Public comment period open on Mining Commission rules review

The North Carolina Mining Commission is conducting a periodic review of the mining rules as required by state statute and is accepting public comment through April 4, 2023.

The Commission is required to evaluate each of the existing rules and make an initial determination from one of these two classifications:

• Necessary – Means any rule other than an unnecessary rule.
• Unnecessary – Means a rule that the agency determines to be obsolete, redundant, or otherwise not needed.

The Commission is seeking public comment on the initial determinations and its existing rules. Public comment means written comments objecting to the rule, in whole or in part, or objecting to the initial determination of the rule as necessary or unnecessary. 

N.C. Gen. Stat. §150B-21.3A, adopted in 2013, requires state agencies to review existing rules every 10 years. The Department of Environmental Quality's rules are located by subchapters in Title 15A of the N.C. Administrative Code. The Department's rules will be reviewed on a schedule established by the Rules Review Commission.

The comment period began on Jan. 27, 2023, and ends on April 4, 2023.

To view the Mining Commission's initial determinations for each rule, click here. To view the Mining Commission's existing rules, click here.

To comment, please specify which rule citation (ex: 15A NCAC 05A .0101) your comment corresponds to in the links above. To submit electronic comments, email the Mining Program at NCMiningProgram@ncdenr.gov or mail written comments to:

Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources
Mining Program (Attn. Rules review)
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

For more information on the Mining Commission, visit the DEQ website.