(a) This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Primacy and Reclamation Act of Tennessee.”
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 59-8-101

  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Surface coal mining and reclamation operations: means surface coal mining operations and all activities necessary and incident to the reclamation of surface coal mining operations occurring on and after May 26, 2021. See Tennessee Code 59-8-102
  • Surface coal mining operations: means :
    (A) Activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine or subject to §. See Tennessee Code 59-8-102
(b) The general assembly finds and declares that:

(1) Coal is an integral component of the nation’s energy requirements and that there is a need to strike a balance between protection of the environment, agricultural productivity, and economic development and the nation’s need for coal as a source of energy;
(2) The unregulated exploration for and surface mining of coal can cause soil erosion and landslides, water and air pollution, and accumulation and seepage of contaminated water, and may contribute to floods, impair the value of land, adversely affect fish and wildlife and their habitats, counteract efforts for the conservation of soil, water, and other natural resources, adversely affect cultural resources, impair neighboring owners’ property rights, create fire hazards, and in general create conditions inimical to life, property, and the public welfare, so as to require the exercise of the state‘s police power in the regulation of, exploration for, and surface mining of coal; and
(3) There are wide variations in the circumstances and conditions surrounding and arising out of the exploration for and surface mining of coal, due primarily to differences in topographical, geological, and soil conditions, which make it necessary, in order to provide the most effective, beneficial, and equitable solution to the problem, that broad discretion be placed in the authority designated to administer and enforce the regulatory provisions enacted by the general assembly.
(c) It is the purpose of this part to:

(1) Assume for this state exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations within this state under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq.);
(2) Develop, implement, and enforce a program which, at a minimum, will achieve the purposes of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq.) and the regulations promulgated thereunder;
(3) Assure that the rights of surface landowners and other persons with a legal interest in the land or appurtenances to the land are fully protected from those operations;
(4) Assure that surface coal mining operations are not conducted where reclamation as required by this part is not feasible;
(5) Assure that surface coal mining operations are conducted in a manner protective of the environment;
(6) Assure that adequate procedures are undertaken to reclaim surface areas as contemporaneously as possible with the surface coal mining operations;
(7) Assure that appropriate procedures are provided for public participation in the development, revision, and enforcement of rules, standards, reclamation plans, or programs established by the state under this part;
(8) Assure that the coal supply integral to the energy requirements of the nation and to its economic and social well-being is provided, and to strike a balance between protection of the environment, agricultural productivity and economic development and the need of the nation for coal as an integral component of the nation’s energy requirements; and
(9) To, wherever necessary, exercise the full reach of state constitutional powers to ensure the protection of the public interest through effective control of surface coal mining operations.
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