La. Admin. Code tit. 43 § XV-6509

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XV-6509 - Informal Public Hearing

A. Except as provided in §6509. B and C, a notice of violation or cessation order which requires cessation of mining, expressly or by necessary implication, shall expire within 30 days after it is served, unless an informal public hearing has been held within that time. The hearing shall be held at or reasonably close to the mine site so that it may be viewed during the hearing or at any other location acceptable to the office and the person to whom the notice or order was issued. The conservation office nearest to the mine site shall be deemed to be reasonably close to the mine site unless a closer location is requested and agreed to by the office. Expiration of a notice or order shall not affect the commissioner's right to assess civil penalties for the violations mentioned in the notice or order under Chapter 69. For purposes of this Section, mining means extracting coal from the earth or coal waste piles and transporting it within or from the permit area.

B. A notice of violation or cessation order shall not expire as provided in §6509. A if the condition, practice or violation in question has been abated or if the informal public hearing has been waived.

C. The office shall give as much advance notice as is practicable of the time, place and subject matter of the informal public hearing to:

1. the person to whom the notice or order was issued; and

2. any person who filed a report which led to the notice or order.

D. The office shall also post notice of the hearing at the conservation office closest to the mine site and publish it, where practicable, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the mine.

E. The Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act provisions regarding requirements for formal adjudicatory hearings shall not govern informal public hearings. An informal public hearing shall be conducted by a representative of the office, who may accept oral or written arguments and any other relevant information from any person attending.

F. Within five days after the close of the informal public hearing, the office shall affirm, modify or vacate the notice or order in writing. The decision shall be sent to:

1. the person to whom the notice or order was issued; and

2. any person who filed a report which led to the notice or order.

G. The granting or waiver of an informal public hearing shall not affect the right of any person to formal review under §918. B, 921.A(4) or 925 of the Act. At such formal review proceedings, no evidence as to statements made or evidence produced at an informal public hearing shall be introduced as evidence or to impeach a witness.

La. Admin. Code tit. 43, § XV-6509

Promulgated by the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, LR 5:395 (December 1979), amended LR 14:441 (July 1988), LR 20:447 (April 1994).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:901-932.