HCS/HB 246 - The act exempts the following activities from needing a surface mining permit from the Land Reclamation Commission: 1) property owners managing seasonal gravel accumulation on sites not primarily used for commercial gravel mining; and 2) political subdivisions removing sand and gravel for use in their operations. Such gravel removal must occur solely on the landowner's or political subdivision's property and must be conducted in accordance with the Department of Natural Resources' regulations. Exempted property owners must annually notify the Department of Natural Resources if they sell any of the removed gravel. When so notified, the department must provide the property owner with relevant guidelines and regulations regarding the gravel removal.
The act limits the amount of gravel removed by exempted property owners to 2,000 tons annually, and 1,000 tons per site annually. The act provides that if an operator has removed 2,000 tons of sand and gravel at the request of a property owner within one year, the operator must have a watershed management plan approved by the Land Reclamation Commission in order to remove any additional sand or gravel within the same year. The application for a watershed management plan approval must be accompanied by a fee, which shall be equivalent to the fee associated with a gravel mining permit application from the Land Reclamation Commission.
The act prohibits gravel removal by an exempted property owner when the removal site is within a certain distance of any building, structure, highway, road, bridge, viaduct, water line, sewer line, pipeline, or other utility line. The minimum distance shall be prescribed by the Land Reclamation Commission.
The act requires certain information to be provided to the department by any person who files a complaint regarding an alleged violation of the surface mining permit requirement or exemptions under the act.
This act is similar to HB 1389 (2008).
ERIKA JAQUES