IL SB3769

Applicants or interested persons may request a hearing within 30 days of the Department of Natural Resources' final permit decision on surface coal mining applications.

The Department must hold the requested hearing within 30 days unless a prehearing conference is requested.

No person who presided at the initial public comment hearing may preside at or participate in the decision of the appeal hearing.

The hearing officer must issue a written decision within 30 days that constitutes the final administrative decision on the permit, and parties cannot seek judicial review until after this decision is issued.

Notice of the hearing must be published in newspapers of general circulation 7-14 days before the hearing, in at least one-eighth page size with 12-point type enclosed in a black border.