition to the requirements of chapter 38-14.1.
3. A certified copy of a mineral lease executed by the surface owner in favor of the
mineral developer proposing the mining project or the developer's agent, or a certified
copy of a surface lease executed by the surface owner in favor of the mineral
developer proposing the mining project or the developer's agent, if filed with the
application for a permit to surface mine, may be used to fulfill the subsection 2
requirement of a statement of consent to have surface mining conducted. Any
previously executed mineral lease or surface lease in favor of the mineral developer,
the developer's successors, assigns, or predecessors in title runs with the land and is
binding on a subsequent mineral owner or owners or surface owner or owners, as the
case may be.
4. If the mineral developer desires to have the developer's permit amended to cover
additional land, the mineral developer shall file either consent statements or surface or
mineral leases executed by the surface owners of such additional land as required by
this section with the application to amend the permit to cover additional land. If, in
addition, all of the requirements of chapter 38-14.1 are met, the public service
commission may issue the amended permit.
5. If the mineral owner or the mineral developer is unable to obtain the surface owner's
consent, the mineral owner or mineral developer may bring an action in district court to
establish the relative rights of the parties and the measure of damages to the surface
owner. At any time after the filing of any such action and either before or after the final
decision of the district court, upon a showing to the satisfaction of the court that the
surface owner will be adequately compensated for lost production, lost land value, and
loss of the value of improvements due to the mining activity, the court shall issue an
order which will authorize the public service commission to issue a permit to surface
mine land without the consent which would otherwise be required by this section. In
the event the damages awarded by the court to the surface owner exceed the amount
tendered or otherwise provided for, the court shall award to the surface owner

reasonable attorney's fees in addition to any other sums determined to be due to the
surface owner.