State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Illinois > Chapter225 > 1389

    (225 ILCS 715/1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4501)
    Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Surface‑Mined Land Conservation and Reclamation Act.
(Source: P.A. 86‑1475.)

    (225 ILCS 715/2) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4502)
    Sec. 2. Statement of policy. It is declared to be the policy of this State to provide for conservation and reclamation of lands affected by surface mining in order to restore them to optimum future productive use and to provide for their return to productive use including but not limited to: the planting of forests; the seeding of grasses and legumes for grazing purposes; the planting of crops for harvest; the enhancement of wildlife and aquatic resources; the establishment of recreational, residential and industrial sites; and for the conservation, development, management, and appropriate use of all the natural resources of such areas for compatible multiple purposes, to aid in maintaining or improving the tax base; and protecting the health, safety and general welfare of the people, the natural beauty and aesthetic values, and enhancement of the environment in the affected areas of the State; to prevent erosion, stream pollution, water, air and land pollution and other injurious effects to persons, property, wildlife and natural resources; and to assure that conservation and reclamation plans for all surface mining activity are available for the prior consideration of county governments within whose jurisdiction such lands will be affected by surface mining and to permit participation and authorize cooperation and coordination with the federal government in initial regulatory programs under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Public Law 95‑87, Title 30, USC Sec. 1201 et seq.
    The issuance of a permit under this Act to engage in the surface mining of any resources other than fossil fuels is not intended to relieve the permittee from its duty to comply with other applicable state and local law regulating the commencement, location and operation of surface mining facilities.
(Source: P.A. 82‑114.)

    (225 ILCS 715/3) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4503)
    Sec. 3. Definitions. Wherever used or referred to in this Act, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
    (a) "Reclamation" means conditioning areas affected by surface mining to achieve the purposes of this Act.
    (b) "Overburden" means all of the earth and other materials which lie above natural deposits of coal, clay, stone, sand, gravel, or other minerals, and also means such earth and other materials disturbed from their natural state in the process of surface mining.
    (c) "Surface mining" means the mining of any minerals by removing the overburden lying above natural deposits thereof, and mining directly from the natural deposits thereby exposed or the deposition of overburden therefrom.
    (d) "Operator" means any person, firm, partnership or corporation engaged in and controlling a surface mining operation, and includes political subdivisions and instrumentalities of the State of Illinois.
    (e) "Pit" means a tract of land, from which overburden has been or is being removed for the purpose of surface mining.
    (f) "Final cut" means the last pit created in a surface‑mined area.
    (g) "High wall" means that side of the pit adjacent to unmined land.
    (h) "Affected land" means the area of land from which overburden is removed for surface mining or upon which overburden or refuse is deposited. It also means any area of land utilized for drainage ditches and haulage roads at surface coal mines.
    (i) "Refuse" means all waste materials directly connected with the cleaning and preparation of minerals mined by surface mining and discarded equipment and machinery.
    (j) "Slurry" means that portion of refuse separated from the mineral in the cleaning process, consisting of fines and clays in the preparation plant effluent, and which is readily pumpable.
    (k) "Gob" means that portion of refuse consisting of waste coal, rock, pyrites, slate, or other unmerchantable material of relatively large size which is separated from the mineral in the cleaning process.
    (L) "Acid forming materials" means those materials capable of producing toxic conditions when exposed.
    (m) "Toxic conditions" means any conditions that will not support higher forms of plant or animal life in any place in connection with or as a result of the completion of surface mining.
    (n) "Ridge" means a lengthened elevation of overburden created in the surface mining process.
    (o) "Peak" means a projecting point of overburden created in the surface mining process.
    (p) "Department" means Department of Natural Resources or such department, bureau, or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such Department.
    (q) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Natural Resources or such officer, bureau or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such Director.
    (r) "Darkened surface soil" means mineral horizons formed at or adjacent to the surface of the soil which are higher in organic matter content and visibly darker in color than the immediately underlying horizons.
    (s) "Aggregate mining industry" means producers, by surface mining method, of all minerals other than coal, including sand, gravel, silica sand, shale, clay, limestone and any other mineral which may be so mined.
(Source: P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/4) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4504)
    Sec. 4. Necessity of permit.
    It shall be unlawful for any operator to engage in surface mining in an area where the overburden shall exceed 10 feet in depth or where the operation will affect more than 10 acres during the permit year without first obtaining from the Department a permit so to do, in such form as is hereinafter provided.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1568.)

