Sec. 7. (a) The applicant has the burden of establishing that the application complies with all the requirements of this article. The director may not approve a permit or revision application unless the application affirmatively demonstrates and the director finds the following:

(1) The permit application is accurate and complete and in compliance with all the requirements of this article.

(2) The applicant has demonstrated that reclamation as required by this article can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit application.

(3) The:

(A) assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining in the area on the hydrologic balance specified in IC 14-34-3-3 has been made by the director; and

(B) proposed mining operation is designed to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area.

(4) The proposed mining area is not:

(A) included within an area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining under IC 14-34-18-4; or

(B) within an area under study for that designation in an administrative proceeding;

unless the applicant demonstrates that before January 1, 1977, the applicant has made substantial legal and financial commitments in the operation for which the applicant is applying for a permit and is in an area where an administrative proceeding has commenced under IC 14-34-18-4.

(5) If the private mineral estate is severed from the private surface estate, the applicant has submitted to the director one (1) of the following:

(A) The written consent of the surface owner to the extraction of coal by surface mining methods.

(B) A conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract the coal by surface mining methods. If the conveyance does not expressly grant the right to extract coal by surface mining methods, the surface-subsurface legal relationship shall be determined in accordance with Indiana law.

(6) A surface coal mining operation owned or controlled by the applicant or a person who owns or controls the applicant is not in violation of:

(A) this article;

(B) IC 14-36-1;

(C) the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. § 1201 through 1328);

(D) any federal statute or regulation; or

(E) any state statute or rule enacted or adopted under federal statute or regulation pertaining to air or water environmental protection;

unless the applicant submits proof that an existing violation has been appealed or corrected or is in the process of being corrected to the satisfaction of the regulatory authority that has jurisdiction over the violation.

(7) The applicant has, if applicable, satisfied the requirements for approval of a long term, intensive agricultural postmining land use.

(8) The applicant has paid all reclamation fees from previous and existing operations as required by 30 C.F.R. part 870.

(9) The operation would not affect the continued existence of endangered or threatened species or result in destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitats, as determined under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.).

(10) If any part of the operation would take place in a floodway, the operation will not:

(A) result in unreasonably detrimental effects upon the fish, wildlife, or botanical resources;

(B) adversely affect the efficiency; or

(C) unduly restrict the capacity;

of the floodway.

     (b) The director shall make the findings required by subsection (a) in writing and available to the applicant. The director may base the findings on information set forth in the application or from information otherwise available. The director shall set forth in the written approval or denial the basis of the director’s findings.

[Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-4.1-4-3(a), (b).]

As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.27.