This part provides minimum requirements concerning the general content for permit applications under a State or Federal program.

The information collection requirements contained in part 777 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3507 and assigned clearance number 1029-0032. The information is being collected to meet the requirements of sections 507, 508, and 510(b) of the Act. It provides general requirements for permit application format and contents. The obligation to respond is mandatory.

(a) An application shall—

(1) Contain current information, as required by this subchapter;

(2) Be clear and concise; and

(3) Be filed in the format required by the regulatory authority.

(b) If used in the application, referenced materials shall either be provided to the regulatory authority by the applicant or be readily available to the regulatory authority. If provided, relevant portions of referenced published materials shall be presented briefly and concisely in the application by photocopying or abstracting and with explicit citations.

(c) Applications for permits; revisions; renewals; or transfers, sales or assignments of permit rights shall be verified under oath, by a responsible official of the applicant, that the information contained in the application is true and correct to the best of the official's information and belief.

(a) All technical data submitted in the application shall be accompanied by the names of persons or organizations that collected and analyzed the data, dates of the collection and analysis of the data, and descriptions of the methodology used to collect and analyze the data.

(b) Technical analyses shall be planned by or under the direction of a professional qualified in the subject to be analyzed.

(a) Maps submitted with applications shall be presented in a consolidated format, to the extent possible, and shall include all the types of information that are set forth on topographic maps of the U.S. Geological Survey of the 1:24,000 scale series. Maps of the permit area shall be at a scale of 1:6,000 or larger. Maps of the adjacent area shall clearly show the lands and waters within those areas and be in a scale determined by the regulatory authority, but in no event smaller than 1:24,000.

(b) All maps and plans submitted with the application shall distinguish among each of the phases during which surface coal mining operations were or will be conducted at any place within the life of operations. At a minimum, distinctions shall be clearly shown among those portions of the life of operations in which surface coal mining operations occurred—

(1) Prior to August 3, 1977;

(2) After August 3, 1977, and prior to either—

(i) May 3, 1978; or

(ii) In the case of an applicant or operator which obtained a small operator's exemption in accordance with § 710.12 of this chapter, January 1, 1979;

(3) After May 3, 1978 (or January 1, 1979, for persons who received a small operator's exemption) and prior to the approval of the applicable regulatory program;

(4) After the estimated date of issuance of a permit by the regulatory authority under the approved regulatory program.

An application for a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations shall be complete and shall include at a minimum—

(a) For surface mining activities, the information required under parts 778, 779, and 780 of this chapter, and, as applicable to the operation, part 785 of this chapter; and

(b) For underground mining activities, the information required under parts 778, 783, and 784 of this chapter, and, as applicable to the operation, part 785 of this chapter.

An application for a surface coal mining and reclamation permit shall be accompanied by a fee determined by the regulatory authority. The fee may be less than, but shall not exceed, the actual or anticipated cost of reviewing, administering, and enforcing the permit. The regulatory authority may develop procedures to allow the fee to be paid over the term of the permit.