    (225 ILCS 715/4.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4505)
    Sec. 4.1. (Repealed).
(Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99. Repealed by P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4506)
    Sec. 5. Application for permit; bond; fee; permit.
    (a) Application for a permit shall be made upon a form furnished by the Department, which form shall contain a description of the tract or tracts of land and the estimated number of acres thereof to be affected by surface mining by the applicant to the tenth succeeding June 30, which description shall include the section, township, range, and county in which the land is located and shall otherwise describe the land with sufficient certainty so that it may be located and distinguished from other lands, and a statement that the applicant has the right and power by legal estate owned to mine by surface mining and to reclaim the land so described. Such application shall be accompanied by: (i) a bond or security meeting the requirements of Section 8 of this Act; and (ii) a fee of $100 for every acre and fraction of an acre of land to be permitted.
    (b) An operator desiring to have a permit amended to cover additional land may file an amended application with the Department with such additional fee and bond or security as may be required under the provisions of this Act. Such amendment shall comply with all requirements of this Act.
    (c) An operator may withdraw any land covered by a permit, excepting affected land, by notifying the Department thereof, in which case the penalty of the bond or security filed by such operator pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be reduced proportionately.
    (d) (Blank).
    (e) Every application, and every amendment to an application, submitted under this Act shall contain the following, except that the Director may waive the requirements of this subsection (e) for amendments if the affected acreage is similar in nature to the acreage stated in the permit to be amended:
        1. a statement of the ownership of the land and of
     the minerals to be mined;
        2. the minerals to be mined;
        3. the character and composition of the vegetation
     and wildlife on lands to be affected;
        4. the current and past uses to which the lands to
     be affected have been put;
        5. the current assessed valuation of the lands to be
     affected and the assessed valuation shown by the two quadrennial assessments next preceding the currently effective assessment;
        6. the nature, depth and proposed disposition of the
     overburden;
        7. the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit
     will be mined;
        8. the location of existing roads, and anticipated
     access and haulage roads planned to be used or constructed in conducting surface mining;
        9. the technique to be used in surface mining;
        10. the location and names of all streams, creeks,
     bodies of water and underground water resources within lands to be affected;
        11. drainage on and away from the lands to be
     affected including directional flow of water, natural and artificial drainways and waterways, and streams or tributaries receiving the discharge;
        12. the location of buildings and utility lines
     within lands to be affected;
        13. the results of core drillings of consolidated
     materials in the overburden when required by the Department, provided that the Department may not require core drillings at the applicant's expense in excess of one core drill for every 25 acres of land to be affected;
        14. a conservation and reclamation plan and map
     acceptable to the Department. The operator shall designate which parts of the lands to be affected are proposed to be reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop, horticultural, homesite, recreational, industrial or other uses including food, shelter and ground cover for wildlife and shall show the same by appropriate designation on a reclamation map. The plan shall:
            (i) provide for timely compliance with all
         operator duties set forth in Section 6 of this Act by feasible and available means; and
            (ii) provide for storage of all overburden and
         refuse.
    Information respecting the minerals to be mined required by subparagraph (e)2 of this Section, respecting the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit will be mined required by subparagraph (e)7 of this Section, and respecting the results of core drillings required by subparagraph (e)13 of this Section shall be held confidential by the Department upon written request of the applicant.
    (f) All information required in subsection (e) of this Section, with the exception of that information which is to be held in confidentiality by the Department shall be made available by the operator for public inspection at the county seat of each county containing land to be affected. The county board of each county containing lands to be affected may propose the use for which such lands within its county are to be reclaimed and such proposal shall be considered by the Department, provided that any such proposal must be consistent with all requirements of this Act.
    Such plan shall be deposited with the county board no less than 60 days prior to any action on the plan by the Department. All actions by the county board pursuant to this Section must be taken within 45 days of receiving the plan.
    If requested by a county board of a county to be affected under a proposed permit, a public hearing to be conducted by the Department shall be held in such county on the permit applicant's proposed reclamation plan. By rules and regulations the Department shall establish hearing dates which provide county boards reasonable time in which to have reviewed the proposed plans and the procedural rules for the calling and conducting of the public hearing. Such procedural rules shall include provisions for reasonable notice to all parties, including the applicant, and reasonable opportunity for all parties to respond by oral or written testimony, or both, to statements and objections made at the public hearing. County boards and the public shall present their recommendations at these hearings. A complete record of the hearings and all testimony shall be made by the Department and recorded stenographically.
    (g) The Department shall approve a conservation and reclamation plan if the plan complies with this Act and completion of the plan will in fact achieve every duty of the operator required by this Act. The Department's approval of a plan shall be based upon the advice of technically trained foresters, agronomists, economists, engineers, planners and other relevant experts having experience in reclaiming surface‑mined lands, and having scientific or technical knowledge based upon research into reclaiming and utilizing surface‑mined lands. The Department shall consider all testimony presented at the public hearings as provided in subsection (f) of this Section. In cases where no public hearing is held on a proposed plan, the Department shall consider written testimony from county boards when submitted no later than 45 days following filing of the proposed plan with the county board. The Department shall immediately serve copies of such written testimony on the applicant and give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to respond by written testimony. The Department shall consider the short and long term impact of the proposed mining on vegetation, wildlife, fish, land use, land values, local tax base, the economy of the region and the State, employment opportunities, air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, noise pollution and drainage. The Department may consider feasible alternative uses for which reclamation might prepare the land to be affected and may analyze the relative costs and effects of such alternatives. Whenever the Department does not approve the operator's plan, and whenever the plan approved by the Department does not conform to the views of the county board expressed in accordance with subsection (f) of this Section, the Department shall issue a statement of its reasons for its determination and shall make such statement public. The approved plan shall be filed by the applicant with the clerk of each county containing lands to be affected and such plan shall be available for public inspection at the office of the clerk until reclamation is completed and the bond is released in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
    (h) Upon receipt of a bond or security, all fees due from the operator, and approval of the conservation and reclamation plan by the Department, the Department shall issue a permit to the applicant which shall entitle him to engage thereafter in surface mining on the land therein described until the tenth succeeding June 30, the period for which such permits are issued being hereafter referred to as the "permit period".
    (i) The operator may transfer any existing permit to a second operator, after first notifying the Department of the intent to transfer said permit. The Department shall transfer any existing permit to a second party upon written notification from both parties and the posting of an adequate performance bond by the new permittee.
(Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99; 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4507)
    Sec. 6. Duties of operator. Every operator to whom a permit is issued pursuant to the provisions of this Act may engage in surface mining upon the lands described in the permit upon the performance of and subject to the following requirements with respect to such lands:
    (a) All land affected by surface mining except as otherwise provided in this Act shall be graded to a rolling topography traversable by machines necessary for maintenance in accordance with the planned use, with slopes having no more than 15% grade, except that in the following cases the grade shall not exceed 30%: (i) lands to be reclaimed to forest plantation, recreational or wildlife land uses, (ii) the outside slope of the box cut spoil, and (iii) the outside slopes of all overburden deposition areas. The final cut spoil and the side slopes of haulage road inclines can remain at a slope equal to the angle of repose of the material, provided the material can support vegetative cover. However, in no case shall the Department require grading to a lesser slope than the original grade of the overburden existing prior to mining.
    (b) All runoff water shall be impounded, drained or treated so as to reduce soil erosion, damage to unmined lands, and pollution of streams and other waters. The operator shall construct earth dams, where lakes may be formed, in accordance with sound engineering practices if necessary to impound water, provided the formation of the lakes or ponds will not interfere with underground or other mining operations, other subsequent uses of the area approved by the Department, or damage adjoining property. Such water impoundments must be approved by the Department based on the expected ability of the lakes or ponds to support desirable uses such as water for livestock or wild life; and if to be used for fish life, shall have minimum depths in accordance with standards for fish stocking in the various areas of the State recommended by the Department.
    (c) Acid forming materials present in the exposed face of the mined mineral seam or seams in the final cut shall be covered at all times with not less than 4 feet of water, or other materials which shall be placed with slopes having no more than 30% grade, capable of supporting plant and animal life. Final cuts or other depressed affected areas, no longer in use in mining operations, which accumulate toxic waters will not meet reclamation requirements.
    (d) Slurry must be confined in depressed or mined areas bounded by levees or dams constructed from material capable of supporting acceptable vegetation and built in accordance with sound engineering practices. Such areas shall be screened with border plantings of tree species which by their seeding habits will encourage propagation of vegetation on these areas, and levees or dams built to confine slurry shall be established to adapted species of grasses. Gob not capable of supporting vegetation shall be covered to a minimum depth of 4 feet with soil or other material in accordance with sound soil conservation practices as prescribed by the Director. Such material must be capable of being vegetated and an acceptable cover shall be established. The above stipulated reclamation measures shall apply to all new refuse disposal areas or horizontal extensions of existing refuse disposal areas after the effective date of this Act.
    (e) All abandoned haulage roads and all mine drainage ditches must be removed and graded, except where the Director determines that a road or ditch is consistent with and necessary to the conservation and reclamation plan.
    (f) Unless the approved reclamation plan is inconsistent with vegetative cover, the soil shall be prepared and planted with trees, shrubs, grasses and legumes to provide suitable vegetative cover, in accordance with standards adopted by the Department.
    (g) All requirements of the Environmental Protection Act, and of rules and regulations thereunder, as enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency, shall be complied with fully at all times during mining, reclamation, and after reclamation.
    (h) Surface mining operations that remove and do not replace the lateral support shall not, unless mutually agreed upon by the operator and the adjacent property owner, approach property lines, established right‑of‑way lines of any public roads, streets or highways closer than a distance equal to 10 feet plus one and one‑half times the depth of the excavation except where consolidated material or materials of sufficient hardness or ability to resist weathering and to inhibit erosion or sloughing exists in the highwall, the distance from the property line or any established right‑of‑way line shall not, unless mutually agreed, be closer than a distance equal to 10 feet plus one and one‑half times the depth from the natural ground surface to the top of the consolidated material or materials.
    (i) The operator shall annually submit to the Department and to the affected county a map in a form approved by the Department showing the location of the pit or pits by section, township, range and county, with such other description as will identify the land which the operator has affected by surface mining during such fiscal year and has completed mining operations thereon, with a legend upon such map showing the number of acres of affected land.
    (j) When the Director determines that the land to be affected is (1) capable of being reclaimed for row‑crop agricultural purposes and suitable for row‑crop agricultural purposes based on United States Soil Conservation Service soil survey classifications of the affected land prior to mining, and (2) when the Director determines that the optimum future use of the land affected is for row‑crop agricultural purposes, the affected land shall be graded to the approximate original grade of the land provided that the final cut and submerged roadways may remain if the Department determines that such final cut or roadways could form a water impoundment capable of supporting desirable uses such as water for livestock or wild life; and if to be used for fish life, shall have minimum depths in accordance with standards for fish stocking as recommended by the Department, and provided further that the box cut spoil shall be graded in accordance with subparagraph (a) of Section 6.
    On all affected lands to be graded to the approximate original grade under this subsection (j), all or part of the darkened surface soil, as defined in this Act, shall be segregated during the stripping process and replaced as a final cover as a last step in the required grading. When available in such depth, at least 18 inches of the darkened surface soil shall be segregated and replaced. When less than 18 inches of darkened surface soil exists all such lesser amounts shall be segregated and replaced. In no case under this subsection (j) shall less than the top 8 inches of surface soil, darkened or not, be segregated and replaced. This segregation and replacement requirement may be altered by the Department only if it is determined upon the advice of competent soil scientists that other material available in the cast overburden would be suitable in meeting the reclamation requirements. Below the darkened surface soil the replaced material shall be suitable as an agricultural root medium. The Department shall determine by rules and regulations what constitutes a suitable agricultural root medium by composition and depth. On all lands to be reclaimed under this subsection (j), the operator shall not be required to create a soil condition better than that which existed prior to surface mining.
    (k) All reclamation provided for hereunder shall be carried to completion by the operator prior to the expiration of 3 years after active use, as determined by the Department, except that no other reclamation of any kind shall be required to be made within depressed haulage roads or final cuts or any other area where pools or lakes, capable of supporting aquatic life, may be formed by rainfall or drainage runoff from adjoining land or where the Director determines that a road, dry pit bottom or ditch is consistent with and necessary to the conservation and reclamation plan. All mined areas which in the reclamation plan call for vegetation shall be covered with whatever top soils or other materials from the cast overburden that will support acceptable plant growth in accordance with standards adopted by the Department. The Department shall have authority to require that darkened surface soil be segregated from other overburden in the stripping process so as to accomplish the requirements of this subparagraph. When extension of the reclamation period is necessary to allow continued mining operation and to accomplish acceptable reclamation, such extension shall be made at the discretion of the Department, however, the Department shall not deny a reasonable extension under any of the subsections of this Section 6 when the operator shows that acts of God, strikes, inability to receive ordered equipment or extended periods of unseasonable and not to be expected weather have made completion within time limits impossible; or, the Department shall declare forfeiture of the surety bond or security on such land not satisfactorily reclaimed or the Director shall provide that the operator cover such areas with material capable of being vegetated in accordance with vegetative standards adopted by the Department within 1 year. If further extension of the reclamation period is necessary to accomplish acceptable reclamation such extension shall be made at the discretion of the Department or the Department shall declare forfeiture of the surety bond or security on such land not satisfactorily reclaimed.
    (l) The reclamation requirements in this Section do not apply to affected land used for a landfill if the landfill is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Protection Agency may regulate the amount of land to be used for that purpose and may establish a time schedule for the orderly and timely completion of the landfill. Any affected land designated for landfill and not used for that purpose within 5 years after such a designation is subject to the reclamation provisions of this Section.
    (m) The conservation and reclamation plan shall be completely performed on time.
    (n) High walls shall be reshaped to a slope of two‑to‑one or 50% to the anticipated water level or dry pit bottom unless otherwise excepted by the Director.
    (o) The provisions of subsections (j) and (n) of this Section do not apply to the aggregate mining industry.
(Source: P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/6.5)
    Sec. 6.5. Blasting operations; regulation.
    (a) Blasting operations at permitted and unpermitted sites operated by the aggregate mining industry shall be conducted only in accordance with existing State and federal law and rules promulgated by the Department with the advice of the aggregate mining industry. These rules shall include provisions to require all of the following:
        (1) The maintenance of blasting records for a period
     of at least 3 years and that the records be made available for Department inspection and copying. However, these on‑site blasting records, as they relate to detonation, are deemed to be proprietary information.
        (2) The control of blasting operations so as to
     prevent injury to persons and damage to public and private property outside the blasting site.
        (3) That all blasting operations be conducted or
     supervised by trained and competent persons as licensed by the Department.
        (4) That blasting operations be subject to air blast
     or ground vibration monitoring, or both, as necessary to limit property damage and protect public safety.
        (5) The issuance of notices of violation in the
     event of a violation of the Department's blasting rules.
        (6) The issuance of orders requiring the cessation
     of blasting operations in the event of a violation of the Department's blasting rules that may cause injury to persons or damage to public and private property outside the blasting site.
        (7) The assessment of civil penalties, and the
     initiation of formal administrative hearings to resolve violations of the Department's blasting rules.
    (b) The Department shall promulgate rules requiring the training, examination, and licensing of persons engaging in or responsible for the blasting operation or use of explosives in aggregate mining operations. The rules shall include an administrative enforcement process designed to correct infractions of the terms of the blasting licenses issued by the Department. These rules may also include a fee schedule designed to defray the costs associated with the Department's examination and licensing of persons engaging in or responsible for the blasting operation or use of explosives in aggregate mining operations.
    (c) The rules implementing the requirements of this Section shall become effective one year after the rules are adopted by the Department.
    (d) The regulation of blasting operations at aggregate mining operations is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate blasting operations at aggregate mining operations. This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
(Source: P.A. 89‑26, eff. 6‑23‑95.)

