(a) Except where exempted by section twenty-six of this article, it is unlawful for any person to engage in surface-mining as defined in this article as an incident to the development of land for commercial, residential, industrial or civic use without having first obtained from the director a permit therefor as provided in section eight of this article, unless a special authorization therefor has been first obtained from the director as provided in this section.
Application for a special authorization to engage in surface-mining as an incident to the development of land for commercial, residential, industrial or civic use shall be made in writing on forms prescribed by the director and shall be signed and verified by the applicant. The application shall be accompanied by:
(1) A site preparation plan, prepared and certified by or under the supervision of a person approved by the director, showing the tract of land which the applicant proposes to develop for commercial, residential, industrial or civic use; the probable boundaries and areas of the coal deposit to be mined and removed from said tract of land incident to the proposed commercial, residential, industrial or civic use thereof; and such other information as prescribed by the director;