405 KAR 16:001 - Definitions for 405 KAR Chapter 16
RELATES TO: KRS Chapter 350, 7 C.F.R. Part 657, 30 C.F.R. Parts 700.5, 701.5, 707.5, 730-733, 735, 761.5, 762.5, 773.5, 800.5, 843.5, 917c, 30 U.S.C. Chapter 25, 1253, 1255, 1291
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 350.028(1), (5) and 350.465(2) authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations relating to surface and underground coal mining operations. This administrative regulation defines terms used in 405 KAR Chapter 16.
Section
1. Definitions.
(1) "Acid
drainage" means water with a pH of less than six and zero-tenths (6.0) and in
which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity, discharged from an active,
inactive, or abandoned surface coal mine and reclamation operation or from an
area affected by surface coal mining and reclamation operations.
(2) "Acid-forming materials" means earth
materials that contain sulfide minerals or other materials which, if exposed to
air, water, or weathering processes, form acids that could create acid
drainage.
(3) "Acquisition" means
purchase, lease, or option of land for the purpose of conducting or allowing
through resale, lease, or option, the conduct of surface coal mining and
reclamation operations.
(4)
"Adjacent area" means land located outside the affected area or permit area,
depending on the context in which "adjacent area" is used, where air, surface
or groundwater, fish, wildlife, vegetation, or other resources protected by KRS
Chapter 350 could be adversely impacted by surface coal mining and reclamation
operations.
(5) "Affected area"
means any land or water area that is used to facilitate, or is physically
altered by, surface coal mining and reclamation operations. The affected area
includes:
(a) The disturbed area;
(b) Any area upon which surface coal mining
and reclamation operations are conducted;
(c) Any adjacent lands the use of which is
incidental to surface coal mining and reclamation operations;
(d) All areas covered by new or existing
roads used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface coal
mining and reclamation operations, except as established in this
definition;
(e) Any area covered by
surface excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts,
entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm
banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, or shipping
areas;
(f) Any areas upon which are
sited structures, facilities, or other property or material on the surface
resulting from, or incident to, surface coal mining and reclamation
operations;
(g) The area located
above underground workings associated with underground mining
activities;
(h) auger mining or in
situ mining; and
(i) Every road
used for the purposes of access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface
coal mining and reclamation operations, unless the road:
1. Was designated as a public road pursuant
to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located;
2. Is maintained with public funds and
constructed in a manner similar to other public roads of the same
classification within the jurisdiction; and
3. There is substantial (more than
incidental) public use.
(6) "Applicant" means any person seeking a
permit, permit revision, permit amendment, permit renewal, or transfer,
assignment, or sale of permit rights from the cabinet to conduct surface coal
mining and reclamation operations or approval to conduct coal exploration
operations pursuant to KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7 through
24.
(7) "Application" means the
documents and other information filed with the cabinet seeking issuance of
permits; revisions; amendments; renewals; and transfer, assignment, or sale of
permit rights for surface coal mining and reclamation operations or, if
required, seeking approval for coal exploration.
(8) "Approximate original contour" is defined
by
KRS
350.010.
(9) "Aquifer" means a zone, stratum, or group
of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for
domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other beneficial use.
(10) "Auger mining" means a method of mining
coal at a cliff or highwall by drilling holes into an exposed coal seam from
the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the surface and
includes all other methods of mining in which coal is extracted from beneath
the overburden by mechanical devices located at the face of the cliff or
highwall and extending laterally into the coal seam, such as extended depth and
secondary recovery systems.
(11)
"Best technology currently available" means equipment, devices, systems,
methods, or techniques that will prevent, to the extent possible, additional
contributions of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside the permit
area and minimize, to the extent possible, disturbances and adverse impacts on
fish, wildlife, and related environmental values, and achieve enhancement of
those resources if practicable. The term includes equipment, devices, systems,
methods, or techniques that are currently available anywhere as determined by
the cabinet, even if they are not in routine use. The term includes
construction practices, siting requirements, vegetative selection and planting
requirements, animal stocking requirements, scheduling of activities and design
of sedimentation ponds in accordance with 405 KAR Chapters 16 and 18. The
cabinet determines the best technology currently available as authorized by KRS
Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24.
(12) "Blaster" means a person who is directly
responsible for surface blasting operations in surface coal mining and
reclamation operations or coal exploration operations.
(13) "Bond pool" or "Kentucky Bond Pool"
means the voluntary alternative bonding program established at
KRS 350.700 through
350.755.
(14) "Cabinet" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(15) "C.F.R." means Code of Federal
Regulations.
(16) "Coal" means
combustible carbonaceous rock, classified as anthracite, bituminous,
subbituminous, or lignite by ASTM Standard D 388-77.
(17) "Coal exploration" means the field
gathering of:
(a) Surface or subsurface
geologic, physical, or chemical data by mapping, trenching, drilling,
geophysical, or other techniques necessary to determine the quality and
quantity of overburden and coal of an area; or
(b) Environmental data to establish the
conditions of an area before beginning surface coal mining and reclamation
operations pursuant to the requirements of 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 if the
activity could cause any disturbance of the land surface or any appreciable
effect upon land, air, water, or other environmental resources.
(18) "Coal mine waste" means coal
processing waste and underground development waste.
(19) "Coal processing waste" means materials
that are separated from the product coal during the cleaning, concentrating, or
other processing or preparation of coal.