    (225 ILCS 715/7) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4508)
    Sec. 7. Entry upon lands for inspection.
    The Department, or its accredited representatives, may enter upon the lands of the operator at all reasonable times for the purpose of inspection, to determine whether the provisions of this Act have been complied with.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1568.)

    (225 ILCS 715/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4509)
    Sec. 8. Bond of operator; amount; sufficiency of surety; violations; compliance. Any bond herein provided to be filed with the Department by the operator shall be in such form as the Director prescribes, payable to the People of the State of Illinois, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all requirements of this Act and comply with all rules of the Department made in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Such bond shall be signed by the operator as principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety, licensed to do business in Illinois, as surety. The penalty of such bond shall be an amount between $600 and $5,000 per acre as determined by the Director for lands to be affected by surface mining, including slurry and gob disposal areas. Areas used for the disposal of slurry and gob shall continue under bond so long as they are in active use. In lieu of such bonds, the operator may deposit any combination of cash, certificates of deposits, government securities, or irrevocable letters of credit with the Department in an amount equal to that of the required surety bond on conditions as prescribed in this Section. The penalty of the bond or amount of other security shall be increased or reduced from time to time as provided in this Act. Such bond or security shall remain in effect until the affected lands have been reclaimed, approved and released by the Department except that when the Department determines that grading and covering with materials capable of supporting vegetation in accordance with the plan has been satisfactorily completed, the Department shall release the bond or security except the amount of $100 per acre which shall be retained by the Department until the reclamation according to Section 6 of this Act has been completed. Where an anticipated water impoundment has been approved by the Department in the reclamation plan, and the Department determines the impoundment will be satisfactorily completed upon completion of the operation, the bond covering such anticipated water impoundment area shall be released.
    A bond filed as above prescribed shall not be cancelled by the surety except after not less than 90 days' notice to the Department.
    If the license to do business in Illinois of any surety upon a bond filed with the Department pursuant to this Act shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within 30 days after receiving notice thereof from the Department, shall substitute for such surety a good and sufficient corporate surety licensed to do business in Illinois. Upon failure of the operator to make substitution of surety as herein provided, the Department shall have the right to suspend the permit of the operator until such substitution has been made.
    The Department shall give written notice to the operator of any violation of this Act or non‑compliance with any of the rules and regulations promulgated by the Department hereunder and if corrective measures, approved by the Department, are not commenced within 45 days, the Department may proceed as provided in Section 11 of this Act to request forfeiture of the bond or security. The forfeiture shall be the amount of bond or security in effect at the time of default for each acre or portion thereof with respect to which the operator has defaulted. Such forfeiture shall fully satisfy all obligations of the operator to reclaim the affected land under the provisions of this Act.
    The Department shall have the power to reclaim, in keeping with the provisions of this Act, any affected land with respect to which a bond has been forfeited.
    Whenever an operator shall have completed all requirements under the provisions of this Act as to any affected land, he shall notify the Department thereof. If the Department determines that the operator has completed reclamation requirements and refuse disposal requirements and has achieved results appropriate to the use for which the area was reclaimed, the Department shall release the operator from further obligations regarding such affected land and the penalty of

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Illinois > Chapter225 > 1389

    (225 ILCS 715/1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4501)
    Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Surface‑Mined Land Conservation and Reclamation Act.
(Source: P.A. 86‑1475.)

    (225 ILCS 715/2) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4502)
    Sec. 2. Statement of policy. It is declared to be the policy of this State to provide for conservation and reclamation of lands affected by surface mining in order to restore them to optimum future productive use and to provide for their return to productive use including but not limited to: the planting of forests; the seeding of grasses and legumes for grazing purposes; the planting of crops for harvest; the enhancement of wildlife and aquatic resources; the establishment of recreational, residential and industrial sites; and for the conservation, development, management, and appropriate use of all the natural resources of such areas for compatible multiple purposes, to aid in maintaining or improving the tax base; and protecting the health, safety and general welfare of the people, the natural beauty and aesthetic values, and enhancement of the environment in the affected areas of the State; to prevent erosion, stream pollution, water, air and land pollution and other injurious effects to persons, property, wildlife and natural resources; and to assure that conservation and reclamation plans for all surface mining activity are available for the prior consideration of county governments within whose jurisdiction such lands will be affected by surface mining and to permit participation and authorize cooperation and coordination with the federal government in initial regulatory programs under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Public Law 95‑87, Title 30, USC Sec. 1201 et seq.
    The issuance of a permit under this Act to engage in the surface mining of any resources other than fossil fuels is not intended to relieve the permittee from its duty to comply with other applicable state and local law regulating the commencement, location and operation of surface mining facilities.
(Source: P.A. 82‑114.)

    (225 ILCS 715/3) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4503)
    Sec. 3. Definitions. Wherever used or referred to in this Act, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
    (a) "Reclamation" means conditioning areas affected by surface mining to achieve the purposes of this Act.
    (b) "Overburden" means all of the earth and other materials which lie above natural deposits of coal, clay, stone, sand, gravel, or other minerals, and also means such earth and other materials disturbed from their natural state in the process of surface mining.
    (c) "Surface mining" means the mining of any minerals by removing the overburden lying above natural deposits thereof, and mining directly from the natural deposits thereby exposed or the deposition of overburden therefrom.
    (d) "Operator" means any person, firm, partnership or corporation engaged in and controlling a surface mining operation, and includes political subdivisions and instrumentalities of the State of Illinois.
    (e) "Pit" means a tract of land, from which overburden has been or is being removed for the purpose of surface mining.
    (f) "Final cut" means the last pit created in a surface‑mined area.
    (g) "High wall" means that side of the pit adjacent to unmined land.
    (h) "Affected land" means the area of land from which overburden is removed for surface mining or upon which overburden or refuse is deposited. It also means any area of land utilized for drainage ditches and haulage roads at surface coal mines.
    (i) "Refuse" means all waste materials directly connected with the cleaning and preparation of minerals mined by surface mining and discarded equipment and machinery.
    (j) "Slurry" means that portion of refuse separated from the mineral in the cleaning process, consisting of fines and clays in the preparation plant effluent, and which is readily pumpable.
    (k) "Gob" means that portion of refuse consisting of waste coal, rock, pyrites, slate, or other unmerchantable material of relatively large size which is separated from the mineral in the cleaning process.
    (L) "Acid forming materials" means those materials capable of producing toxic conditions when exposed.
    (m) "Toxic conditions" means any conditions that will not support higher forms of plant or animal life in any place in connection with or as a result of the completion of surface mining.
    (n) "Ridge" means a lengthened elevation of overburden created in the surface mining process.
    (o) "Peak" means a projecting point of overburden created in the surface mining process.
    (p) "Department" means Department of Natural Resources or such department, bureau, or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such Department.
    (q) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Natural Resources or such officer, bureau or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such Director.
    (r) "Darkened surface soil" means mineral horizons formed at or adjacent to the surface of the soil which are higher in organic matter content and visibly darker in color than the immediately underlying horizons.
    (s) "Aggregate mining industry" means producers, by surface mining method, of all minerals other than coal, including sand, gravel, silica sand, shale, clay, limestone and any other mineral which may be so mined.
(Source: P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/4) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4504)
    Sec. 4. Necessity of permit.
    It shall be unlawful for any operator to engage in surface mining in an area where the overburden shall exceed 10 feet in depth or where the operation will affect more than 10 acres during the permit year without first obtaining from the Department a permit so to do, in such form as is hereinafter provided.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1568.)

