Any person who proposes to engage in surface mining operations, as defined in the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, enacted as Chapter 9, Division 2 of the Public Resources Code, shall, prior to the commencement of such operations, obtain:

No person has obtained a vested right to conduct a surface mining operation prior to January 1, 1976, shall be required to secure a permit pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter as long as such vested right continues, provided that no substantial change is made in that operation except in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. A person shall be deemed to have such vested rights if, prior to January 1, 1976, he has in good faith and in reliance upon a permit or other authorization (if such permit or other authorization was required), diligently commenced surface mining operations and incurred substantial liabilities for work and materials necessitated thereby. Expenses incurred in obtaining the enactment of an ordinance in relation to a particular operation in the issuance of a permit shall not be deemed liabilities for work or materials.

A person who has obtained a vested right to conduct surface mining operations prior to January 1, 1976, shall submit to the Planning Department and receive, within 90 days, approval of a reclamation plan for operations to be conducted after January 1, 1976, unless a reclamation plan was approved prior to January 1, 1976, and the person submitting that plan has accepted responsibility for reclaiming the mined lands in accordance with that plan. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring the filing of a reclamation plan for the reclamation of mined lands on which surface mining operations were conducted prior to, but not after, January 1, 1976.

The State Geologist shall be notified of the filing of all conditional use permits for surface mining operations.

This section shall be continuously reviewed and revised, as necessary, in order to ensure that it is in accordance with State policy for mined lands reclamation.