Zoning › State preemptions › Tennessee

Federal SMCRA Coal Mining Program (OSMRE) — TN Has No State Primacy (TN)

Tracked preemption from the Tennessee overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1984-10-01
Sunset
—
Authority
federal_via_state
Scope
state:TN
Other Tennessee preemptions
Tennessee State Building Code — 2021 I-Codes via State Fire Marshal SBCOTennessee Voluntary Attainable Housing Incentive Programs — IZ Ban Carve-OutTennessee Short Term Rental Unit Act — Statewide STR GrandfatheringTennessee §6-54-127 — Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning & Rent Control BanTennessee Heritage Protection Act — Memorials on Public PropertyTennessee Agricultural District and Farmland Preservation ActTennessee Industrial Development Board TIF — Economic Impact Plan DistrictsTennessee NPDES Stormwater & Riparian Buffer — Construction & MS4 Permits

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

OR
  • project.use_type == coal_surface_mining
  • project.use_type == coal_underground_mining
  • parcel.coal_mining_permit_present == True
  • parcel.in_proposed_coal_permit_area == True

Preempted fields

4 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
review_typerequireosmre_federal_smcra_permitAll coal-mining and reclamation operations in TN are permitted directly by OSMRE Appalachian Region (Knoxville Field Office) — TN repealed its state surface mining law in 1984 and ceded primacy
land_development.local_zoning_authority_over_coal_miningcap_atnon_preempted_aesthetic_traffic_onlyFederal SMCRA preempts local land-use controls inconsistent with permit conditions; local authority survives only for non-mining impacts (haul-road traffic, noise mitigation outside permit boundary)
land_development.lands_unsuitable_for_mining_petitionaddpetition_to_osmre_under_30_cfr_764Local governments and citizens may petition OSMRE to designate areas as unsuitable for mining; only federal mechanism for landscape-scale exclusion
parcel.post_mining_use_constraintoverrideapproved_post_mining_land_use_per_permitPost-mining land use locked to the approved reclamation plan; conversion requires permit modification

Citation

Authority source
30 USC §§1201 et seq. (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977); 30 CFR Parts 700-955 (federal SMCRA regulations); 30 CFR Part 942 (Tennessee federal program); TN Acts 1984 (repeal of TCA Title 59 Chapter 8 state surface mining law)
§ 30 USC §1201 et seq.; 30 CFR Part 942
https://www.arcc.osmre.gov/about/states/tn.shtm

Research notes

TN is one of only 12 states without SMCRA primacy — direct OSMRE regulation. Active coal counties concentrated on the northern Cumberland Plateau: Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Cumberland, Fentress, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Van Buren, and parts of Bledsoe, Hamilton, Marion, Rhea, White. Half-Mile / Stream-Buffer-Zone Rule provisions limit mining proximity to streams. 2010 TN moratorium proposals on mountaintop-removal mining never enacted. Abandoned-mine-land (AML) reclamation tracked under federal AML inventory. Flag every parcel under or adjacent to an active SMCRA permit; OSMRE PADS database is authoritative.