When a permit is denied or revoked, the Secretary shall notify the applicant or the holder of the permit, as the case may be, with a statement containing the grounds or reasons for the denial, issuance or revocation. Those commenting or participating in the permit’s public hearing, as well as parties adversely affected, who show that the action finally taken on the permit shall affect their person, income, economy or their rights, or shall impair or degrade the environment or the natural systems in the area immediately adjacent to the place where the corresponding excavation, extraction, removal or dredging of the earth’s crust would be made, may request that a quasi judicial public hearing be held within fifteen (15) days following the notification date.
The Secretary may require those persons requesting a hearing to pay for the costs and fees for professional and consulting services incurred by the Department in the hearings, and the corresponding investigations and studies. The Secretary may exempt people from payment for these expenses and fees if they show they have limited means. The Secretary shall determine by regulation the standards concerning this provision. The payments shall be covered into a special fund and shall be used to defray the expenses of the hearings.
History —June 25, 1968, No. 132, p. 314, § 9, renumbered as § 8 and amended on June 3, 1976, No. 144, p. 423, § 9; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 370, § 4.