Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 91.djvu/502

 91 STAT. 468

PUBLIC LAW 95-87—AUG. 3, 1977

Hearing.

(C) held at least one public hearing on the proposed regulations. The date, time, and place of any hearing held on the proposed regulations shall be set out in the publication of the proposed regulations. The Secretary shall consider all comments and relevant data presented at such hearing before final promulgation and publication of the regulations. Publication in (b) Not later than one year after the enactment of this Act, the Federal Register. Secretary shall promulgate and publish in the Federal Register regulations covering a permanent regulatory procedure for surface coal mining and reclamation operations performance standards based on and conforming to the provisions of title V and establishing procedures and requirements for preparation, submission, and approval of V; State programs; and development and implementation of Federal prof grams under the title. The Secretary shall promulgate these regulations, which shall be concise and written in plain, understandable language in accordance with the procedures in section 501(a). INITIAL REGULATORY PROCEDURES

Permits. 30 USC 1252.

Post, p. 486.

Limitation.

Post, p. 516.

Permit application.

SEC. 502. (a) No person shall open or develop any new or previously mined or abandoned site for surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State unless such person has obtained a permit from the State's regulatory authority. (b) All surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State which commence operations pursuant to a permit issued on or after six months from the date of enactment of this Act shall comply, and such permits shall contain terms requiring compliance with, the provisions set out in subsection (c) of this section. Prior to final disapproval of a State program or prior to promulgation of a Federal program or a Federal lands program pursuant to this Act, a State may issue such permits, (c) On and after nine months from the date of enactment of this Act, all surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State shall complv with the provisions of subsections 515(h)(2), 515(b)(3), 515(b)(5), 515(b)(10), 515(b) (13), 515(b) (15), 515(b) (19), and 515(d) of this Actor, where a surface coal mining operation will remove an entire coal seam or seams running through the upper fraction of a mountain, ridge, or hill by removing all of the overburden and creating a level plateau or a gently rolling contour with no highwalls remaining, such operation shall comply with the requirements of section 515(c)(4) and (5) without regard to the requirements of section 515(b)(3) or 515(d)(2) and (3), with respect to lands from which overburden and the coal seam being mined have not been removed: Provided, however. That surface coal mining operations in operation pursuant to a permit issued by a State before the date of enactment of this Act, issued to a person as defined in section 701(19) in existence prior to May 2, 1977 and operated by a person whose total annual production of coal from surface and underground coal mining operations does not exceed one hundred thousand tons shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection except with reference to the provision of subsection 515(d)(1) until January 1, 1979. (d) Not later than two months following the approval of a State program pursuant to section 503 or the implementation of a Federal program pursuant to section 504. regardless of litigation contesting that approval or implementation, all operators of surface coal mines in

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