Ch. 310

LAWS OF MARYLAND

have registered and otherwise complied with the requirements of
this subtitle, and the successor operator assumes as part of this
obligation all liability for backfilling, grading, planting, and
reclamation on the land affected by the former operator.]

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall
take effect July 1, 1989.

Approved May 19, 1989.

CHAPTER 310

(Senate Bill 120)

AN ACT concerning

Strip Mining of Coal - Powers and Duties of the Land
Reclamation Committee

FOR the purpose of repealing certain duties of the Land
Reclamation Committee concerning study, approval, and review
of certain plans and procedures for the reclamation,
conservation, and revegetation of areas affected by open-pit
mining; providing that the Committee may study, review, and
make recommendations on certain reclamation policies,
practices, standards, laws, and regulations; requiring the
Committee to determine that certain revegetation of
reclaimed surface land meets certain standards and to review
certain reclamation plans; repealing the requirement that
the Committee prepare a report on the number of acres for
which the Committee has approved mining and reclamation
plans and mining and reclamation final reports; repealing
the requirement for the Department and the Committee to hold
joint public hearings when a hearing is requested on a

permit application; repealing the requirement for the

committee to approve, reject, or modify the proposed plan
before the Department decides on a permit application;
repealing the requirement for the Department to review all
other aspects of an application; repealing the authority of
the Committee to order the Department to suspend a permit;
requiring the Committee to notify the Department if the
Committee has reason to believe a violation exists;
requiring the Department to provide the Committee with a
certain report of an inspection; authorizing the Department
to receive and expend certain funds, without approval of the
Committee; and generally relating to administrative
procedures for permitting strip mining of coal and the
powers and duties of the Land Reclamation Committee.

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