(1) It shall be the duty of a permittee and operator to commence the reclamation of the area of land affected by the operation as contemporaneously as practicable after the beginning of operations on that area in accordance with plans previously approved by the cabinet. The grading, backfilling, and water management practices that are approved in the plans shall be kept current with the operation as defined by regulations of the cabinet and no permit renewal or revision shall be issued, if, under the regulations of the cabinet, these practices are not current;
(2) If an investigation indicates that planting so as to provide vegetative cover of an area of land affected by surface coal mining may not be successful, consistent with subsection (1), the cabinet may authorize the permittee or person to defer the planting until the soil and/or weather has become suitable for that purpose.