Okla. Stat. tit. 45, § 45-745.8: Criteria for approval of permit or revision application

No permit or revision application shall be approved unless the

application affirmatively demonstrates and the Department finds in

writing, on the basis of the information set forth in the

application or from information otherwise available, which will be

documented in the approval and made available to the applicant,

that:

1. The permit application is accurate and complete and that all

the requirements of this act have been complied with;

2. The applicant has demonstrated that reclamation as required

by this act can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained

in the permit application;

3. The assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all

anticipated mining in the area on the hydrologic balance has been

made by the Department and the proposed operation has been designed

to prevent material damage to hydrologic balance outside the permit

area;

4. The area proposed to be mined is not included within an area

designated unsuitable for surface coal mining, or is not within an

area under study for such designation unless the operator

demonstrates he has made substantial legal and financial commitments

to the operation prior to January 1, 1977; and

5. In cases when the private coal or other mineral estate has

been severed from the private surface estate, the applicant has

submitted to the Department:

a. the written consent of the surface owner to the

extraction of coal by surface mining methods, or

b. a conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the

right to extract the coal by surface mining methods.

If the conveyance does not expressly grant the right to extract

coal by surface mining methods, the surface-subsurface legal

relationship shall be determined in accordance with state law.

Nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize the Department

to adjudicate property rights disputes.