A. Any locality may establish standards and adopt regulations dealing with the same subjects dealt with in this chapter so long as such standards and regulations are no less stringent than those adopted by the Director.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 45.2-1227

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
  • 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
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 1-206

B. This chapter shall not be construed to repeal any local ordinance or regulation or charter provision in any locality where such provision is no less stringent than the standard adopted by the Director. The Director may waive the application of this chapter if, in his opinion, a locality in which mining operations are being conducted has enacted and is enforcing zoning ordinances dealing with the subject matter and prescribing standards and regulations not less stringent than those set forth in this chapter. If the Director waives any provision of this chapter, the operator shall comply strictly with all the provisions of the ordinances of the locality in which the operation is located.

C. The Director may also waive the application of this chapter as to any mining or borrow pit operation that is conducted solely and exclusively for a state project and that is subject by contract to the control and supervision of a state agency, so long as regulations satisfactory to the Director have been adopted and are incorporated into any contract for such removal. The locality or state agency shall ensure strict compliance with all provisions of the ordinances, regulations, or contracts and the Director shall from time to time review such ordinances, regulations, or contracts and their enforcement programs to ensure compliance with this chapter. If the Director determines that such strict compliance is not present, then he may rescind the waiver of the application of this chapter.

1968, c. 734, § 45.1-197; 1974, c. 312; 1977, c. 312; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.

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