Bonds totaling $9,785.00 posted in connection with surface coal mine permits 68-27, 69-24, 70-25, 71-30, 72-12, and 73-36 are hereby forfeited to the Department of Natural Resources to be used in restoring the disturbed land inside those permit areas to the appropriate, approved, post-mining land use.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources ("DNR") is an agency within the meaning of IC 4-21.5.
2. IC 4-21.5 and IC 14-36[FOOTNOTE 1] apply to these proceedings.
3. The DNR is the state agency responsible for regulating surface coal mining operations.
4. At all times relevant to these proceedings, and commencing in 1968, Cornell Excavating, Inc. ("Cornell") held permits 68-27, 69-24, 70-25, 71-30, 72-12, and 73-36 ("permits") which allowed the surface mining of coal in Warrick County, Indiana.[FOOTNOTE 2]
5. Pursuant to IC 14-36-1-31, the NRC is the ultimate authority over permit revocating and bond revocations.
6. In March of 1995, the NRC revoked Cornell's permits.
7. Reclamation Bond in the amount of $9,785 remains posted in connection with the permits.
8. Cornell did not file for judicial review, thus the NRC order of revocation is a final, enforceable order.
9. IC 14-36-1-3(b) provides that "Upon revocation, the bond insuring compliance with the revoked permit is forfeited."
10. IC 14-36-1-32 provides that IC 4-21.5 applies to actions involving IC 14-36.
11. IC 4-21.5-3-23 allows the disposition of an administrative matter by summary judgment.
12. Since the permits were revoked, the bonds are automatically forfeited by operation of law.
13. Summary judgment should be granted to the DNR.
14. Cornell raises a number of issues dealing with the inapplicability of IC 4-21.5 in dealing with permits issued in the 1960's and 1970's since IC 4-21.5 was not passed until the 1980's.
15. Since the legislature also passed IC 14-36-1-32 which makes IC 4-21.5 applicable to proceedings commenced under IC 14-36, the legislature intended IC 14-21.5 to apply retroactively.
16. Further, IC 4-21.5 is procedural in nature. The purpose of IC 4-21.5 is to provide procedural due process.
17. In the absence of any legitimate argument that IC 4-21.5 or some section of IC 4-21.5 fails to protect any substantive rights that Cornell has under IC 14-36, the NRC is free to proceed to a final decision.
FOOTNOTES
1. Prior to Recodification in 1995, the appropriate code section was IC 13-4-6. IC 14-8-3-2 provides ". . . the substantive operation and effect of the prior natural resources law continue uninterrupted as if the Recodification act. . . had not been enacted."
2. Prior to the enactment of IC 14-34 (formerly IC 13-4.1) in 1980, permits were issued for one year and renewed annually with different permit numbers. The permit areas would be modified depending on the amount of mining the year before and the acquisition of coal rights, but the six permit numbers here represent one continuous mining operation.