1. (a) Application for a permit shall be made upon a form furnished by the Department, which form shall contain a description of the tract or tracts of land and the estimated number of acres thereof to be affected by surface mining by the applicant to the tenth succeeding June 30, which description shall include the section, township, range, and county in which the land is located and shall otherwise describe the land with sufficient certainty so that it may be located and distinguished from other lands, and a statement that the applicant has the right and power by legal estate owned to mine by surface mining and to reclaim the land so described. Such application shall be accompanied by:

   1. (i) a bond or security meeting the requirements of Section 8 of this Act; and
   2. (ii) a fee of $150 for every acre and fraction of an acre of land to be permitted.
2. (b) An operator desiring to have a permit amended to cover additional land may file an amended application with the Department with such additional fee and bond or security as may be required under the provisions of this Act. Such amendment shall comply with all requirements of this Act.
3. (c) An operator may withdraw any land covered by a permit, excepting affected land, by notifying the Department thereof, in which case the penalty of the bond or security filed by such operator pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be reduced proportionately.
4. (d)
5. (Blank) .

6. (e) Every application, and every amendment to an application, submitted under this Act shall contain the following, except that the Director may waive the requirements of this subsection (e) for amendments if the affected acreage is similar in nature to the acreage stated in the permit to be amended:

   1. a statement of the ownership of the land and of the minerals to be mined;

   2. the minerals to be mined;

   3. the character and composition of the vegetation and wildlife on lands to be affected;

   4. the current and past uses to which the lands to be affected have been put;

   5. the current assessed valuation of the lands to be affected and the assessed valuation shown by the two quadrennial assessments next preceding the currently effective assessment; 6. the nature, depth and proposed disposition of the overburden;

   7. the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit will be mined;

   8. the location of existing roads, and anticipated access and haulage roads planned to be used or constructed in conducting surface mining; 9. the technique to be used in surface mining;

   10. the location and names of all streams, creeks, bodies of water and underground water resources within lands to be affected; 11. drainage on and away from the lands to be affected including directional flow of water, natural and artificial drainways and waterways, and streams or tributaries receiving the discharge; 12. the location of buildings and utility lines within lands to be affected;

   13. the results of core drillings of consolidated materials in the overburden when required by the Department, provided that the Department may not require core drillings at the applicant's expense in excess of one core drill for every 25 acres of land to be affected; 14. a conservation and reclamation plan and map acceptable to the Department. The operator shall designate which parts of the lands to be affected are proposed to be reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop, horticultural, homesite, recreational, industrial or other uses including food, shelter and ground cover for wildlife and shall show the same by appropriate designation on a reclamation map. The plan shall: (i) provide for timely compliance with all operator duties set forth in Section 6 of this Act by feasible and available means; and (ii) provide for storage of all overburden and refuse.

   Information respecting the minerals to be mined required by subparagraph (e)2 of this Section, respecting the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit will be mined required by subparagraph (e)7 of this Section, and respecting the results of core drillings required by subparagraph (e)13 of this Section shall be held confidential by the Department upon written request of the applicant.

7. (f) All information required in subsection (e) of this Section, with the exception of that information which is to be held in confidentiality by the Department shall be made available by the operator for public inspection at the county seat of each county containing land to be affected. The county board of each county containing lands to be affected may propose the use for which such lands within its county are to be reclaimed and such proposal shall be considered by the Department, provided that any such proposal must be consistent with all requirements of this Act.

   Such plan shall be deposited with the county board no less than 60 days prior to any action on the plan by the Department. All actions by the county board pursuant to this Section must be taken within 45 days of receiving the plan.

   If requested by a county board of a county to be affected under a proposed permit, a public hearing to be conducted by the Department shall be held in such county on the permit applicant's proposed reclamation plan. By rules and regulations the Department shall establish hearing dates which provide county boards reasonable time in which to have reviewed the proposed plans and the procedural rules for the calling and conducting of the public hearing. Such procedural rules shall include provisions for reasonable notice to all parties, including the applicant, and reasonable opportunity for all parties to respond by oral or written testimony, or both, to statements and objections made at the public hearing. County boards and the public shall present their recommendations at these hearings. A complete record of the hearings and all testimony shall be made by the Department and recorded stenographically.

8. (g) The Department shall approve a conservation and reclamation plan if the plan complies with this Act and completion of the plan will in fact achieve every duty of the operator required by this Act. The Department's approval of a plan shall be based upon the advice of technically trained foresters, agronomists, economists, engineers, planners and other relevant experts having experience in reclaiming surface-mined lands, and having scientific or technical knowledge based upon research into reclaiming and utilizing surface-mined lands. The Department shall consider all testimony presented at the public hearings as provided in subsection (f) of this Section. In cases where no public hearing is held on a proposed plan, the Department shall consider written testimony from county boards when submitted no later than 45 days following filing of the proposed plan with the county board. The Department shall immediately serve copies of such written testimony on the applicant and give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to respond by written testimony. The Department shall consider the short and long term impact of the proposed mining on vegetation, wildlife, fish, land use, land values, local tax base, the economy of the region and the State, employment opportunities, air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, noise pollution and drainage. The Department may consider feasible alternative uses for which reclamation might prepare the land to be affected and may analyze the relative costs and effects of such alternatives. Whenever the Department does not approve the operator's plan, and whenever the plan approved by the Department does not conform to the views of the county board expressed in accordance with subsection (f) of this Section, the Department shall issue a statement of its reasons for its determination and shall make such statement public. The approved plan shall be filed by the applicant with the clerk of each county containing lands to be affected and such plan shall be available for public inspection at the office of the clerk until reclamation is completed and the bond is released in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
9. (h) Upon receipt of a bond or security, all fees due from the operator, and approval of the conservation and reclamation plan by the Department, the Department shall issue a permit to the applicant which shall entitle him to engage thereafter in surface mining on the land therein described until the tenth succeeding June 30, the period for which such permits are issued being hereafter referred to as the "permit period".
10. (i) The operator may transfer any existing permit to a second operator, after first notifying the Department of the intent to transfer said permit. The Department shall transfer any existing permit to a second party upon written notification from both parties and the posting of an adequate performance bond by the new permittee.

(from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4506)

(Source: P.A. 97-1136, eff. 1-1-13.)