74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 3896
 
                         House Bill 3557
 
Sponsored by Representative CLEM (at the request of Oregon Farm
  Bureau)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Requires certain conditions for approval of reclamation plan
for surface mining operation. Allows for concurrent reclamation
in certain cases. Requires 100 percent bond for certain types of
reclamation in order to obtain operating permit.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to land reclamation; amending ORS 517.790 and 517.810.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 517.790 is amended to read:
  517.790. (1) Except as otherwise provided by ORS 517.780 (2),
after July 1, 1972, no landowner or operator shall permit or
engage in surface mining on land not surface mined on July 1,
1972, without having first applied for and received an operating
permit from the State Department of Geology and Mineral
Industries for such surface mining operation. A separate permit
shall be required for each separate surface mining operation.
Prior to receiving an operating permit from the department the
landowner or operator must submit an application on a form
provided by the department that contains information considered
by the department to be pertinent in its review of the
application, including but not limited to:
  (a) The name and address of the landowner and the operator and
the names and addresses of any persons designated by them as
their agents for the service of process.
  (b) The materials for which the surface mining operation is to
be conducted.
  (c) The type of surface mining to be employed in such
operation.
  (d) The proposed date for the initiation of such operation.
  (e) The size and legal description of the lands that will be
affected by such operation, and, if more than 10 acres of land
will be affected by such operation and if the department
considers the conditions to warrant it, a map of the lands to be
surface mined that shall include the boundaries of the affected
lands, topographic details of such lands, the location and names
of all streams, roads, railroads and utility facilities within or
adjacent to such lands, the location of all proposed access roads
to be constructed in conducting such operation and the names and
addresses of the owners of all surface and mineral interests of
the lands included within the surface mining area.
  (f) If economically practicable, a plan for visual screening by
vegetation or otherwise that will be established and maintained
on the lands within such operation for the purpose of screening
such operation from the view of persons using adjacent public
highways, public parks and residential areas.
  (g) The type of monitoring well abandonment procedures.
  (2) { + (a) + } The application referred to in subsection (1)
of this section must also contain a proposed reclamation plan
that is acceptable to and approved by the  { + State + }
Department { +  of Geology and Mineral Industries and the State
Department of Agriculture + }.
   { +  (b) On a mining site containing 25 percent or more of any
one or a combination of prime, unique, Class I or Class II soils,
a reclamation plan may be approved by the State Department of
Geology and Mineral Industries and the State Department of
Agriculture only if the site will be reclaimed to the same
quality farmland at the same finished elevation and the same
contour of the landscape that was present before the mining
permit was approved.
  (c) The plan shall provide for concurrent reclamation if no
more than 40 acres of lands are unreclaimed at any one time under
the plan.
  (3) As used in this section, 'same quality farmland' means a
minimum of 18 inches of soil from the A horizon of prime, unique,
Class I and Class II soils immediately over a minimum of six feet
of sandy clay, loam and silt loam soils as referenced by the
Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States
Department of Agriculture. + }
  SECTION 2. ORS 517.810 is amended to read:
  517.810. (1) Before issuing or reissuing an operating permit
for any surface mining operation or issuing or reissuing an
exploration permit for any exploration activity, the State
Department of Geology and Mineral Industries shall require that
the applicant for the permit file with it a bond or security
acceptable to the department in a sum to be determined by the
department but in an amount not to exceed the total cost for
reclamation if the department were to perform the reclamation.
The decision of the department may be appealed to the governing
board of the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
as provided in ORS chapter 183. The bond or security shall be
conditioned upon the faithful performance of the reclamation plan
and of the other requirements of ORS 517.702 to 517.989 and the
rules adopted thereunder.
  (2) Nothing in this section shall apply to any public body, as
defined in ORS 174.109.
  (3) In lieu of the bond or other security required of the
applicant in subsection (1) of this section, the department may
accept a similar security from the landowner, equal to the
estimated cost of reclamation as determined by the department in
consultation with the operator or explorer. The decision of the
department may be appealed to the governing board as provided in
ORS chapter 183.
  (4) In lieu of the bond required by subsection (1) of this
section, the department may accept a blanket bond covering two or
more surface mining sites or exploration projects operated by a
single company, owned by a single landowner or operated by all
members of an established trade association, in an amount,
established by the department, not to exceed the amount of the
bonds that would be required for separate sites.
  (5) The governing board shall identify by rule the procedures
for the determination of the amount of the bond or other security
required of an applicant for an operating permit or exploration
permit. The rules:
  (a) Shall provide an opportunity for participation by the
applicant as part of the procedures; and
 
  (b) May allow for the amount of the bond to be calculated and
adjusted based upon the total area expected to be in a disturbed
condition in the following year as a result of the surface mining
or exploration operation.
   { +  (6) For the purpose of determining the amount of a bond
required of an applicant for a permit issued under ORS 517.790
for a site that is located on land that is zoned for exclusive
farm use and features prime, unique, Class I or Class II soils,
the department may not accept a bond under this section for a sum
that is less than 100 percent of the projected cost of the
reclamation required by ORS 517.790. + }
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