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.
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.
Structure Code of Virginia
Title 45.2 - Mines, Minerals, and Energy
Chapter 12 - Permits for Certain Mining Operations; Reclamation of Land
§ 45.2-1201. Construction of chapter
§ 45.2-1202. Authority of Director; enforcement of chapter by injunction
§ 45.2-1203. Exemption for restricted mining
§ 45.2-1206. Operations plan; reclamation; policy of Director
§ 45.2-1207. Special Reclamation Fund
§ 45.2-1209. Review of operations plan and reclamation provision by Director; issuance of permit
§ 45.2-1210. Application for permit; adjoining landowners; local official
§ 45.2-1211. Succession of one operator by another at uncompleted project
§ 45.2-1213. Notice of noncompliance served on operator
§ 45.2-1214. Collection of debts
§ 45.2-1215. Commonwealth to have lien for reclamation work
§ 45.2-1216. Perfection of lien; waiver of lien
§ 45.2-1217. Recordation and indexing of lien; notice
§ 45.2-1219. Hearing to determine amount of lien
§ 45.2-1220. Satisfaction of lien
§ 45.2-1221. Additional bond to cover amended estimate of land to be disturbed
§ 45.2-1222. Interference with reclamation unlawful; other mining operations on land
§ 45.2-1223. Penalty for violation of chapter, etc.
§ 45.2-1224. Assistance of federal, state, and local agencies
§ 45.2-1225. Injunction prohibiting mining operation
§ 45.2-1226. Appeals from decisions of the Department
§ 45.2-1228. Orphaned Lands Reclamation Fund
§ 45.2-1229. Survey; priorities for reclamation
§ 45.2-1230. Agreements with owners or lessees; reclamation by Director
§ 45.2-1231. Contracts for reclamation
§ 45.2-1232. Acceptance of federal funds, gifts, etc.
§ 45.2-1234. Minerals Reclamation Fund
§ 45.2-1235. Membership in Fund; payments required
§ 45.2-1236. Release of bonds and other securities
§ 45.2-1237. Return of member payments
§ 45.2-1238. Revocation of permits; reclamation work
§ 45.2-1239. Collection of debt where cost of reclamation exceeds member's forfeited payments, etc.
§ 45.2-1240. Decreases in size of Fund
§ 45.2-1241. Order of return of payments
§ 45.2-1242. Discontinuance of Fund
§ 45.2-1243. Construction of article; Fund used solely for reclamation