    (225 ILCS 715/4.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4505)
    Sec. 4.1. (Repealed).
(Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99. Repealed by P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4506)
    Sec. 5. Application for permit; bond; fee; permit.
    (a) Application for a permit shall be made upon a form furnished by the Department, which form shall contain a description of the tract or tracts of land and the estimated number of acres thereof to be affected by surface mining by the applicant to the tenth succeeding June 30, which description shall include the section, township, range, and county in which the land is located and shall otherwise describe the land with sufficient certainty so that it may be located and distinguished from other lands, and a statement that the applicant has the right and power by legal estate owned to mine by surface mining and to reclaim the land so described. Such application shall be accompanied by: (i) a bond or security meeting the requirements of Section 8 of this Act; and (ii) a fee of $100 for every acre and fraction of an acre of land to be permitted.
    (b) An operator desiring to have a permit amended to cover additional land may file an amended application with the Department with such additional fee and bond or security as may be required under the provisions of this Act. Such amendment shall comply with all requirements of this Act.
    (c) An operator may withdraw any land covered by a permit, excepting affected land, by notifying the Department thereof, in which case the penalty of the bond or security filed by such operator pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be reduced proportionately.
    (d) (Blank).
    (e) Every application, and every amendment to an application, submitted under this Act shall contain the following, except that the Director may waive the requirements of this subsection (e) for amendments if the affected acreage is similar in nature to the acreage stated in the permit to be amended:
        1. a statement of the ownership of the land and of
     the minerals to be mined;
        2. the minerals to be mined;
        3. the character and composition of the vegetation
     and wildlife on lands to be affected;
        4. the current and past uses to which the lands to
     be affected have been put;
        5. the current assessed valuation of the lands to be
     affected and the assessed valuation shown by the two quadrennial assessments next preceding the currently effective assessment;
        6. the nature, depth and proposed disposition of the
     overburden;
        7. the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit
     will be mined;
        8. the location of existing roads, and anticipated
     access and haulage roads planned to be used or constructed in conducting surface mining;
        9. the technique to be used in surface mining;
        10. the location and names of all streams, creeks,
     bodies of water and underground water resources within lands to be affected;
        11. drainage on and away from the lands to be
     affected including directional flow of water, natural and artificial drainways and waterways, and streams or tributaries receiving the discharge;
        12. the location of buildings and utility lines
     within lands to be affected;
        13. the results of core drillings of consolidated
     materials in the overburden when required by the Department, provided that the Department may not require core drillings at the applicant's expense in excess of one core drill for every 25 acres of land to be affected;
        14. a conservation and reclamation plan and map
     acceptable to the Department. The operator shall designate which parts of the lands to be affected are proposed to be reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop, horticultural, homesite, recreational, industrial or other uses including food, shelter and ground cover for wildlife and shall show the same by appropriate designation on a reclamation map. The plan shall:
            (i) provide for timely compliance with all
         operator duties set forth in Section 6 of this Act by feasible and available means; and
            (ii) provide for storage of all overburden and
         refuse.
    Information respecting the minerals to be mined required by subparagraph (e)2 of this Section, respecting the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit will be mined required by subparagraph (e)7 of this Section, and respecting the results of core drillings required by subparagraph (e)13 of this Section shall be held confidential by the Department upon written request of the applicant.
    (f) All information required in subsection (e) of this Section, with the exception of that information which is to be held in confidentiality by the Department shall be made available by the operator for public inspection at the county seat of each county containing land to be affected. The county board of each county containing lands to be affected may propose the use for which such lands within its county are to be reclaimed and such proposal shall be considered by the Department, provided that any such proposal must be consistent with all requirements of this Act.
    Such plan shall be deposited with the county board no less than 60 days prior to any action on the plan by the Department. All actions by the county board pursuant to this Section must be taken within 45 days of receiving the plan.
    If requested by a county board of a county to be affected under a proposed permit, a public hearing to be conducted by the Department shall be held in such county on the permit applicant's proposed reclamation plan. By rules and regulations the Department shall establish hearing dates which provide county boards reasonable time in which to have reviewed the proposed plans and the procedural rules for the calling and conducting of the public hearing. Such procedural rules shall include provisions for reasonable notice to all parties, including the applicant, and reasonable opportunity for all parties to respond by oral or written testimony, or both, to statements and objections made at the public hearing. County boards and the public shall present their recommendations at these hearings. A complete record of the hearings and all testimony shall be made by the Department and recorded stenographically.
    (g) The Department shall approve a conservation and reclamation plan if the plan complies with this Act and completion of the plan will in fact achieve every duty of the operator required by this Act. The Department's approval of a plan shall be based upon the advice of technically trained foresters, agronomists, economists, engineers, planners and other relevant experts having experience in reclaiming surface‑mined lands, and having scientific or technical knowledge based upon research into reclaiming and utilizing surface‑mined lands. The Department shall consider all testimony presented at the public hearings as provided in subsection (f) of this Section. In cases where no public hearing is held on a proposed plan, the Department shall consider written testimony from county boards when submitted no later than 45 days following filing of the proposed plan with the county board. The Department shall immediately serve copies of such written testimony on the applicant and give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to respond by written testimony. The Department shall consider the short and long term impact of the proposed mining on vegetation, wildlife, fish, land use, land values, local tax base, the economy of the region and the State, employment opportunities, air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, noise pollution and drainage. The Department may consider feasible alternative uses for which reclamation might prepare the land to be affected and may analyze the relative costs and effects of such alternatives. Whenever the Department does not approve the operator's plan, and whenever the plan approved by the Department does not conform to the views of the county board expressed in accordance with subsection (f) of this Section, the Department shall issue a statement of its reasons for its determination and shall make such statement public. The approved plan shall be filed by the applicant with the clerk of each county containing lands to be affected and such plan shall be available for public inspection at the office of the clerk until reclamation is completed and the bond is released in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
    (h) Upon receipt of a bond or security, all fees due from the operator, and approval of the conservation and reclamation plan by the Department, the Department shall issue a permit to the applicant which shall entitle him to engage thereafter in surface mining on the land therein described until the tenth succeeding June 30, the period for which such permits are issued being hereafter referred to as the "permit period".
    (i) The operator may transfer any existing permit to a second operator, after first notifying the Department of the intent to transfer said permit. The Department shall transfer any existing permit to a second party upon written notification from both parties and the posting of an adequate performance bond by the new permittee.
(Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99; 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4507)
    Sec. 6. Duties of operator. Every operator to whom a permit is issued pursuant to the provisions of this Act may engage in surface mining upon the lands described in the permit upon the performance of and subject to the following requirements with respect to such lands:
    (a) All land affected by surface mining except as otherwise provided in this Act shall be graded to a rolling topography traversable by machines necessary for maintenance in accordance with the planned use, with slopes having no more than 15% grade, except that in the following cases the grade shall not exceed 30%: (i) lands to be reclaimed to forest plantation, recreational or wildlife land uses, (ii) the outside slope of the box cut spoil, and (iii) the outside slopes of all overburden deposition areas. The final cut spoil and the side slopes of haulage road inclines can remain at a slope equal to the angle of repose of the material, provided the material can support vegetative cover. However, in no case shall the Department require grading to a lesser slope than the original grade of the overburden existing prior to mining.
    (b) All runoff water shall be impounded, drained or treated so as to reduce soil erosion, damage to unmined lands, and pollution of streams and other waters. The operator shall construct earth dams, where lakes may be formed, in accordance with sound engineering practices if necessary to impound water, provided the formation of the lakes or ponds will not interfere with underground or other mining operations, other subsequent uses of the area approved by the Department, or damage adjoining property. Such water impoundments must be approved by the Department based on the expected ability of the lakes or ponds to support desirable uses such as water for livestock or wild life; and if to be used for fish life, shall have minimum depths in accordance with standards for fish stocking in the various areas of the State recommended by the Department.
