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1 | AN ACT concerning mining.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Surface-Mined Land Conservation and | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | Reclamation Act is amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
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6 | (225 ILCS 715/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4506)
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7 | Sec. 5. Application for permit; bond; fee; permit.
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8 | (a) Application for a permit shall be made upon a form | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | furnished by the
Department, which form shall contain a | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | description of the tract or tracts of
land and the
estimated | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | number of acres thereof to be affected by surface mining by the
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12 | applicant to the tenth succeeding June 30, which description
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13 | shall include
the section, township, range, and county in which | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | the land is located and
shall otherwise describe the land with | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | sufficient certainty so that it may
be located and | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | distinguished from other lands, and a statement that the
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17 | applicant has the right and power by legal estate owned to mine | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | by surface
mining and to reclaim the land so described. Such | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | application shall be
accompanied by: (i) a bond or security | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | meeting the requirements
of Section 8 of this Act; and (ii) a | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | fee of $100 for every acre
and fraction of an acre of land to be | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | permitted.
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23 | (b) An operator desiring to have a permit amended to cover
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24 | additional
land may file an amended application with the | |||||||||||||||||||
25 | Department with such additional
fee and bond or security as may | |||||||||||||||||||
26 | be required under the provisions of this
Act. Such amendment | |||||||||||||||||||
27 | shall comply with all requirements of this Act.
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28 | (c) An operator may withdraw any land covered by a permit, | |||||||||||||||||||
29 | excepting
affected
land, by notifying the Department thereof, | |||||||||||||||||||
30 | in which case the penalty of
the bond or security filed by such | |||||||||||||||||||
31 | operator pursuant to the provisions of
this Act shall be | |||||||||||||||||||
32 | reduced proportionately.
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1 | (d) (Blank).
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2 | (e) Every application, and every amendment to an | ||||||
3 | application, submitted
under this Act shall contain the | ||||||
4 | following, except that the Director may
waive the requirements | ||||||
5 | of this subsection (e) for amendments if the affected
acreage | ||||||
6 | is similar in nature to the acreage stated in the permit to be | ||||||
7 | amended:
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8 | 1. a statement of the ownership of the land and of the | ||||||
9 | minerals to be
mined;
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10 | 2. the minerals to be mined;
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11 | 3. the character and composition of the vegetation and | ||||||
12 | wildlife on lands
to be affected;
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13 | 4. the current and past uses to which the lands to be | ||||||
14 | affected have been
put;
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15 | 5. the current assessed valuation of the lands to be | ||||||
16 | affected and the
assessed valuation shown by the two | ||||||
17 | quadrennial assessments next preceding
the currently | ||||||
18 | effective assessment;
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19 | 6. the nature, depth and proposed disposition of the | ||||||
20 | overburden;
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21 | 7. the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit | ||||||
22 | will be mined;
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23 | 8. the location of existing roads, and anticipated | ||||||
24 | access and haulage
roads planned to be used or constructed | ||||||
25 | in conducting surface mining;
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26 | 9. the technique to be used in surface mining;
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27 | 10. the location and names of all streams, creeks, | ||||||
28 | bodies of water and
underground water resources within | ||||||
29 | lands to be affected;
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30 | 11. drainage on and away from the lands to be affected | ||||||
31 | including
directional flow of water, natural and | ||||||
32 | artificial drainways and waterways,
and streams or | ||||||
33 | tributaries receiving the discharge;
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34 | 12. the location of buildings and utility lines within | ||||||
35 | lands to be
affected;
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36 | 13. the results of core drillings of consolidated |
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1 | materials in the
overburden
when required by the | ||||||
2 | Department, provided that the Department may not require
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3 | core drillings at the applicant's expense in excess of one | ||||||
4 | core drill for
every 25 acres of land to be affected;
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5 | 14. a conservation and reclamation plan and map | ||||||
6 | acceptable to the
Department.
The operator shall designate | ||||||
7 | which parts of the lands to be affected are
proposed to be | ||||||
8 | reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop, horticultural,
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9 | homesite,
recreational, industrial or other uses including | ||||||
10 | food, shelter and ground
cover for wildlife and shall show | ||||||
11 | the same by appropriate designation on
a reclamation map. | ||||||
12 | The plan shall:
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13 | (i) provide for timely compliance with all | ||||||
14 | operator duties set forth in
Section 6 of this Act by | ||||||
15 | feasible and available means; and
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16 | (ii) provide for storage of all overburden and | ||||||
17 | refuse.
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18 | Information respecting the minerals to be mined required by | ||||||
19 | subparagraph (e)2
of this Section, respecting the estimated | ||||||
20 | depth to which the mineral deposit
will be mined required by | ||||||
21 | subparagraph (e)7 of this Section, and respecting the
results | ||||||
22 | of core drillings required by subparagraph (e)13 of this | ||||||
23 | Section shall
be held confidential by the Department upon | ||||||
24 | written request of the applicant.
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25 | (f) All information required in subsection (e) of this | ||||||
26 | Section, with the
exception of that information which is to be | ||||||
27 | held in confidentiality by
the Department shall be made | ||||||
28 | available by the operator for public inspection
at the county | ||||||
29 | seat of each county containing land to be affected. The county
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30 | board of each county containing lands to be affected may | ||||||
31 | propose the use
for which such lands within its county are to | ||||||
32 | be reclaimed and such proposal
shall be considered by the | ||||||
33 | Department, provided that any such proposal must
be consistent | ||||||
34 | with all requirements of this Act.
