§ 18.04.130. State review of reclamation plans, interim management plans, financial assurances and amendments.

A.

Prior to approving a surface mining operation's reclamation plan, financial assurances, including existing financial assurances reviewed by the county pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 2770, or any amendments, the county shall submit the plan, assurances or amendments to the Director of the Department of Conservation for review. (PRC Section 2774(c))

B.

The Director of the Department of Conservation shall have forty-five days to prepare written comments, if the Director of the Department of Conservation so chooses. The county shall evaluate written comments received from the Director of the Department of Conservation during the forty-five-day comment period. The county shall prepare a written response describing the disposition of the major issues raised. In particular, when the county's position is at variance with the recommendations and objections raised in the Director of the Department of Conservation's comments, the written response shall address, in detail, why specific comments and suggestions were not accepted. Copies of any written comments received and responses prepared by the county shall be forwarded to the operator. (PRC Section 2774(d))

C.

The county shall notify the Director of the Department of Conservation of the filing of an application for a permit to conduct surface mining operations within thirty days of such an application being filed (and determined complete) with the county. By July first of each year, the county shall submit to the Director of the Department of Conservation for each active or idle mining operation a copy of any permit or reclamation plan amendments, as applicable, or a statement that there have been no changes during the previous year. Failure to file with the Director of the Department of Conservation the information required under this section shall be cause for action under PRC Section 2774.4. (PRC Section 2774(e))

D.

Whenever surface mining operations are proposed in the one-hundred-year flood plain for any stream, as shown in zone A of flood insurance rate maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and within one mile, upstream or downstream, of any state highway bridge, the county receiving the application for the issuance or renewal of a permit to conduct the surface mining operations shall notify the Department of Transportation that the application has been received. The Department of Transportation shall have a period of not more than forty-five days to review and comment on the proposed surface mining operations with respect to any potential damage to the state highway bridge from the proposed surface mining operations. The county shall not issue or renew the permit until the Department of Transportation has submitted its comments or until forty-five days from the date the application for the permit was submitted, whichever occurs first. (PRC Section 2770.5)

(Ord. 95-6 § 2 (part), 1995)