§ 74-50. Permits – General. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 74‑50.  Permits –General.

(a)        No operator shallengage in mining without having first obtained from the Department an operatingpermit that covers the affected land and that has not been terminated, revoked,suspended for the period in question, or otherwise become invalid. An operatingpermit may be modified from time to time to include land neighboring theaffected land, in accordance with procedures set forth in G.S. 74‑52. Aseparate permit shall be required for each mining operation that is not on landneighboring a mining operation for which the operator has a valid permit.

(b)        As used insubsection (b1) of this section:

(1)        "Landadjoining" means any parcel or tract of land that is not owned in whole orin part by, or that is not under the control of, the applicant or operator orany lessor, affiliate, parent, or subsidiary of the applicant or operator andthat is contiguous to either: (i) any parcel or tract that includes thepermitted area or (ii) any parcels or tracts of land that are owned in whole orin part by or under the control of the applicant or operator or any lessor,affiliate, parent, or subsidiary of the applicant or operator and that, takentogether, are contiguous to the permitted area.

(2)        "Permitboundaries" means the boundaries of a permitted area.

(3)        "Permittedarea" means affected land and all other land used for or designated asbuffers or reserves, or used for other purposes, as delineated in a miningpermit or an application for a mining permit.

(b1)      At the time of anapplication for a new mining permit or for a modification of a mining permit toadd land to the permitted area, the applicant or operator shall make areasonable effort, satisfactory to the Department, to notify:

(1)        The chiefadministrative officer of each county and municipality in which any part of thepermitted area is located.

(2)        The owners of recordof land adjoining that lies within 1,000 feet of the permit boundaries.

(3)        The owners of recordof land that lies directly across and is contiguous to any highway; creek,stream, river, or other watercourse; railroad track; or utility or other publicright‑of‑way and that lies within 1,000 feet of the permitboundaries. For purposes of this subdivision, "highway" means ahighway, as defined in G.S. 20‑4.01(13) that has four lanes of travel orless and that has not been designated a part of the Interstate Highway System.

(b2)      The notice shallinform the owners of record and chief administrative officers of theopportunity to submit written comments to the Department regarding the proposedmining operation and the opportunity to request a public hearing regarding theproposed mining operation. Requests for public hearing shall be made within 30days of issuance of the notice.

(b3)      When the Departmentreceives an application for a new mining permit or for a modification of amining permit to add land to the permitted area, the Department shall send anotice of the application to each of the following agencies with a request thateach agency review and provide written comment on the application within 30days of the date on which the request is made:

(1)        Division of AirQuality, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

(2)        Division of Parksand Recreation, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

(3)        Division of WaterQuality, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

(4)        Division of WaterResources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

(5)        North CarolinaGeological Survey, Division of Land Resources, Department of Environment andNatural Resources.

(6)        Wildlife ResourcesCommission, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

(7)        Office of Archivesand History, Department of Cultural Resources.

(8)        United States Fishand Wildlife Service, United States Department of the Interior.

(9)        Any other federal orState agency that the Department determines to be appropriate, including theDivision of Coastal Management, Department of Environment and NaturalResources; the Division of Marine Fisheries, Department of Environment andNatural Resources; the Division of Waste Management, Department of Environmentand Natural Resources; and the Department of Transportation.

(c)        No permit shallbecome effective until the operator has deposited with the Department anacceptable performance bond or other security pursuant to G.S. 74‑54. Ifat any time the bond or other security, or any part thereof, shall lapse forany reason other than a release by the Department, and the lapsed bond orsecurity is not replaced by the operator within 30 days after notice of thelapse, the permit to which the lapsed bond or security pertains shall beautomatically revoked.

(d)        An operating permitshall be granted for a period not exceeding 10 years. If the mining operationterminates and the reclamation required under the approved reclamation plan iscompleted prior to the end of the period, the permit shall terminate.Termination of a permit shall not have the effect of relieving the operator ofany obligations that the operator has incurred under an approved reclamationplan or otherwise. Where the mining operation itself has terminated, no permitshall be required in order to carry out reclamation measures under thereclamation plan. (1971,c. 545, s. 5; 1973, c. 1262, s. 33; 1981, c. 787, s. 1; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994),c. 568, s. 2; 2000‑116, s. 1; 2002‑159, s. 35(d).)