"(22) All operations involving the crushing, screening, or loading of coal which do not separate the coal from its impurities, and which are not located at or near the mine site, shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter."
The specific wording is the phrase "if a permit has expired or . . ." and the following sentence:
Upon the submittal of a permit renewal application, the operator or permittee shall be deemed to have timely filed the permit renewal application and shall be entitled to continue, under the terms of the expired permit, the surface coal mining operation, pending the issuance of the permit renewal.
30 C.F.R. §917.13