    (c) Acid forming materials present in the exposed face of the mined mineral seam or seams in the final cut shall be covered at all times with not less than 4 feet of water, or other materials which shall be placed with slopes having no more than 30% grade, capable of supporting plant and animal life. Final cuts or other depressed affected areas, no longer in use in mining operations, which accumulate toxic waters will not meet reclamation requirements.
    (d) Slurry must be confined in depressed or mined areas bounded by levees or dams constructed from material capable of supporting acceptable vegetation and built in accordance with sound engineering practices. Such areas shall be screened with border plantings of tree species which by their seeding habits will encourage propagation of vegetation on these areas, and levees or dams built to confine slurry shall be established to adapted species of grasses. Gob not capable of supporting vegetation shall be covered to a minimum depth of 4 feet with soil or other material in accordance with sound soil conservation practices as prescribed by the Director. Such material must be capable of being vegetated and an acceptable cover shall be established. The above stipulated reclamation measures shall apply to all new refuse disposal areas or horizontal extensions of existing refuse disposal areas after the effective date of this Act.
    (e) All abandoned haulage roads and all mine drainage ditches must be removed and graded, except where the Director determines that a road or ditch is consistent with and necessary to the conservation and reclamation plan.
    (f) Unless the approved reclamation plan is inconsistent with vegetative cover, the soil shall be prepared and planted with trees, shrubs, grasses and legumes to provide suitable vegetative cover, in accordance with standards adopted by the Department.
    (g) All requirements of the Environmental Protection Act, and of rules and regulations thereunder, as enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency, shall be complied with fully at all times during mining, reclamation, and after reclamation.
    (h) Surface mining operations that remove and do not replace the lateral support shall not, unless mutually agreed upon by the operator and the adjacent property owner, approach property lines, established right‑of‑way lines of any public roads, streets or highways closer than a distance equal to 10 feet plus one and one‑half times the depth of the excavation except where consolidated material or materials of sufficient hardness or ability to resist weathering and to inhibit erosion or sloughing exists in the highwall, the distance from the property line or any established right‑of‑way line shall not, unless mutually agreed, be closer than a distance equal to 10 feet plus one and one‑half times the depth from the natural ground surface to the top of the consolidated material or materials.
    (i) The operator shall annually submit to the Department and to the affected county a map in a form approved by the Department showing the location of the pit or pits by section, township, range and county, with such other description as will identify the land which the operator has affected by surface mining during such fiscal year and has completed mining operations thereon, with a legend upon such map showing the number of acres of affected land.
    (j) When the Director determines that the land to be affected is (1) capable of being reclaimed for row‑crop agricultural purposes and suitable for row‑crop agricultural purposes based on United States Soil Conservation Service soil survey classifications of the affected land prior to mining, and (2) when the Director determines that the optimum future use of the land affected is for row‑crop agricultural purposes, the affected land shall be graded to the approximate original grade of the land provided that the final cut and submerged roadways may remain if the Department determines that such final cut or roadways could form a water impoundment capable of supporting desirable uses such as water for livestock or wild life; and if to be used for fish life, shall have minimum depths in accordance with standards for fish stocking as recommended by the Department, and provided further that the box cut spoil shall be graded in accordance with subparagraph (a) of Section 6.
    On all affected lands to be graded to the approximate original grade under this subsection (j), all or part of the darkened surface soil, as defined in this Act, shall be segregated during the stripping process and replaced as a final cover as a last step in the required grading. When available in such depth, at least 18 inches of the darkened surface soil shall be segregated and replaced. When less than 18 inches of darkened surface soil exists all such lesser amounts shall be segregated and replaced. In no case under this subsection (j) shall less than the top 8 inches of surface soil, darkened or not, be segregated and replaced. This segregation and replacement requirement may be altered by the Department only if it is determined upon the advice of competent soil scientists that other material available in the cast overburden would be suitable in meeting the reclamation requirements. Below the darkened surface soil the replaced material shall be suitable as an agricultural root medium. The Department shall determine by rules and regulations what constitutes a suitable agricultural root medium by composition and depth. On all lands to be reclaimed under this subsection (j), the operator shall not be required to create a soil condition better than that which existed prior to surface mining.
    (k) All reclamation provided for hereunder shall be carried to completion by the operator prior to the expiration of 3 years after active use, as determined by the Department, except that no other reclamation of any kind shall be required to be made within depressed haulage roads or final cuts or any other area where pools or lakes, capable of supporting aquatic life, may be formed by rainfall or drainage runoff from adjoining land or where the Director determines that a road, dry pit bottom or ditch is consistent with and necessary to the conservation and reclamation plan. All mined areas which in the reclamation plan call for vegetation shall be covered with whatever top soils or other materials from the cast overburden that will support acceptable plant growth in accordance with standards adopted by the Department. The Department shall have authority to require that darkened surface soil be segregated from other overburden in the stripping process so as to accomplish the requirements of this subparagraph. When extension of the reclamation period is necessary to allow continued mining operation and to accomplish acceptable reclamation, such extension shall be made at the discretion of the Department, however, the Department shall not deny a reasonable extension under any of the subsections of this Section 6 when the operator shows that acts of God, strikes, inability to receive ordered equipment or extended periods of unseasonable and not to be expected weather have made completion within time limits impossible; or, the Department shall declare forfeiture of the surety bond or security on such land not satisfactorily reclaimed or the Director shall provide that the operator cover such areas with material capable of being vegetated in accordance with vegetative standards adopted by the Department within 1 year. If further extension of the reclamation period is necessary to accomplish acceptable reclamation such extension shall be made at the discretion of the Department or the Department shall declare forfeiture of the surety bond or security on such land not satisfactorily reclaimed.
    (l) The reclamation requirements in this Section do not apply to affected land used for a landfill if the landfill is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Protection Agency may regulate the amount of land to be used for that purpose and may establish a time schedule for the orderly and timely completion of the landfill. Any affected land designated for landfill and not used for that purpose within 5 years after such a designation is subject to the reclamation provisions of this Section.
    (m) The conservation and reclamation plan shall be completely performed on time.
    (n) High walls shall be reshaped to a slope of two‑to‑one or 50% to the anticipated water level or dry pit bottom unless otherwise excepted by the Director.
    (o) The provisions of subsections (j) and (n) of this Section do not apply to the aggregate mining industry.
(Source: P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/6.5)
    Sec. 6.5. Blasting operations; regulation.
    (a) Blasting operations at permitted and unpermitted sites operated by the aggregate mining industry shall be conducted only in accordance with existing State and federal law and rules promulgated by the Department with the advice of the aggregate mining industry. These rules shall include provisions to require all of the following:
        (1) The maintenance of blasting records for a period
     of at least 3 years and that the records be made available for Department inspection and copying. However, these on‑site blasting records, as they relate to detonation, are deemed to be proprietary information.
        (2) The control of blasting operations so as to
     prevent injury to persons and damage to public and private property outside the blasting site.
        (3) That all blasting operations be conducted or
     supervised by trained and competent persons as licensed by the Department.
        (4) That blasting operations be subject to air blast
     or ground vibration monitoring, or both, as necessary to limit property damage and protect public safety.
        (5) The issuance of notices of violation in the
     event of a violation of the Department's blasting rules.
        (6) The issuance of orders requiring the cessation
     of blasting operations in the event of a violation of the Department's blasting rules that may cause injury to persons or damage to public and private property outside the blasting site.
        (7) The assessment of civil penalties, and the
     initiation of formal administrative hearings to resolve violations of the Department's blasting rules.
    (b) The Department shall promulgate rules requiring the training, examination, and licensing of persons engaging in or responsible for the blasting operation or use of explosives in aggregate mining operations. The rules shall include an administrative enforcement process designed to correct infractions of the terms of the blasting licenses issued by the Department. These rules may also include a fee schedule designed to defray the costs associated with the Department's examination and licensing of persons engaging in or responsible for the blasting operation or use of explosives in aggregate mining operations.
    (c) The rules implementing the requirements of this Section shall become effective one year after the rules are adopted by the Department.
    (d) The regulation of blasting operations at aggregate mining operations is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate blasting operations at aggregate mining operations. This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
(Source: P.A. 89‑26, eff. 6‑23‑95.)

