75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 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 1778
 
                         House Bill 3098
 
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) A landowner or operator may not allow or engage in
surface mining on land not surface mined on July 1, 1972, without
holding a valid operating permit from the State Department of
Geology and Mineral Industries for the surface mining operation.
A separate permit is required for each separate surface mining
operation. A person seeking an operating permit from the
department shall submit an application on a form provided by the
department that contains the following information:
  (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 operation is to be conducted.
  (c) The type of surface mining to be employed in the operation.
  (d) The proposed date for the initiation of the operation.
  (e) The size and legal description of the lands that will be
affected by the operation, and, if more than 10 acres of land
will be affected by the operation and if the department
determines that the conditions warrant it, a map of the lands to
be surface mined that includes the boundaries of the affected
lands, topographic details of the lands, the location and names
of all streams, roads, railroads, utility facilities, wells,
irrigation ditches, ponds, stockpiles, buffers, setbacks and
excavation boundaries within or adjacent to the lands, the
location of all proposed access roads to be protected or
constructed in conducting the 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 practicable, a plan for visual screening by vegetation
or otherwise that will be established and maintained on the lands
within the operation for the purpose of screening the operation
 
from the view of persons using adjacent public highways, public
parks and residential areas.
  (g) The type of monitoring well abandonment procedures.
  (h) 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. 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 operating
permit was approved. A reclamation plan shall provide for
concurrent reclamation, and no more than 40 acres of lands may be
unreclaimed at any one time under a reclamation plan + }.
  (i) Any other information that the  { + State + } Department
 { + of Geology and Mineral Industries + } considers pertinent in
its review of the application.
  (2) The  { + State + } Department  { + of Geology and Mineral
Industries and the State Department of Agriculture + } may waive
the requirement for preparation and approval of a reclamation
plan if:
  (a) The operation is conducted as part of the on-site
construction of a building, public works project or other
physical improvement of the subject property;
  (b) The operation is reasonably necessary for such
construction; and
  (c) The proposed improvements are authorized by the local
jurisdiction with land use authority.
  (3) The  { + State + } Department  { + of Geology and Mineral
Industries + } may not issue an operating permit to an operator
other than the owner or owners of the surface and mineral
interests of the lands included within the surface mining area
unless the operator:
  (a) Has written approval from the owner or owners of all
surface and mineral interests of the lands included within the
surface mining area; and
  (b) Maintains a legal interest in the lands that is sufficient
to ensure that the operator has the authority to operate and
reclaim the lands as provided in the operating permit and
reclamation plan.
  (4) The  { + State + } Department  { + of Geology and Mineral
Industries + } may refuse to issue an operating permit to a
person who has not, in the determination of the department,
substantially complied with the conditions of an operating permit
or reclamation plan, the provisions of this chapter or the rules
adopted by the department to carry out the purposes of this
chapter.
   { +  (5) 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 an operating permit issued under ORS
517.790 for an operation 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 any reclamation required by ORS 517.790. + }
                         ----------