Sec. 1. (a) This section does not apply to lands under the navigable waters of Indiana.
(b) The department may, whenever the department considers it to be in the public interest, grant permits for the:
(1) extraction;
(2) removal; and
(3) disposition;
of deposits of coal, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, sand, gravel, clay, shale, or deposits of earth or mineral or vegetable matter on or under land or nonnavigable water belonging to the state no matter how the land or water is used if the extraction, removal, and disposition does not materially interfere with the purpose for which the land or water is held or used by the state.