(A) No person who has obtained a vested right to conduct surface mining operations prior to January 1, 1976, shall be required to secure a surface mining permit pursuant to the provisions of this title so long as such vested right continues and no substantial change is made in the operations, except as permitted by SMARA, the state regulations and this title. A person shall be deemed to have such vested rights if, prior to January 1, 1976, he or she has, in good faith and in reliance upon any valid and required permit or other authorization, diligently commenced surface mining operations and incurred substantial liabilities for work and materials necessary therefor. Expenses incurred in obtaining the enactment of an ordinance in relation to a particular operation or the issuance of a permit shall not be deemed liabilities for work or materials. Any substantial change in the surface mining operation subsequent to the enactment of this title shall require the obtaining of a surface mining permit pursuant to the provisions of this title.
(B) In those cases where an overlap exists (in the horizontal and/or vertical sense) between operations conducted before and after January 1, 1976, the reclamation plan shall call for reclamation proportional to the disturbance caused by mining operations conducted after January 1, 1976. Nothing in this title shall be construed as requiring the filing of a reclamation plan for, or the reclamation of, mined lands on which surface mining operations were conducted prior to, but not after, the effective date of this title.
(`78 Code, § 19.04.060.) (Ord. 2386 § 1 (part), 1999.)