(a) Part 773 of this chapter, Requirements for Permits and Permit Processing, shall apply to any person who applies for a permit for surface coal mining and reclamation operations.

(b) The Secretary shall coordinate, to the extent practicable, his responsibilities under the following Federal laws with the relevant California State laws to avoid duplication:

(c) Where applicable, no person shall conduct coal exploration operations which result in the removal of more than 250 tons in one location or surface coal mining and reclamation operations without a permit issued by the Secretary pursuant to 30 CFR parts 772 and 773 and permits, leases and/or certificates required by the State of California, including compliance with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, Cal. Pub. Res. Code section 13000 et seq.; the California Water Code section 1200 et seq.; the California Air Pollution Control Laws, Cal. Health & Safety Code section 39000 et seq.; the Hazardous Waste Control Law, Cal. Health & Safety Code section 25100 et seq.; the State Underground Storage of Hazardous Substances Law, Cal. Health & Safety Code section 25280 et seq.; the Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act of 1972, Cal. Gov. Code section 66770 et seq.; the California Environmental Quality Act, Cal. Pub. Res. Code section 21000; the California Coastal Act of 1976, Cal. Pub. Res. Code section 30000 et seq.; the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, Cal. Pub. Res. Code section 4511 et seq.; and the California Public Resources Code section 4656.

(d) In addition to the requirements of part 773, the following permit application review procedures shall apply:

(1) Any person applying for a permit shall submit five copies of the application to the Western Field Operations office (WFO) in Denver, Colorado.

(2) The WFO shall review an application for administrative completeness and acceptability for further review and shall notify the applicant in writing of the findings. The WFO may:

(i) Reject a flagrantly deficient application, notifying the applicant of the findings;

(ii) Request additional information required for completeness stating specifically what information must be supplied; or

(iii) Judge the application administratively complete and acceptable for further review.

(3) When the application is judged administratively complete, the applicant shall be advised by the WFO to file the public notice required by §773.6 of this chapter.

(4) A representative of the WFO shall visit the proposed permit area to determine whether the operation and reclamation plans are consistant with actual site conditions. The applicant will be notified in advance of the time of the visit. At the time of the visit, the applicant shall have the locations of the proposed permit boundaries, topsoil storage areas, sediment control structures, roads, and other signficant features contained in the application marked by flags.

(5) Adequacy of information to allow the WFO to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4332, and the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 470 et seq., shall be considered in the determination of a complete application. The WFO may require specific additional information from the applicant as any environmental review progresses when such specific information is needed.

(e) In addition to the information required by subchapter G of this chapter, the WFO may require an applicant to submit supplemental information to ensure compliance with applicable Federal laws and regulations other than the Act.

(f) The regulatory authority shall review the application for a permit, written comments and objections submitted; and records of any informal conference or hearing held on the application and, where there is no environmental impact statement (EIS) and the WFO has found, pursuant to 36 WFO 800.4(d) and 800.5(b), that the operation will not affect historic properties, issue a written decision within 60 days from the close of the comment period or if an informal conference is held under §773.6(c), 60 days from the close of the informal conference. Where an EIS has been prepared for the application and/or the WFO must comply with 36 CFR 800.5 (d) or (e), the written decision shall be issued within 60 days from the Environmental Protection Agency's publication of the notice of availability of the final EIS in the Federal Register or the completion of OSMRE's responsibilities under 36 CFR part 800, whichever is later.

(g) Only application information that is labeled confidential by the applicant and submitted separately from the remainder of the application will be reviewed by OSMRE for withholding from disclosure under §773.6(d).

(1) If the application contains information identified as confidential by the applicant, the public notice required by §905.773(d)(3) must identify the type of information considered to be confidential.

(2) OSMRE shall determine in regard to qualification of any application information labeled confidential within 10 days of the last publication of the notice required under §905.773(d)(3) of this chapter, unless additional time is necessary to obtain public comment or in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

[60 FR 18716, Apr. 12, 1995, as amended at 65 FR 79672, Dec. 19, 2000]