(a) Preferred sites shall be used for coal refuse disposal unless the applicant demonstrates to the department another site is more suitable based upon engineering, geology, economics, transportation systems and social factors and is not adverse to the public interest. A preferred site is one of the following:

Where, however, the adverse environmental impacts of the preferred site clearly outweigh the public benefits, the site shall not be considered a preferred site.

(b) Except if it is a preferred site, coal refuse disposal shall not occur on prime farm lands, in sites known to contain Federal threatened or endangered plants or animals or State threatened or endangered animals, in watersheds designated as exceptional value under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 93 (relating to water quality standards), in areas hydrologically connected to and which contribute at least five per cent of the drainage to wetlands designated as exceptional value under 25 Pa. Code Ch. 105 (relating to dam safety and waterway management) unless a larger percentage is approved by the department in consultation with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and in watersheds less than four square miles in area upstream of the intake of public water supplies or the upstream limit of public recreational impoundments.

(c) For new refuse disposal areas to support an existing coal mining activity, the applicant shall identify the alternative sites considered within a one mile radius and the basis for their consideration. Where there are no preferred sites within a one mile radius or where the applicant, under subsection (a), demonstrates that a nonpreferred site is more suitable, the applicant shall demonstrate the basis for the exclusion of other sites and shall, based on reasonably available data, demonstrate to the department that the proposed site is the most suitable on the basis of environmental, economic, technical, transportation and social factors and that the proposed site meets the requirements of subsection (b). However, where the adverse environmental impacts of the proposed site clearly outweigh the public benefits, the department shall not approve the site.

(d) For other new coal refuse disposal activities, the applicant shall identify the alternative sites considered within a twenty-five square mile area and the basis for their consideration. Where there are no preferred sites in an area of twenty-five square miles or where the applicant, under subsection (a), demonstrates that a nonpreferred site is more suitable, the applicant shall demonstrate the basis for the exclusion of other sites and shall, based on reasonably available data, demonstrate to the department that the proposed site is the most suitable on the basis of environmental, economic, technical, transportation and social factors and that the proposed site meets the requirements of subsection (b). However, where the adverse environmental impacts of the proposed site clearly outweigh the public benefits, the department shall not approve the site.

(e) The alternatives analysis required by this section satisfies the requirement for an alternatives analysis under the act of November 26, 1978 (P.L. 1375, No. 325),¹ known as the “Dam Safety and Encroachments Act,” and regulations promulgated under the act.