(a) Any unexpired permit shall be effective only so long as the operator possesses the legal right and power by legal estate owned to strip mine from the land described in the permit. All authority of the board of land and natural resources to enforce the requirements prescribed in § 181-6 shall terminate within ten years after the end of the permit year in which strip mining was completed or abandoned upon the land unless before the end of the period he has served upon the operator written directions to comply therewith. The board shall release from the effect of this chapter, either by reason of compliance or limitation of time, all or any part of the land affected by this chapter by filing in the bureau of conveyances of the State, or in the office of the assistant registrar of the land court, or both, as appropriate, a written release in form prepared by the board.
Operator: means an individual, firm, or corporation engaged in strip mining operations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 181-1
Strip mining: means mining of mineral by uncovering therefrom the surface soil above mineral deposits and mining directly from the mineral exposed for the purpose of carrying on a business of mining or selling mineral removed by the process. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 181-1
(b) No permit shall be refused, modified, suspended, canceled, or revoked by the board until after a hearing on written charges has been had before the board after not less than ten days’ written notice, fixing date and place of the hearing, has been given to the operator.
