2003-05-13_REVISION - M1977342 (3)

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represented, such as the mining industry, conservation groups, and agriculture. One Board member represents the Department of Natural Resources and another is appointed by the State Soil Conservation Board to serve as their representative. The State Senate must approve the Board members selected by the Governor. Once appointed, each Board member serves a term of four years. The Board normally meets for two days every month. Some of the Board's responsibilities include adoption of Rules and Regulations that implement the Act, finding violations, setting civil penalties, and determining corrective actions for operators found in violation, hearings related to disputed applications, and appeals to decisions made by the Office and Declazatory Order requests. Hearings for Declaratory Orders are usually requested by individuals wanting to know if their proposed mineral extraction activity is considered a mining operation, requiring a MLRB permit. The Board's jurisdiction does not include land use decisions, visual or economic impacts, impacts to public roads, noise, and other nuisance and socio-economic issues. These types of issues are handled by local government and are out side the jurisdiction of the Board and Office. Issues related to ground water quality are under the Boazd's jurisdiction. However, impacts to air quality, surface water quality, water quantity (water rights issues), impacts to threatened or endangered animal species, and the protection of historic resources are regulated by agencies other than the Board. If you have specific concerns with issues not under the Board's jurisdiction, the EnvironmentaTProtection Specialist (EPS) responsible for the application under consideration can provide you with the name of a contact in the responsible agency. ROLE OF THE OFFICE: The Office (Mined Land Reclamation Division) serves as staff to the Board where there is a written objection to a permit application, or an appeal to an Office decision. The Office is responsible -for verifying that the Applicant's application adequately addresses the requirements of the Act, Rules and Regulations. It is also the responsibility of the Office to ensure that the administrative process is explained to all participants and that the process is followed. The Office also determines the amount of the reclamation bond and conducts periodic inspections of all permitted mining and exploration operations in the State. The reclamation bond calculated by the Office for a permitted mining or exploration operation is based on the approved reclamation plan. The reclamation