17.24.1207    NOTICES OF NONCOMPLIANCE AND CESSATION ORDERS: INFORMAL HEARINGS

(1) Except as provided in (2) and (3), if a notice of noncompliance or cessation order requires cessation of mining or prospecting, expressly or by necessary implication, that notice or order expires within 30 days after it is served unless an informal public hearing has been held within that time. The hearing must be held at or reasonably close to the mine site so that the alleged violation may be viewed during the hearing or at any other location acceptable to the department and the person to whom the notice or order was issued. The departmental office nearest to the mine site is hereby deemed to be reasonably close to the mine site unless a closer location is requested and agreed to by the department. For purposes of this rule, "mining" means extracting coal from the earth or waste piles and transporting it within or from the permit area.

(2)(a) A notice of noncompliance or cessation order that requires cessation of prospecting or mining does not expire as provided in (1) if the informal public hearing has been waived or if, with the consent of the person to whom the notice or order was issued, the informal hearing is held later than 30 days after the notice or order.

(b) The informal public hearing will be deemed waived if the person to whom the notice or order was issued is informed, as provided in (c), that he or she will be deemed to have waived the informal public hearing unless he or she requests one within 30 days after service of the notice and he or she fails to request an informal public hearing within that time.

(c) The written notice provided in (b) must be delivered to the person by personal service by an authorized agent of the department or certified mail within five days after the notice or order that requires cessation of mining is served on that person.

(3) The department shall give as much advance notice as is practicable of the time, place, and subject matter of the informal public hearing to:

(a) the person to whom the notice or order was issued; and

(b) any person who filed a report which led to that notice or order.

(4) The department shall also post notice of the hearing at its office closest to the mine site and issue a news release notice regarding the informal hearing, whenever practicable, to a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the mine.

(5) An informal public hearing must be conducted by a representative of the department; the representative may accept oral or written arguments and any other relevant information from any person attending.

(6) Within five days after the close of the informal public hearing, the department shall affirm, modify, or vacate the notice or order in writing. The decision must be sent to:

(a) the person to whom the notice or order was issued; and

(b) any person who filed a report which led to the notice or order.

(7) The granting or waiver of an informal public hearing does not affect the right of any person to formal review under 82-4-251(3) or (6), or 82-4-254(3), MCA. At the formal review proceedings, evidence as to statements made or evidence produced at an informal public hearing must not be introduced as evidence or to impeach a witness.

 

History: 82-4-205, MCA; IMP, 82-4-251, MCA; NEW, 1980 MAR p. 725, Eff. 4/1/80; AMD, 1984 MAR p. 442, Eff. 3/16/84; AMD, 1989 MAR p. 30, Eff. 1/13/89; TRANS, from DSL, 1996 MAR p. 3042; AMD, 2024 MAR p. 260, Eff. 2/10/24.