    (225 ILCS 715/7) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4508)
    Sec. 7. Entry upon lands for inspection.
    The Department, or its accredited representatives, may enter upon the lands of the operator at all reasonable times for the purpose of inspection, to determine whether the provisions of this Act have been complied with.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1568.)

    (225 ILCS 715/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4509)
    Sec. 8. Bond of operator; amount; sufficiency of surety; violations; compliance. Any bond herein provided to be filed with the Department by the operator shall be in such form as the Director prescribes, payable to the People of the State of Illinois, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all requirements of this Act and comply with all rules of the Department made in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Such bond shall be signed by the operator as principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety, licensed to do business in Illinois, as surety. The penalty of such bond shall be an amount between $600 and $5,000 per acre as determined by the Director for lands to be affected by surface mining, including slurry and gob disposal areas. Areas used for the disposal of slurry and gob shall continue under bond so long as they are in active use. In lieu of such bonds, the operator may deposit any combination of cash, certificates of deposits, government securities, or irrevocable letters of credit with the Department in an amount equal to that of the required surety bond on conditions as prescribed in this Section. The penalty of the bond or amount of other security shall be increased or reduced from time to time as provided in this Act. Such bond or security shall remain in effect until the affected lands have been reclaimed, approved and released by the Department except that when the Department determines that grading and covering with materials capable of supporting vegetation in accordance with the plan has been satisfactorily completed, the Department shall release the bond or security except the amount of $100 per acre which shall be retained by the Department until the reclamation according to Section 6 of this Act has been completed. Where an anticipated water impoundment has been approved by the Department in the reclamation plan, and the Department determines the impoundment will be satisfactorily completed upon completion of the operation, the bond covering such anticipated water impoundment area shall be released.
    A bond filed as above prescribed shall not be cancelled by the surety except after not less than 90 days' notice to the Department.
    If the license to do business in Illinois of any surety upon a bond filed with the Department pursuant to this Act shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within 30 days after receiving notice thereof from the Department, shall substitute for such surety a good and sufficient corporate surety licensed to do business in Illinois. Upon failure of the operator to make substitution of surety as herein provided, the Department shall have the right to suspend the permit of the operator until such substitution has been made.
    The Department shall give written notice to the operator of any violation of this Act or non‑compliance with any of the rules and regulations promulgated by the Department hereunder and if corrective measures, approved by the Department, are not commenced within 45 days, the Department may proceed as provided in Section 11 of this Act to request forfeiture of the bond or security. The forfeiture shall be the amount of bond or security in effect at the time of default for each acre or portion thereof with respect to which the operator has defaulted. Such forfeiture shall fully satisfy all obligations of the operator to reclaim the affected land under the provisions of this Act.
    The Department shall have the power to reclaim, in keeping with the provisions of this Act, any affected land with respect to which a bond has been forfeited.
    Whenever an operator shall have completed all requirements under the provisions of this Act as to any affected land, he shall notify the Department thereof. If the Department determines that the operator has completed reclamation requirements and refuse disposal requirements and has achieved results appropriate to the use for which the area was reclaimed, the Department shall release the operator from further obligations regarding such affected land and the penalty of

State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Illinois > Chapter225 > 1389

    (225 ILCS 715/1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4501)
    Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Surface‑Mined Land Conservation and Reclamation Act.
(Source: P.A. 86‑1475.)

    (225 ILCS 715/2) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4502)
    Sec. 2. Statement of policy. It is declared to be the policy of this State to provide for conservation and reclamation of lands affected by surface mining in order to restore them to optimum future productive use and to provide for their return to productive use including but not limited to: the planting of forests; the seeding of grasses and legumes for grazing purposes; the planting of crops for harvest; the enhancement of wildlife and aquatic resources; the establishment of recreational, residential and industrial sites; and for the conservation, development, management, and appropriate use of all the natural resources of such areas for compatible multiple purposes, to aid in maintaining or improving the tax base; and protecting the health, safety and general welfare of the people, the natural beauty and aesthetic values, and enhancement of the environment in the affected areas of the State; to prevent erosion, stream pollution, water, air and land pollution and other injurious effects to persons, property, wildlife and natural resources; and to assure that conservation and reclamation plans for all surface mining activity are available for the prior consideration of county governments within whose jurisdiction such lands will be affected by surface mining and to permit participation and authorize cooperation and coordination with the federal government in initial regulatory programs under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Public Law 95‑87, Title 30, USC Sec. 1201 et seq.
    The issuance of a permit under this Act to engage in the surface mining of any resources other than fossil fuels is not intended to relieve the permittee from its duty to comply with other applicable state and local law regulating the commencement, location and operation of surface mining facilities.
(Source: P.A. 82‑114.)

    (225 ILCS 715/3) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4503)
    Sec. 3. Definitions. Wherever used or referred to in this Act, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
    (a) "Reclamation" means conditioning areas affected by surface mining to achieve the purposes of this Act.
    (b) "Overburden" means all of the earth and other materials which lie above natural deposits of coal, clay, stone, sand, gravel, or other minerals, and also means such earth and other materials disturbed from their natural state in the process of surface mining.
    (c) "Surface mining" means the mining of any minerals by removing the overburden lying above natural deposits thereof, and mining directly from the natural deposits thereby exposed or the deposition of overburden therefrom.
    (d) "Operator" means any person, firm, partnership or corporation engaged in and controlling a surface mining operation, and includes political subdivisions and instrumentalities of the State of Illinois.
    (e) "Pit" means a tract of land, from which overburden has been or is being removed for the purpose of surface mining.
    (f) "Final cut" means the last pit created in a surface‑mined area.
    (g) "High wall" means that side of the pit adjacent to unmined land.
    (h) "Affected land" means the area of land from which overburden is removed for surface mining or upon which overburden or refuse is deposited. It also means any area of land utilized for drainage ditches and haulage roads at surface coal mines.
    (i) "Refuse" means all waste materials directly connected with the cleaning and preparation of minerals mined by surface mining and discarded equipment and machinery.
    (j) "Slurry" means that portion of refuse separated from the mineral in the cleaning process, consisting of fines and clays in the preparation plant effluent, and which is readily pumpable.
    (k) "Gob" means that portion of refuse consisting of waste coal, rock, pyrites, slate, or other unmerchantable material of relatively large size which is separated from the mineral in the cleaning process.
    (L) "Acid forming materials" means those materials capable of producing toxic conditions when exposed.
    (m) "Toxic conditions" means any conditions that will not support higher forms of plant or animal life in any place in connection with or as a result of the completion of surface mining.
    (n) "Ridge" means a lengthened elevation of overburden created in the surface mining process.
    (o) "Peak" means a projecting point of overburden created in the surface mining process.
    (p) "Department" means Department of Natural Resources or such department, bureau, or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such Department.
    (q) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Natural Resources or such officer, bureau or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such Director.
    (r) "Darkened surface soil" means mineral horizons formed at or adjacent to the surface of the soil which are higher in organic matter content and visibly darker in color than the immediately underlying horizons.
    (s) "Aggregate mining industry" means producers, by surface mining method, of all minerals other than coal, including sand, gravel, silica sand, shale, clay, limestone and any other mineral which may be so mined.
(Source: P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/4) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4504)
    Sec. 4. Necessity of permit.
    It shall be unlawful for any operator to engage in surface mining in an area where the overburden shall exceed 10 feet in depth or where the operation will affect more than 10 acres during the permit year without first obtaining from the Department a permit so to do, in such form as is hereinafter provided.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1568.)