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35 | Such plan shall be deposited with the county board no less | ||||||
36 | than 60 days
prior to any action on the plan by the Department. |
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1 | All actions by the county
board pursuant to this Section must | ||||||
2 | be taken within 45 days of receiving the
plan.
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3 | If requested by a county board of a county to be affected | ||||||
4 | under a proposed
permit, a public hearing to be conducted by | ||||||
5 | the Department shall be held
in such county on the permit | ||||||
6 | applicant's proposed reclamation plan. By
rules and | ||||||
7 | regulations the Department shall establish hearing dates which
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8 | provide county boards reasonable time in which to have reviewed | ||||||
9 | the proposed
plans and the procedural rules for the calling and | ||||||
10 | conducting of the public
hearing. Such procedural rules shall | ||||||
11 | include provisions for reasonable
notice to all parties, | ||||||
12 | including the applicant, and reasonable opportunity
for all | ||||||
13 | parties to respond by oral or written testimony, or both, to | ||||||
14 | statements
and objections made at the public hearing. County | ||||||
15 | boards and the public
shall present their recommendations at | ||||||
16 | these hearings. A complete record
of the hearings and all | ||||||
17 | testimony shall be made by the Department and recorded
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18 | stenographically.
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19 | (g) The Department shall approve a conservation and | ||||||
20 | reclamation plan if the plan complies with this Act and | ||||||
21 | completion of the plan
will in fact achieve every duty of the | ||||||
22 | operator required by this Act. If the conservation and | ||||||
23 | reclamation plan includes a mining operation within | ||||||
24 | unincorporated territory of a county and the mining operation | ||||||
25 | is within 1.5 miles of the boundaries of a municipality that | ||||||
26 | has adopted a zoning ordinance, the Department may not approve | ||||||
27 | the permit unless the corporate authorities of the municipality | ||||||
28 | approve the permit by a 2/3 vote. The
Department's approval of | ||||||
29 | a plan shall be based upon the advice of technically
trained | ||||||
30 | foresters, agronomists, economists, engineers, planners and | ||||||
31 | other
relevant experts having experience in reclaiming | ||||||
32 | surface-mined lands, and
having scientific or technical | ||||||
33 | knowledge based upon research into reclaiming
and utilizing | ||||||
34 | surface-mined lands. The Department shall consider all | ||||||
35 | testimony
presented at the public hearings as provided in | ||||||
36 | subsection
(f) of this
Section. In cases where no public |
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1 | hearing is held on a proposed plan, the
Department shall | ||||||
2 | consider written testimony from county boards when submitted
no | ||||||
3 | later than 45 days following filing of the proposed plan with | ||||||
4 | the county
board. The Department shall immediately serve copies | ||||||
5 | of such written testimony
on the applicant and give the | ||||||
6 | applicant a reasonable opportunity to respond
by written | ||||||
7 | testimony. The Department shall consider the short and long
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8 | term impact of the proposed mining on vegetation, wildlife, | ||||||
9 | fish, land use,
land values, local tax base, the economy of the | ||||||
10 | region and the State,
employment
opportunities, air pollution, | ||||||
11 | water pollution, soil contamination, noise
pollution and | ||||||
12 | drainage. The Department may consider feasible
alternative
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13 | uses for which reclamation might prepare the land to be | ||||||
14 | affected and may
analyze the relative costs and effects of such | ||||||
15 | alternatives. Whenever the
Department does not approve the | ||||||
16 | operator's plan, and whenever the plan approved
by the | ||||||
17 | Department does not conform to the views of the county board | ||||||
18 | expressed
in accordance with subsection (f) of this Section, | ||||||
19 | the
Department shall
issue a statement of its reasons for its | ||||||
20 | determination and shall make such
statement public. The | ||||||
21 | approved plan shall be filed by the applicant with
the clerk of | ||||||
22 | each county containing lands to be affected and such plan shall
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23 | be available for public inspection at the office of the clerk | ||||||
24 | until reclamation
is completed and the bond is released in | ||||||
25 | accordance with the provisions of the
Act.
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26 | (h) Upon receipt of a bond or security, all fees due from | ||||||
27 | the operator,
and approval of the conservation and reclamation | ||||||
28 | plan by the Department,
the Department shall issue a permit to | ||||||
29 | the applicant which shall entitle
him to engage thereafter in | ||||||
30 | surface mining on the land therein described
until the tenth | ||||||
31 | succeeding June 30, the period for which such
permits are
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32 | issued being hereafter referred to as the "permit period".
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33 | (i) The operator may transfer any existing permit to a | ||||||
34 | second operator,
after first notifying the Department of the | ||||||
35 | intent to transfer said permit.
The Department shall transfer | ||||||
36 | any existing permit to a second party upon
written notification |
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1 | from both parties and the posting of an adequate
performance | ||||||
2 | bond by the new permittee.
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3 | (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-938, eff. 1-11-01.)
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4 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
5 | becoming law.
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