Revised LQS Presentation

11/1/12
LAND QUALITY SECTION PUBLIC HEARING PRESENTATION
As Dr. Taylor stated, my name is Ashley Rodgers. My title is Assistant Mining Specialist
with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Energy, Mineral, and
Land Resources, Land Quality Section.
My job, and that of the other members of the staff, is to review all applications for a
mining permit as they relate to The Mining Act of 1971 . There were copies of the Act (hold
up) placed at the sign in area.
I would like to take a moment and briefly review a few specific areas of the Act. If you
would refer to G.S. 74-47, Findings, on the first page of the Mining Act handout (white
handout):
"The General Assembly finds that the extraction of minerals by mining is a basic and
essential activity making an important contribution to the economic well-being of North
Carolina and the Nation. Furthermore, it is not practical to extract minerals required by
our society without disturbing the surface of the earth and producing waste materials,
and the very character of certain surface mining operations precludes complete
restoration of the land to its original condition. However, it is possible to conduct mining
in such a way as to minimize its effects on the surrounding environment. Furthermore,
proper reclamation of mined land is necessary to prevent undesirable land and water
conditions that would be detrimental to the general welfare, health, safety, beauty, and

property rights of the citizens of the State. The General Assembly finds that the conduct
of mining and reclamation of mined lands as provided by this Article will allow the
mining of valuable minerals and will provide for the protection of the State's environment
and for the subsequent beneficial use of the mined and reclaimed land."
On page 7 of the Mining Act, under G.S. 74-51 , Permits - Application, granting, conditions, the
Act states, under subsection (b) that:
"The Department shall grant or deny the permit requested as expeditiously as possible, but in
no event later than 60 days after the application form and any relevant and material
supplemental information reasonably required shall have been filed with the Department, or if a
public hearing is held, within 30 days following the hearing and the filing of any relevant and
material supplemental information reasonably required by the Department.
On page 8 of the Act, under subsection (c), the Act goes on to state:
"The public hearing shall be held within 60 days of the end of the 30-day period within
any requests for the public hearing shall be made."
The most important information that I can present to you tonight is found under subsection (d)
beginning at the bottom of page 8 of the Act. It states:
"The Department may deny the permit [or modification to the existing permit] upon
finding [only one of the seven criteria listed on pages 8 and 9 of the Act]:

1 . That any requirement of this Article or any rule promulgated hereunder will be
violated by the proposed operation;
This means that the very nature of the activity proposed in the application
will immediately violate any of the basic requirements of the Act and
corresponding Administrative Rules.
2. That the operation will have unduly adverse effects on potable groundwater
supplies, wildlife, or fresh water, estuarine, or marine fisheries;
The application was routed to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, US
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the NC Division of Marine Fisheries on
January 4, 2011 for their review. None of these agencies had any comment
on the proposed project. The Division of Water Resources provided
comments on January 11, 2011 regarding impacts to ground water
supplies. Their comments noted that the proposed mining operation does
not appear to have an unduly adverse effect on ground water supplies.
3. That the operation will violate standards of air quality, surface water quality, or
ground water quality that have been promulgated by the Department:
The application was routed to the Division of Air Quality and the Division of
Water Quality for review and comment. Comments were received from
these agencies by LQS on February 1 and February 4, 2011 and noted the
following:

The Division of Water Quality noted that an NPDES permit and possibly an
O&M plan would be needed. In addition, the DWQ requested that a wetland
delineation be performed for the site. The Division of Air Quality noted that
the operation, as proposed, would not violate standards of air quality and
that no air permits were needed.
4. That the operation will constitute a direct and substantial physical hazard to
public health and safety or to a neighboring dwelling house, school, church,
hospital, commercial or industrial building, public road or other public property,
excluding matters relating to the use of a public road;
The application contained detailed information regarding active and final
slopes at the site. No blasting is proposed in the area covered by the
application currently under review.
5. That the operation will have a significantly adverse effect on the purposes of a
publicly owned park, forest or recreation area;
According to the Division of Parks and Recreation, the activity proposed in
the application is located within 5 miles of the Hampstead Kiwanis Park.
However, Pender County Parks & Recreation does not forsee any unduly
adverse effects on the park from the proposed mine operation.

6. That the previous experience with similar operations indicates a substantial
possibility that the operation will result in substantial deposits of sediment in
stream beds or lakes, landslides, or acid water pollution;
A detailed erosion and sedimentation control plan was submitted with the
application and will be thoroughly evaluated by both the Land Quality
Section's Wilmington Regional Office staff and the Raleigh Central Office
staff.
OR
7. That the applicant or any parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of the applicant or
parent has not been in substantial compliance with this Article, rules adopted
under this Article, or other laws or rules of this State for the protection of the
environment or has not corrected all violations that the applicant or any parent,
subsidiary, or other affiliate of the applicant or parent may have committed under
this Article or rules adopted under this Article and that resulted in:
a. Revocation of a permit,
b. Forfeiture of part or all of a bond or other security,
C. Conviction of a misdemeanor under G.S. 74-64,
d. Any other court order issued under G.S. 74-64, or
e. Final assessment of a civil penalty under G.S. 74-64.

This pertains to the applicant's prior operating record with the Mining
Program and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a
whole.
The Act goes on to clearly state that:
"In the absence of any findings set out in subsection (d) of this section, or if adverse
effects are mitigated by the applicant as determined necessary by the Department, a
permit shall be granted."
Please be advised that offsite truck traffic on public roads, noise, and potentially
negative impacts on property values are not within the jurisdiction of The Mining Act of 1971 .
These items are more properly addressed through local zoning ordinances. I also would like to
draw your attention to G.S. 74-65, Effect of local zoning regulations, on page 20 of the Act.
The Act basically states that the issuance of a state mining permit, and any transfer, renewal
or modification to it, does not supersede any duly adopted local zoning ordinance.
Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the local authority, not the Department, to enforce any
such ordinance that may be in effect covering the project area.
The decision on the issuance of a mining permit will not be made tonight. The authority
to issue or deny a permit lies with the Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land
Resources, Mr. Tracy Davis.

Any permit issued shall be expressly conditioned upon compliance with all requirements
of the approved reclamation plan for the operation and with such further reasonable and
appropriate requirements and safeguards as may be deemed necessary by the Department to
assure that the operation will comply fully with the requirements and objectives of the Mining
Act.
If the Department denies this application for a permit, it shall notify the operator in
writing, stating the reasons for its denial and any modifications in the application, which would
make it acceptable. The operator may thereupon modify his application or file an appeal to the
Office of Administrative Hearings. In the event that the application for a mining permit is
approved, any aggrieved parties will be notified by the Department of the permit issuance and
its rights to file an appeal contesting the Department's issuance of the permit.
I would like to reiterate what Dr. Taylor said earlier, the hearing record will remain open
for a period of up to 10 days from tonight or the 11th of November. This gives those individuals
that were unable to attend an opportunity to comment. You may also think of something else
that you would like to add to your comments made here tonight. This provides you that
opportunity.

Now that a public hearing has been held on this application, the Department has a 30-
day review clock. The 30-day period starts after this hearing tonight. Should the Department
request additional information from the applicant, the 30 day clock would start over upon the
Department's receipt of all of the requested information. Such a process would continue until
all of the Department's questions have been answered and a decision is made on the
application.
If there are no questions, I would like to turn the program back over to Dr. Taylor.