Title 36
SECTION 292.64
292.64 Plan of operations - approval.
§ 292.64 Plan of operations - approval.(a) Timeframe for review. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of § 292.62 of this subpart, upon receipt of a plan of operations, the authorized officer shall review the information related to valid existing rights and notify the operator in writing within 60 days of one of the following situations:
(1) That sufficient information on valid existing rights has been provided and the anticipated date by which the valid existing rights determination will be completed, which shall not be more than 2 years after the date of notification; unless the authorized officer, upon finding of good cause with written notice and explanation to the operator, extends the time period for completion of the valid existing rights determination.
(2) That the operator has failed to provide sufficient information to review a claim of valid existing rights and, therefore, the authorized officer has no obligation to evaluate whether the operator has valid existing rights or to process the operator's proposed plan of operations.
(b)(1) If the authorized officer concludes that there is not sufficient evidence of valid existing rights, the officer shall so notify the operator in writing of the reasons for the determination, inform the operator that the proposed mineral operation cannot be conducted, advise the operator that the Forest Service will promptly notify the Bureau of Land Management of the determination and request the initiation of a mineral contest action against the pertinent mining claim, and advise the operator that further consideration of the proposed plan of operations is suspended pending final action by the Department of the Interior on the operator's claim of valid existing rights and any final judicial review thereof.
(2) If the authorized officer concludes that there is not sufficient evidence of valid existing rights, the authorized officer also shall notify promptly the Bureau of Land Management of the determination and request the initiation of a mineral contest action against the pertinent mining claims.
(c) An authorized officer's decision pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section that there is not sufficient evidence of valid existing rights is not subject to further agency or Department of Agriculture review or administrative appeal.
(d) The authorized officer shall notify the operator in writing that the review of the remainder of the proposed plan will proceed if:
(1) The authorized officer concludes that there is sufficient evidence of valid existing rights;
(2) Final agency action by the Department of the Interior determines that the applicable mining claim constitutes a valid existing right; or
(3) Final judicial review of final agency action by the Department of the Interior finds that the applicable mining claim constitutes a valid existing right.
(e) Upon completion of the review of the plan of operations, the authorized officer shall ensure that the minimum information required by § 292.63(c) of this subpart has been addressed and, pursuant to § 228.5(a) of this chapter, notify the operator in writing whether or not the plan of operations is approved.
(f) If the plan of operations is not approved, the authorized officer shall explain in writing why the plan of operations cannot be approved.
(g) If the plan of operations is approved, the authorized officer shall establish a time period for the proposed operations which shall be for the minimum amount of time reasonably necessary for a prudent operator to complete the mineral development activities covered by the approved plan of operations.
(h) An approved plan of operations is subject to review and modification as follows:
(1) To bring the plan into conformance with changes in applicable federal law or regulation; or
(2) To respond to new information not available at the time the authorized officer approved the plan, for example, new listings of threatened or endangered species; or
(3) To correct errors or omissions made at the time the plan was approved, for example, to ensure compliance with applicable federal law or regulation; or
(4) To permit operations requested by the operator that differ in type, scope, or duration from those in an approved plan of operations but that are not subject to paragraph (i) of this section.
(i) If an operator desires to conduct operations that differ in type, scope, or duration from those in an approved plan of operations, and if those changes will result in resource impacts not anticipated when the original plan was approved, the operator must submit a supplemental plan or a modification of the plan for review and approval.