| (a) The Commission shall make available to the Director and the Regional Director, upon request, copies of all documents relating to applications for and approvals of existing, new, or revised coal exploration approvals or surface coal mining and reclamation operations permits and all documents relating to inspection and enforcement actions. (b) Except as provided in §12.115 and §12.210 of this title (relating to Public Availability of Information, and to Public Availability of Information in Permit Applications On File With the Commission) and subsection (c) of this section, copies of all records, reports, inspection materials, or information obtained by the Commission shall, in accordance with the Texas Open Records Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552), be made immediately available to the public in the area of mining so that they are conveniently available to residents of that area until at least 5 years after expiration of the
period during which the subject surface coal mining and reclamation operation is active or is covered by any portion of a reclamation bond. For the purposes of this subsection, "immediately available" shall include providing copies of subject information promptly by mail. (1) A description of the information available for mailing and the procedure for obtaining such information will be maintained for public inspection at a federal, state, or local government office in the county where the mining is occurring or proposed to occur. (2) Copies of subject information may, at the option of the Commission, be provided promptly by mail to a requestor who is a resident of the area where the mining is occurring or is proposed to occur, at no expense to the resident. (c) In order to protect preparation for hearings and enforcement proceedings, the Director and the Commission may enter into agreements regarding procedures for the
special handling of investigative and enforcement reports and other such materials.
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