    (225 ILCS 715/4.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4505)
    Sec. 4.1. (Repealed).
(Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99. Repealed by P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4506)
    Sec. 5. Application for permit; bond; fee; permit.
    (a) Application for a permit shall be made upon a form furnished by the Department, which form shall contain a description of the tract or tracts of land and the estimated number of acres thereof to be affected by surface mining by the applicant to the tenth succeeding June 30, which description shall include the section, township, range, and county in which the land is located and shall otherwise describe the land with sufficient certainty so that it may be located and distinguished from other lands, and a statement that the applicant has the right and power by legal estate owned to mine by surface mining and to reclaim the land so described. Such application shall be accompanied by: (i) a bond or security meeting the requirements of Section 8 of this Act; and (ii) a fee of $100 for every acre and fraction of an acre of land to be permitted.
    (b) An operator desiring to have a permit amended to cover additional land may file an amended application with the Department with such additional fee and bond or security as may be required under the provisions of this Act. Such amendment shall comply with all requirements of this Act.
    (c) An operator may withdraw any land covered by a permit, excepting affected land, by notifying the Department thereof, in which case the penalty of the bond or security filed by such operator pursuant to the provisions of this Act shall be reduced proportionately.
    (d) (Blank).
    (e) Every application, and every amendment to an application, submitted under this Act shall contain the following, except that the Director may waive the requirements of this subsection (e) for amendments if the affected acreage is similar in nature to the acreage stated in the permit to be amended:
        1. a statement of the ownership of the land and of
     the minerals to be mined;
        2. the minerals to be mined;
        3. the character and composition of the vegetation
     and wildlife on lands to be affected;
        4. the current and past uses to which the lands to
     be affected have been put;
        5. the current assessed valuation of the lands to be
     affected and the assessed valuation shown by the two quadrennial assessments next preceding the currently effective assessment;
        6. the nature, depth and proposed disposition of the
     overburden;
        7. the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit
     will be mined;
        8. the location of existing roads, and anticipated
     access and haulage roads planned to be used or constructed in conducting surface mining;
        9. the technique to be used in surface mining;
        10. the location and names of all streams, creeks,
     bodies of water and underground water resources within lands to be affected;
        11. drainage on and away from the lands to be
     affected including directional flow of water, natural and artificial drainways and waterways, and streams or tributaries receiving the discharge;
        12. the location of buildings and utility lines
     within lands to be affected;
        13. the results of core drillings of consolidated
     materials in the overburden when required by the Department, provided that the Department may not require core drillings at the applicant's expense in excess of one core drill for every 25 acres of land to be affected;
        14. a conservation and reclamation plan and map
     acceptable to the Department. The operator shall designate which parts of the lands to be affected are proposed to be reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop, horticultural, homesite, recreational, industrial or other uses including food, shelter and ground cover for wildlife and shall show the same by appropriate designation on a reclamation map. The plan shall:
            (i) provide for timely compliance with all
         operator duties set forth in Section 6 of this Act by feasible and available means; and
            (ii) provide for storage of all overburden and
         refuse.
    Information respecting the minerals to be mined required by subparagraph (e)2 of this Section, respecting the estimated depth to which the mineral deposit will be mined required by subparagraph (e)7 of this Section, and respecting the results of core drillings required by subparagraph (e)13 of this Section shall be held confidential by the Department upon written request of the applicant.
    (f) All information required in subsection (e) of this Section, with the exception of that information which is to be held in confidentiality by the Department shall be made available by the operator for public inspection at the county seat of each county containing land to be affected. The county board of each county containing lands to be affected may propose the use for which such lands within its county are to be reclaimed and such proposal shall be considered by the Department, provided that any such proposal must be consistent with all requirements of this Act.
    Such plan shall be deposited with the county board no less than 60 days prior to any action on the plan by the Department. All actions by the county board pursuant to this Section must be taken within 45 days of receiving the plan.
    If requested by a county board of a county to be affected under a proposed permit, a public hearing to be conducted by the Department shall be held in such county on the permit applicant's proposed reclamation plan. By rules and regulations the Department shall establish hearing dates which provide county boards reasonable time in which to have reviewed the proposed plans and the procedural rules for the calling and conducting of the public hearing. Such procedural rules shall include provisions for reasonable notice to all parties, including the applicant, and reasonable opportunity for all parties to respond by oral or written testimony, or both, to statements and objections made at the public hearing. County boards and the public shall present their recommendations at these hearings. A complete record of the hearings and all testimony shall be made by the Department and recorded stenographically.
    (g) The Department shall approve a conservation and reclamation plan if the plan complies with this Act and completion of the plan will in fact achieve every duty of the operator required by this Act. The Department's approval of a plan shall be based upon the advice of technically trained foresters, agronomists, economists, engineers, planners and other relevant experts having experience in reclaiming surface‑mined lands, and having scientific or technical knowledge based upon research into reclaiming and utilizing surface‑mined lands. The Department shall consider all testimony presented at the public hearings as provided in subsection (f) of this Section. In cases where no public hearing is held on a proposed plan, the Department shall consider written testimony from county boards when submitted no later than 45 days following filing of the proposed plan with the county board. The Department shall immediately serve copies of such written testimony on the applicant and give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to respond by written testimony. The Department shall consider the short and long term impact of the proposed mining on vegetation, wildlife, fish, land use, land values, local tax base, the economy of the region and the State, employment opportunities, air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, noise pollution and drainage. The Department may consider feasible alternative uses for which reclamation might prepare the land to be affected and may analyze the relative costs and effects of such alternatives. Whenever the Department does not approve the operator's plan, and whenever the plan approved by the Department does not conform to the views of the county board expressed in accordance with subsection (f) of this Section, the Department shall issue a statement of its reasons for its determination and shall make such statement public. The approved plan shall be filed by the applicant with the clerk of each county containing lands to be affected and such plan shall be available for public inspection at the office of the clerk until reclamation is completed and the bond is released in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
    (h) Upon receipt of a bond or security, all fees due from the operator, and approval of the conservation and reclamation plan by the Department, the Department shall issue a permit to the applicant which shall entitle him to engage thereafter in surface mining on the land therein described until the tenth succeeding June 30, the period for which such permits are issued being hereafter referred to as the "permit period".
    (i) The operator may transfer any existing permit to a second operator, after first notifying the Department of the intent to transfer said permit. The Department shall transfer any existing permit to a second party upon written notification from both parties and the posting of an adequate performance bond by the new permittee.
(Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99; 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4507)
    Sec. 6. Duties of operator. Every operator to whom a permit is issued pursuant to the provisions of this Act may engage in surface mining upon the lands described in the permit upon the performance of and subject to the following requirements with respect to such lands:
    (a) All land affected by surface mining except as otherwise provided in this Act shall be graded to a rolling topography traversable by machines necessary for maintenance in accordance with the planned use, with slopes having no more than 15% grade, except that in the following cases the grade shall not exceed 30%: (i) lands to be reclaimed to forest plantation, recreational or wildlife land uses, (ii) the outside slope of the box cut spoil, and (iii) the outside slopes of all overburden deposition areas. The final cut spoil and the side slopes of haulage road inclines can remain at a slope equal to the angle of repose of the material, provided the material can support vegetative cover. However, in no case shall the Department require grading to a lesser slope than the original grade of the overburden existing prior to mining.
    (b) All runoff water shall be impounded, drained or treated so as to reduce soil erosion, damage to unmined lands, and pollution of streams and other waters. The operator shall construct earth dams, where lakes may be formed, in accordance with sound engineering practices if necessary to impound water, provided the formation of the lakes or ponds will not interfere with underground or other mining operations, other subsequent uses of the area approved by the Department, or damage adjoining property. Such water impoundments must be approved by the Department based on the expected ability of the lakes or ponds to support desirable uses such as water for livestock or wild life; and if to be used for fish life, shall have minimum depths in accordance with standards for fish stocking in the various areas of the State recommended by the Department.
    (c) Acid forming materials present in the exposed face of the mined mineral seam or seams in the final cut shall be covered at all times with not less than 4 feet of water, or other materials which shall be placed with slopes having no more than 30% grade, capable of supporting plant and animal life. Final cuts or other depressed affected areas, no longer in use in mining operations, which accumulate toxic waters will not meet reclamation requirements.
    (d) Slurry must be confined in depressed or mined areas bounded by levees or dams constructed from material capable of supporting acceptable vegetation and built in accordance with sound engineering practices. Such areas shall be screened with border plantings of tree species which by their seeding habits will encourage propagation of vegetation on these areas, and levees or dams built to confine slurry shall be established to adapted species of grasses. Gob not capable of supporting vegetation shall be covered to a minimum depth of 4 feet with soil or other material in accordance with sound soil conservation practices as prescribed by the Director. Such material must be capable of being vegetated and an acceptable cover shall be established. The above stipulated reclamation measures shall apply to all new refuse disposal areas or horizontal extensions of existing refuse disposal areas after the effective date of this Act.
    (e) All abandoned haulage roads and all mine drainage ditches must be removed and graded, except where the Director determines that a road or ditch is consistent with and necessary to the conservation and reclamation plan.
    (f) Unless the approved reclamation plan is inconsistent with vegetative cover, the soil shall be prepared and planted with trees, shrubs, grasses and legumes to provide suitable vegetative cover, in accordance with standards adopted by the Department.
    (g) All requirements of the Environmental Protection Act, and of rules and regulations thereunder, as enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency, shall be complied with fully at all times during mining, reclamation, and after reclamation.
    (h) Surface mining operations that remove and do not replace the lateral support shall not, unless mutually agreed upon by the operator and the adjacent property owner, approach property lines, established right‑of‑way lines of any public roads, streets or highways closer than a distance equal to 10 feet plus one and one‑half times the depth of the excavation except where consolidated material or materials of sufficient hardness or ability to resist weathering and to inhibit erosion or sloughing exists in the highwall, the distance from the property line or any established right‑of‑way line shall not, unless mutually agreed, be closer than a distance equal to 10 feet plus one and one‑half times the depth from the natural ground surface to the top of the consolidated material or materials.
    (i) The operator shall annually submit to the Department and to the affected county a map in a form approved by the Department showing the location of the pit or pits by section, township, range and county, with such other description as will identify the land which the operator has affected by surface mining during such fiscal year and has completed mining operations thereon, with a legend upon such map showing the number of acres of affected land.
    (j) When the Director determines that the land to be affected is (1) capable of being reclaimed for row‑crop agricultural purposes and suitable for row‑crop agricultural purposes based on United States Soil Conservation Service soil survey classifications of the affected land prior to mining, and (2) when the Director determines that the optimum future use of the land affected is for row‑crop agricultural purposes, the affected land shall be graded to the approximate original grade of the land provided that the final cut and submerged roadways may remain if the Department determines that such final cut or roadways could form a water impoundment capable of supporting desirable uses such as water for livestock or wild life; and if to be used for fish life, shall have minimum depths in accordance with standards for fish stocking as recommended by the Department, and provided further that the box cut spoil shall be graded in accordance with subparagraph (a) of Section 6.
    On all affected lands to be graded to the approximate original grade under this subsection (j), all or part of the darkened surface soil, as defined in this Act, shall be segregated during the stripping process and replaced as a final cover as a last step in the required grading. When available in such depth, at least 18 inches of the darkened surface soil shall be segregated and replaced. When less than 18 inches of darkened surface soil exists all such lesser amounts shall be segregated and replaced. In no case under this subsection (j) shall less than the top 8 inches of surface soil, darkened or not, be segregated and replaced. This segregation and replacement requirement may be altered by the Department only if it is determined upon the advice of competent soil scientists that other material available in the cast overburden would be suitable in meeting the reclamation requirements. Below the darkened surface soil the replaced material shall be suitable as an agricultural root medium. The Department shall determine by rules and regulations what constitutes a suitable agricultural root medium by composition and depth. On all lands to be reclaimed under this subsection (j), the operator shall not be required to create a soil condition better than that which existed prior to surface mining.
    (k) All reclamation provided for hereunder shall be carried to completion by the operator prior to the expiration of 3 years after active use, as determined by the Department, except that no other reclamation of any kind shall be required to be made within depressed haulage roads or final cuts or any other area where pools or lakes, capable of supporting aquatic life, may be formed by rainfall or drainage runoff from adjoining land or where the Director determines that a road, dry pit bottom or ditch is consistent with and necessary to the conservation and reclamation plan. All mined areas which in the reclamation plan call for vegetation shall be covered with whatever top soils or other materials from the cast overburden that will support acceptable plant growth in accordance with standards adopted by the Department. The Department shall have authority to require that darkened surface soil be segregated from other overburden in the stripping process so as to accomplish the requirements of this subparagraph. When extension of the reclamation period is necessary to allow continued mining operation and to accomplish acceptable reclamation, such extension shall be made at the discretion of the Department, however, the Department shall not deny a reasonable extension under any of the subsections of this Section 6 when the operator shows that acts of God, strikes, inability to receive ordered equipment or extended periods of unseasonable and not to be expected weather have made completion within time limits impossible; or, the Department shall declare forfeiture of the surety bond or security on such land not satisfactorily reclaimed or the Director shall provide that the operator cover such areas with material capable of being vegetated in accordance with vegetative standards adopted by the Department within 1 year. If further extension of the reclamation period is necessary to accomplish acceptable reclamation such extension shall be made at the discretion of the Department or the Department shall declare forfeiture of the surety bond or security on such land not satisfactorily reclaimed.
    (l) The reclamation requirements in this Section do not apply to affected land used for a landfill if the landfill is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Protection Agency may regulate the amount of land to be used for that purpose and may establish a time schedule for the orderly and timely completion of the landfill. Any affected land designated for landfill and not used for that purpose within 5 years after such a designation is subject to the reclamation provisions of this Section.
    (m) The conservation and reclamation plan shall be completely performed on time.
    (n) High walls shall be reshaped to a slope of two‑to‑one or 50% to the anticipated water level or dry pit bottom unless otherwise excepted by the Director.
    (o) The provisions of subsections (j) and (n) of this Section do not apply to the aggregate mining industry.
(Source: P.A. 91‑938, eff. 1‑11‑01.)

