TCA § 59-8-403 — Part definitions. [See contingent amendment to subdivision (2) and Compiler’s Notes.]

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires: “Affected area” means any land or water surface area which is used to facilitate, or is physically altered by, coal surface mining and reclamation operations. The affected area includes the disturbed area; any area upon which coal surface mining and reclamation operations are conducted; any adjacent lands, the use of which is incidental to coal surface mining and reclamation operations; all areas covered by new or existing roads used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from, coal surface mining and reclamation operations, except as provided in this definition; any area covered by surface excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, shipping areas; any areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property; material on the surface resulting from, or incident to, coal surface mining and reclamation operations; and the area located above underground workings. The affected area includes every road used for purposes of access to, or for hauling coal to or from, coal surface mining and reclamation operations, unless the road: Was designated as a public road pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located; Is maintained with public funds, and constructed in a manner similar to other public roads of the same classification within the jurisdiction; and There is substantial (more than incidental) public use; [Current version. See second version for contingent amendment and Compiler's Notes.] “Board” means the Tennessee board of water quality, oil, and gas [See the Compiler's Notes] as established pursuant to [former] § 59-8-321 [repealed. See the Compiler's Notes]; [Contingent amendment. See the Compiler's Notes.] “Coal surface mining and reclamation operations” means surface mining operations and all activities necessary and incidental to the reclamation of such operations; “Coal surface mining operations” means: Activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a coal surface mine. Such activities include excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal, including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, mountaintop removal, box cut, open pit, and area mining, the uses of explosives and blasting, and loading of coal at or near the mine site; provided, however, that such activities do not include the extraction of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent (162/3%) of the tonnage of minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale; and The areas upon which such activities occur or where such activities disturb the natural land surface. Such areas also include any adjacent land, the use of which is incidental to any such activities, all lands affected by the construction of new roads or the improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to the site of such activities for haulage and excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, processing areas, shipping areas, and other areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property or materials on the surface, resulting from or incidental to such activities; “Commissioner” means the commissioner of environment and conservation, the commissioner of environment and conservation's duly authorized representative, and in the event of absence or a vacancy in the office of commissioner, the deputy commissioner; “Director” means the director of the division of water pollution control in the department of environment and conservation; “Imminent danger to the health and safety of the public” means the existence of any condition or practice, or any violation of a permit or any other requirement of this part, in a coal surface mining and reclamation operation which condition, practice, or violation could reasonably be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit area before such condition, practice or violation can be abated. A reasonable expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational person, subjected to the same conditions or practices giving rise to the peril, would not personally expose oneself to the danger during the time necessary for abatement; “Lignite coal” means consolidated lignitic coal having less than eight thousand three hundred British thermal units (8,300 BTUs) per pound, moisture and mineral matter free; “Operator” means any person, partnership or corporation engaged in mining coal from the earth who removes or intends to remove more than twenty-five (25) tons of coal from the earth by surface mining or who removes overburden for the purpose of removing coal within twelve (12) successive calendar months in any one (1) location; “Permit” means a permit to conduct coal surface mining and reclamation operations issued by the commissioner pursuant to this part; “Permit applicant” or “applicant” means a person applying for a permit; “Permit area” means the area of land indicated on the approved map submitted by the operator with the operator's application, which area of land shall be covered by the operator's bond as required by this part and shall be readily identifiable by appropriate markers on the site; “Permittee” means a person holding a permit; “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, society, governmental agency or entity, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, or other business organization. The board, department, and their officials and employees acting in their official capacity are not to be considered “persons” pursuant to this part; “Reclamation plan” means a plan submitted by an applicant for a permit under this part which sets forth a plan for reclamation of the proposed coal surface mining operations pursuant to this part; “Secretary” means the secretary of the interior; and “Wildcat miner” means a person violating this part by willfully and knowingly extracting coal without a valid permit, or from an area not covered by a valid permit. “Board” means the Tennessee “board of energy and natural resources, created by § 69-3-104 ; Acts 1987, ch. 251, § 7; 1992, ch. 693, § 1; 2018, ch. 839, § 7. Compiler's Notes. Former § 59-8-321 , referred to in this section, concerning the board of reclamation review, was repealed by Acts 1991, ch. 117, § 2(b). The duties of the former board of reclamation review were transferred to the former water quality control board created by § 69-3-104 , by Acts 1991, ch. 117, § 4. The former water quality control board, created by § 69-3-104 , was terminated by Acts 2012, ch. 986, § 26, and its responsibilities were transferred to the Tennessee board of water quality, oil, and gas, created by § 69-3-104. Acts 2018, ch. 839, § 44 provided that the governor shall take all action necessary to prepare and submit for approval all necessary requests for federal grant funding and applications for authorization to the appropriate federal authority to obtain exclusive jurisdiction over surface coal mining and reclamation operations and the maximum federal money available for those purposes in an expeditious manner. Acts 2018, ch. 839, § 45 provided that the commissioner of environment and conservation shall notify the secretary of state and the executive secretary of the Tennessee code commission of the date this state has been approved to exercise primacy over the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations within its territorial boundaries. Acts 2018, ch. 839, § 47 provided that the act, which amended this section, shall take effect, including for purposes of rulemaking, upon the deposit of federal funds in the Coal Mining Protection Fund. Amendments. The 2018 amendment rewrote the definition of “board” by substituting “board of energy and natural resources, created by § 69-3-104 ” for “board of water quality, oil, and gas as established pursuant to former § 59-8-321 ”. Effective Dates. Acts 2018, ch. 839, § 47. [See Compiler's Notes.] Cross-References. Controlling interest defined, § 59-8-406 .