[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Taylor 7-10-1963 by Ord. No. 4-1963. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following words
shall have the meanings indicated:
A strip mining operation where no coal has been mined or
produced, or overburden removed, for a period of three months, verified
by monthly written reports submitted to the Borough Engineer and by
inspections made by the Borough Engineer, unless an operator within
30 days after receipt of notification by the Borough Engineer terming
an operation "abandoned" submits sufficient evidence to the Mayor
of the Borough and President of the Borough Council to the contrary.
Any person, partnership, association or corporation engaged
in strip mining of anthracite coal as a principal, or who is or becomes
the owner of the coal recovered as the result of such strip mining.
Any mining operation in which coal is mined or recovered
or removed by removing the material or overburden which overlies the
coal bed or vein in its natural or previously mined condition, by
mechanical means or by hand.
A strip mining operation shall be considered
as commencing for the purposes of this chapter whenever strip mining
takes place a distance of more than 50 feet from a pit, trench, cut
or hole formed by the removal of material or overburden which over
lies a coal bed or vein, or coal as the result of strip mining, existing
at the effective date of this chapter, in which strip mining is actively
being done on said date.
No strip mining shall be commenced after the
effective date of this chapter within the Borough of Taylor without
the written permission of the Mayor of the Borough and President of
the Borough Council, which permission may be granted subject to such
conditions as the Mayor and President of the Borough deem proper for
the public safety, health, and general welfare of the public, particularly
those in close proximity to the operation, and only after a proper
application in writing has been filed, and a proper bond, as hereinafter
set forth, filed with the Mayor and President of the Borough Council.
A written permission referred to in § 113-3, if granted, shall be effective for a period of one year. After the expiration of this period, another and new application for permission may be presented to the Mayor and President of the Borough Council.
In no event shall any strip mining operation,
commenced after the publication of this chapter, strip mine by mechanical
means between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., if such strip
mining is done within one mile of a private or public dwelling.
The application for the permission referred to in §§ 113-3 and 113-4 must be accompanied by a certificate which must specify the following:
A.
Name and address of applicant and whether applicant
is an individual, partnership, association, or corporation.
B.
The name of the owner, principal officer, or manager.
C.
If a partnership, the name and address of all partners.
D.
If the applicant is doing business under an assumed
name, whether or not such name is registered with the Secretary of
the commonwealth and the Prothonotary of the county of the applicant's
principal place of business, and the dates registered.
E.
If the applicant is a foreign corporation, whether
or not it is registered to do business within the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania and the date of such registration.
F.
Estimated number of acres of coal to be stripped by
the operator during the one-year period immediately following the
date of filing and grant of permission.
G.
The location of the area to be stripped, the size
of said area, the estimated average depth of opening and the estimated
thickness of coal to be removed.
H.
The proximity of stripping to the nearest four highways,
avenues or streets.
I.
The proximity of the stripping to the dwellings, public
buildings, commercial and institutional buildings, schools, churches,
streams of water, water wells, water reservoirs, pipe lines, and sewers,
within a radius of one mile from the boundaries of the area to be
stripped.
J.
Whether or not a previous application has been filed
and the date of said filing.
K.
A map or sketch of the area proposed to be strip mined
together with adjacent area within 1,000 feet, showing roads, highways,
dwellings and other buildings, shall be attached to the application.
No permission shall be granted by the Mayor
and President of the Borough Council to strip mine until the applicant
shall have filed a bond with proper corporate surety, as may be prescribed
by Council, in the amount of $3,000 to guarantee compliance with the
provisions of this chapter and conditions which the Mayor and President
of the Borough Council may impose.
The operator of a strip mining operation commencing after the effective date of this chapter is hereby required, within one month after the strip mine operation is abandoned, to backfill all stripping pits, so that the surface of the soil is restored as close as possible, without the utilization of material other than the material or overburden which has been removed in the operation, to its natural condition as it existed prior to such mining. Liability under the bond shall be for the duration of the strip mining at each operation in the area which the permission referred to in § 113-3 of this chapter covers, and for a period of three years thereafter, unless released prior thereto, or unless forfeited prior thereto, in a manner provided in this chapter. Said bond shall be released prior thereto when the Mayor and President of the Borough Council shall certify that strip mining within said area has been abandoned, and all the provisions of this chapter relating to backfilling, and all the conditions imposed by the Mayor and President of the Borough Council, had been faithfully complied with. A determination by the Mayor and President of the Borough Council that any provision of this chapter relating to backfilling is violated, or any condition imposed by the Mayor and President is violated, then the bond shall be forfeited and the moneys thereby received shall be utilized to effectuate said conditions and provisions, and otherwise administer the provisions of this chapter.
Any person who shall violate the terms of this
chapter or strip mine in violation of the conditions imposed by the
Mayor and President of the Borough Council under this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding
$500, and in default of payment of such fine and costs to undergo
imprisonment of not more than 30 days; provided, each day's violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate
offense.
The provisions of this chapter shall become
effective immediately upon enactment and are not retroactive.
