Virginia Code 45.2-1209: Review of operations plan and reclamation provision by Director; issuance of permit
A. Upon receipt of an operations plan acceptable to the Director and bond as required by this article, the Director shall review the plan. If the Director approves the plan, he shall issue a permit. If the Director disapproves the plan, he shall furnish the applicant with his written objections thereto and his required amendments. Until the applicant amends his operations plan to meet the Director’s reasonable objections and files a satisfactory amended plan with the Director, no permit shall be issued.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 45.2-1209
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Mining: means the breaking or disturbing of the surface soil or rock in order to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals or any activity constituting all or part of a process for the extraction or removal of minerals so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
- Operator: means any individual, corporation or corporation officer, firm, joint venture, partnership, business trust, association, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, or any legal entity that is engaged in mining. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Reclamation: means the restoration or conversion of disturbed land to a stable condition that minimizes or prevents adverse disruption and the injurious effects of such disruption and presents an opportunity for further productive use if such use is reasonable. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
B. In reviewing the operations plan, if the Director finds that the operation will constitute a hazard to the public safety or welfare, or that a reasonable degree of reclamation or proper drainage control is not feasible, he may disapprove the permit application. However, the Director may approve the permit after deleting the areas from the permit application that he holds in his findings to be objectionable.
C. The Director shall issue the permit unless he finds that the applicant has had control or has had common control with a person, partnership, association, trust, or corporation that has had a mining permit revoked or bond or other security forfeited for failure to reclaim lands as required by law, in which event no permit shall be issued. However, if an operator who forfeited a bond pays, within 30 days of notice and demand by the Director, the cost of reclamation in excess of the amount of the forfeited bond, or if any bond is forfeited and the amount forfeited is equal to or greater than the cost of reclamation, such operator shall then become eligible for another permit.
1968, c. 734, § 45.1-184; 1974, c. 312; 1977, c. 312; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.