A. Within six months after the completion of projects to restore, reclaim, abate, control or prevent adverse effects of past mining practices on privately owned land, the director shall itemize the money so expended and may file a statement thereof in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the land lies, together with a notarized appraisal by an independent appraiser of the value of the land before the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control or prevention of adverse effects of past mining practices if the money so expended results in a significant increase in property value. The statement shall constitute a lien upon the land. The lien shall not exceed the amount determined by the appraisal to be the increase in the market value of the land as a result of the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control or prevention of the adverse effects of past mining practices. No lien shall be filed against the property of any person in accordance with this subsection who neither consented to nor participated in nor exercised control over the mining operation that necessitated the reclamation performed pursuant to the provisions of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Act.

B. The landowner may proceed to petition the district court for the county in which the land lies within sixty days of the filing of the lien to determine the increase in the market value of the land as a result of the restoration, reclamation, abatement, control or prevention of the adverse effects of past mining practices. The amount found by the court to be the increase in value of the premises shall constitute the amount of the lien and be recorded with the statement provided for in this section. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the district court may appeal to the supreme court.

C. The lien provided in this section shall be entered in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the land lies. The statement shall constitute a lien upon the land as of the date of the expenditure of the money and have priority as a lien second only to the lien of ad valorem taxes imposed upon the land.

History: Laws 1980, ch. 87, § 8; 1992, ch. 18, § 7; 2011, ch. 65, § 3.

The 2011 amendment, effective June 17, 2011, in Subsection A, eliminated the prohibition on the filing of liens on property of a person who owned the surface of the property prior to May 2, 1977.

The 1992 amendment, effective May 20, 1992, deleted "coal" preceding "mining practices" several times throughout the section, substituted "performed pursuant to the provisions of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Act" for "performed hereunder" in the last sentence of Subsection A, and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.