(a)

(1) The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission shall issue regulations as are required pursuant to the state program requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-87, designating the required information, the criteria, and the procedures for submitting, processing, and issuing or denying initial or revised applications for permits and renewals thereof to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations in this state.

(2) The regulations shall require inclusion of all the documents, permits, notices, maps, reports, schedules, test results, reclamation and blasting plans, bonds, insurance certificates, and other information as is reasonably necessary to process the application, to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter and the regulations issued pursuant to this chapter and to meet the state program requirements.

(3)

(A) The regulations shall specifically provide that all applications shall include a determination of the probable hydrologic consequences of the mining and reclamation operations, both on and off the mine site, with respect to the hydrologic regime, quantity, and quality of water in surface and groundwater systems, including the dissolved and suspended solids under seasonal flow conditions and the collection of sufficient data for the mine site and surrounding surface areas so that an assessment can be made by the Director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality of the probable cumulative impacts of all anticipated mining in the area upon the hydrology of the area and particularly upon water availability. However, this determination shall not be required until hydrologic information on the general area prior to mining is made available from an appropriate federal or state agency. The permit shall not be approved until the information is available and is incorporated into the application.

(B) The costs of the following activities, which shall be performed by a qualified public or private laboratory or other public or private qualified entity designated by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality shall be borne, upon written request of the small operator, by the department in accordance with regulations issued by the commission:

(i) The determination of the probable hydrologic consequences required by this subdivision (a)(2), including the engineering analysis and designs necessary for the determination;

(ii) The development of cross-sections, maps, and plans of land to be affected by an application for a surface coal mining and reclamation permit which shall be prepared by or under the direction of a qualified registered professional engineer or geologist with assistance from experts in related fields such as land surveying and landscape architecture, showing pertinent elevation and location of test borings or core samplings and depicting the following information:

(a) The nature and depth of the various strata of overburden;

(b) The location of subsurface water, if encountered, and its quality;

(c) The nature and thickness of any coal or rider seam above the coal seam to be mined;

(d) The nature of the stratum immediately below the coal seam to be mined;

(e) All mineral crop lines and the strike and dip of the coal to be mined, within the area of the land to be affected;

(f) Existing or previous surface mining limits;

(g) The location and extent of known workings of any underground mines, including mine openings to the surface;

(h) The location of aquifers;

(i) The estimated elevation of the water table;

(j) The location of spoil, waste, or refuse areas and topsoil preservation areas;

(k) The locations of all impoundments for waste or erosion control;

(l) Any settling or water treatment facility;

(m) Constructed or natural drainways and the location of any discharges to any surface body of water on the area of land to be affected or adjacent thereto; and

(n) Profiles at appropriate cross-sections of the anticipated final surface configuration that will be achieved pursuant to the operator's proposed reclamation plan;

(iii) The geologic drilling and a statement of the result of the test borings or core samplings from the permit area, including:

(a) Logs of the drill holes;

(b) The thickness of the coal seam found, and an analysis of the chemical properties of the coal;

(c) The sulfur content of any coal seam;

(d) Chemical analysis of potentially acid or toxic-forming sections of the overburden; and

(e) Chemical analysis of the stratum lying immediately underneath the coal to be mined,

except that the provisions of this subdivision (a)(2)(B)(iii) may be waived by the director with respect to the specific application by a written determination that such requirements are unnecessary;

(iv) The collection of archeological information and any other historical information sufficient to prepare accurate maps to an appropriate scale clearly showing all man-made features and significant known archeological sites existing on the date of application, and the preparation of plans necessitated thereby;

(v) Preblast surveys, as requested by a resident or owner of a man-made dwelling or structure within one-half (1/2) mile of any portion of the permitted area. The applicant or permittee shall conduct the preblast survey of such structures and submit the survey to the director and a copy to the resident or owner making the request;

(vi) The collection of site-specific resource information and production of protection and enhancement plans for fish and wildlife habitats and other environmental values required by the director under this chapter; and

(vii) The department shall provide or assume the cost of training small operators concerning the preparation of permit applications and compliance with the regulatory program and shall ensure that small operators are aware of the assistance available under this subdivision (a)(2).

(C) A coal operator that has received assistance pursuant to this subdivision (a)(2) shall reimburse the department for the cost of the services rendered if the director finds that the operator's actual and attributed annual production of coal for all locations exceeds three hundred thousand (300,000) tons during the twelve (12) months immediately following the date on which the operator is issued the surface coal mining and reclamation permit.

(4) The regulations shall provide that no initial or revised permit will be approved unless the application affirmatively demonstrates and the director finds in writing on the basis of the information set forth in the application or from information otherwise available which will be documented in the approval and made available to the applicants, that:

(A) The permit application is accurate and complete and that all the requirements of this chapter and the regulations issued pursuant to this chapter have been complied with;

(B) The applicant has demonstrated that reclamation as required by this chapter and the regulations issued pursuant to this chapter can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit application;

(C) The assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining in the area on the hydrologic balance specified in subdivision (a)(2) of this section has been made by the director and the proposed operation thereof has been designed to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area;

(D) The area proposed to be mined is not included within an area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining pursuant to § 15-58-501 or is not within an area under study for the designation in an administrative proceeding commenced pursuant to §§ 15-58-207 and 15-58-208;

(E) Any violation of this chapter or the regulations issued pursuant to this chapter or any law, rule, or regulation of this state, the United States, or agencies of this state or the United States pertaining to air or water environmental protection incurred by the applicant in connection with any surface coal mining operation during the three-year period prior to the date of application has been corrected or is in the process of being corrected to the satisfaction of the director, department, or agency which has jurisdiction over the violation. No permit shall be issued to an applicant after a finding by the director after opportunity for hearing that the applicant, or the operator specified in the application, controls or has controlled mining operations with a demonstrated pattern of willful violations of this chapter or the regulations issued pursuant to this chapter of a nature and duration with resulting irreparable damage to the environment as to indicate an intent not to comply with the provisions of this chapter or the regulations issued pursuant to this chapter;

(F) If the area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland, the operator has the technological capability to restore the mined area, within a reasonable time to equivalent or higher levels of yield as nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area under equivalent levels of management and can meet the soil reconstruction standards established by the commission by regulation;

(G) After March 1, 1995, the prohibition of subdivision (a)(3)(E) of this section shall not apply to a permit application due to any violation resulting from an unanticipated event or condition at a surface coal mining operation on lands eligible for remining under a permit held by the person making the application. As used in this subdivision (a)(3)(G), the term "violation" has the same meaning as the term has under subdivision (a)(3)(E) of this section.

(5) The regulations shall provide that all permits shall be issued for a term not to exceed five (5) years unless the applicant demonstrates that a specified longer term is reasonably needed to allow the applicant to obtain necessary financing for equipment and the opening of operation.

(6) The regulations shall provide that any extensions to the area covered by the permit except incidental boundary revisions must be made by application for another permit.

(7) The regulations shall provide that no transfer, assignment, or sale of the rights granted under any permit issued under this chapter shall be made without the written approval of the director. However, the commission may issue regulations providing for a review of outstanding permits, and the director may, in accordance with the regulations, and based upon written findings after notice and public hearing, require reasonable revisions or modifications of the permit during the term of the permit.

(b) The commission shall develop by regulation procedures for coordinating the issuance of permits required by federal, state, and local agencies for surface coal mining operations.

(c) The commission shall issue regulations to protect confidential information which is submitted to the department as part of a permit application or pursuant to the coal exploration requirements.