    (225 ILCS 715/6.5)
    Sec. 6.5. Blasting operations; regulation.
    (a) Blasting operations at permitted and unpermitted sites operated by the aggregate mining industry shall be conducted only in accordance with existing State and federal law and rules promulgated by the Department with the advice of the aggregate mining industry. These rules shall include provisions to require all of the following:
        (1) The maintenance of blasting records for a period
     of at least 3 years and that the records be made available for Department inspection and copying. However, these on‑site blasting records, as they relate to detonation, are deemed to be proprietary information.
        (2) The control of blasting operations so as to
     prevent injury to persons and damage to public and private property outside the blasting site.
        (3) That all blasting operations be conducted or
     supervised by trained and competent persons as licensed by the Department.
        (4) That blasting operations be subject to air blast
     or ground vibration monitoring, or both, as necessary to limit property damage and protect public safety.
        (5) The issuance of notices of violation in the
     event of a violation of the Department's blasting rules.
        (6) The issuance of orders requiring the cessation
     of blasting operations in the event of a violation of the Department's blasting rules that may cause injury to persons or damage to public and private property outside the blasting site.
        (7) The assessment of civil penalties, and the
     initiation of formal administrative hearings to resolve violations of the Department's blasting rules.
    (b) The Department shall promulgate rules requiring the training, examination, and licensing of persons engaging in or responsible for the blasting operation or use of explosives in aggregate mining operations. The rules shall include an administrative enforcement process designed to correct infractions of the terms of the blasting licenses issued by the Department. These rules may also include a fee schedule designed to defray the costs associated with the Department's examination and licensing of persons engaging in or responsible for the blasting operation or use of explosives in aggregate mining operations.
    (c) The rules implementing the requirements of this Section shall become effective one year after the rules are adopted by the Department.
    (d) The regulation of blasting operations at aggregate mining operations is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate blasting operations at aggregate mining operations. This Section is a denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
(Source: P.A. 89‑26, eff. 6‑23‑95.)

    (225 ILCS 715/7) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4508)
    Sec. 7. Entry upon lands for inspection.
    The Department, or its accredited representatives, may enter upon the lands of the operator at all reasonable times for the purpose of inspection, to determine whether the provisions of this Act have been complied with.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1568.)

    (225 ILCS 715/8) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 4509)
    Sec. 8. Bond of operator; amount; sufficiency of surety; violations; compliance. Any bond herein provided to be filed with the Department by the operator shall be in such form as the Director prescribes, payable to the People of the State of Illinois, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all requirements of this Act and comply with all rules of the Department made in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Such bond shall be signed by the operator as principal, and by a good and sufficient corporate surety, licensed to do business in Illinois, as surety. The penalty of such bond shall be an amount between $600 and $5,000 per acre as determined by the Director for lands to be affected by surface mining, including slurry and gob disposal areas. Areas used for the disposal of slurry and gob shall continue under bond so long as they are in active use. In lieu of such bonds, the operator may deposit any combination of cash, certificates of deposits, government securities, or irrevocable letters of credit with the Department in an amount equal to that of the required surety bond on conditions as prescribed in this Section. The penalty of the bond or amount of other security shall be increased or reduced from time to time as provided in this Act. Such bond or security shall remain in effect until the affected lands have been reclaimed, approved and released by the Department except that when the Department determines that grading and covering with materials capable of supporting vegetation in accordance with the plan has been satisfactorily completed, the Department shall release the bond or security except the amount of $100 per acre which shall be retained by the Department until the reclamation according to Section 6 of this Act has been completed. Where an anticipated water impoundment has been approved by the Department in the reclamation plan, and the Department determines the impoundment will be satisfactorily completed upon completion of the operation, the bond covering such anticipated water impoundment area shall be released.
    A bond filed as above prescribed shall not be cancelled by the surety except after not less than 90 days' notice to the Department.
    If the license to do business in Illinois of any surety upon a bond filed with the Department pursuant to this Act shall be suspended or revoked, the operator, within 30 days after receiving notice thereof from the Department, shall substitute for such surety a good and sufficient corporate surety licensed to do business in Illinois. Upon failure of the operator to make substitution of surety as herein provided, the Department shall have the right to suspend the permit of the operator until such substitution has been made.
    The Department shall give written notice to the operator of any violation of this Act or non‑compliance with any of the rules and regulations promulgated by the Department hereunder and if corrective measures, approved by the Department, are not commenced within 45 days, the Department may proceed as provided in Section 11 of this Act to request forfeiture of the bond or security. The forfeiture shall be the amount of bond or security in effect at the time of default for each acre or portion thereof with respect to which the operator has defaulted. Such forfeiture shall fully satisfy all obligations of the operator to reclaim the affected land under the provisions of this Act.
    The Department shall have the power to reclaim, in keeping with the provisions of this Act, any affected land with respect to which a bond has been forfeited.
    Whenever an operator shall have completed all requirements under the provisions of this Act as to any affected land, he shall notify the Department thereof. If the Department determines that the operator has completed reclamation requirements and refuse disposal requirements and has achieved results appropriate to the use for which the area was reclaimed, the Department shall release the operator from further obligations regarding such affected land and the penalty of