(20) "Collateral bond" means an indemnity
agreement in a sum certain payable to the cabinet executed by the permittee and
that which is supported by the deposit with the cabinet of cash, negotiable
certificates of deposit, or an irrevocable letter of credit of any bank
organized and authorized to transact business in the United States.
(21) "Combustible material" means organic
material that is capable of burning, either by fire or through oxidation,
accompanied by the evolution of heat and a significant temperature
rise.
(22) "Compaction" means
increasing the density of a material by reducing the voids between the
particles by mechanical effort.
(23) "Cropland" means land used for the
production of adapted crops for harvest, alone or in a rotation with grasses
and legumes, and includes row crops, small grain crops, hay crops, nursery
crops, orchard crops, and other similar specialty crops.
(24) "Cumulative impact area" means the area,
including the permit area, within which impacts resulting from the proposed
operation could interact with the impacts of all anticipated mining on surface
and groundwater systems. Anticipated mining includes, at a minimum, the entire
projected lives through bond release of:
(a)
The proposed operation;
(b) All
existing operations;
(c) Any
operation for which a permit application has been submitted to the cabinet;
and
(d) All operations required to
meet diligent development requirements for leased federal coal for which there
is actual mine development information available.
(25) "Day" means calendar day unless
otherwise specified to be a working day.
(26) "dB" means decibels.
(27) "Department" means the Department for
Natural Resources.
(28) "Developed
water resources land" means land used for storing water for beneficial uses
such as stockponds, irrigation, fire protection, flood control, and water
supply.
(29) "Disturbed area" means
an area where vegetation, topsoil, or overburden is removed or upon which
topsoil, spoil, coal processing waste, underground development waste, or
noncoal waste is placed by surface coal mining operations. Those areas are
classified as "disturbed" until reclamation is complete and the performance
bond or other assurance of performance required by 405 KAR Chapter 10 is
released.
(30) "Diversion" means a
channel, embankment, or other manmade structure constructed to divert water
from one (1) area to another.
(31)
"Downslope" means the land surface below the projected outcrop of the lowest
coalbed being mined along each highwall.
(32) "Durable rock" means rock that:
(a) Does not slake in water;
(b) Is not reasonably expected to degrade to
a size or condition that will block, cause failure of, impair, or restrict the
effectiveness of the internal drainage system; and
(c) Has been demonstrated to have a slake
durability index value of ninety (90) or greater as determined by:
1. The Method of Determination of Slake
Durability Index (Kentucky Method 64-513-79); or
2. A test method that yields an equivalent
measure of durability based upon correlation of results with Kentucky Method
64-513-79.
(33) "Embankment" means a manmade deposit of
material that is raised above the natural surface of the land and used to
contain, divert, or store water; to support roads or railways; or for other
similar purposes.
(34) "Ephemeral
stream" means a stream that flows only in direct response to precipitation in
the immediate watershed or in response to the melting of a cover of snow and
ice, and that has a channel bottom that is always above the local water
table.
(35) "Excess spoil":
(a) Means spoil disposed of in a location
other than the coal extraction area; and
(b) Does not mean spoil material used to
achieve the approximate original contour.
(36) "Fish and wildlife land use", as used in
405 KAR
16:210 and in similar situations when referring to a
premining or postmining land use, means land dedicated wholly or partially to
the production, protection, or management of fish or wildlife. Areas considered
as having the fish and wildlife land use are typically characterized by a
diversity of habitats in which use by wildlife is the dominant characteristic,
whether actively managed or not.
(37) "Forest land" means land used or managed
for the long term production of wood, wood fiber, or wood derived
products.
(38) "Fugitive dust"
means that particulate matter that becomes airborne due to wind erosion from
exposed surfaces.
(39) "Ground
cover" means the area of ground covered by the combined aerial parts of
vegetation and litter produced and distributed naturally and seasonally on
site, expressed as a percentage of the total area of measurement.
(40) "Groundwater" means subsurface water
that fills available openings in rock or soil materials to the extent that they
are considered water saturated.
(41) "Growing season" means the period during
a one (1) year cycle, from the last killing frost in the spring to the first
killing frost in the fall, in which climatic conditions are favorable for plant
growth. In Kentucky, this period normally extends from mid-April to
mid-October.
(42) "Head-of-hollow
fill" means a fill structure consisting of any material, other than coal
processing waste and organic material, placed in the uppermost reaches of a
hollow near the approximate elevation of the ridgeline, where there is no
significant natural drainage area above the fill, and where the side slopes of
the existing hollow measured at the steepest point are greater than twenty (20)
degrees or the average slope of the profile of the hollow from the toe of the
fill to the top of the fill is greater than ten (10) degrees.
(43) "Higher or better uses" means postmining
land uses that have a higher economic value or nonmonetary benefit to the
landowner or the community than the premining land uses.
(44) "Highwall" means the face of exposed
overburden and coal in an open cut of a surface mining activity or for entry to
underground mining activities.
(45)
"Highwall remnant" means that portion of highwall that remains after
backfilling and grading of a remining permit area.
(46) "Historically used for cropland" means
land that:
(a) Has been used for cropland for
any of five (5) years or more of the ten (10) years immediately preceding the:
1. Application; or
2. Acquisition of the land for the purpose of
conducting a surface coal mining and reclamation operation;
(b) Would likely have been used
for cropland for any five (5) of the ten (10) years immediately preceding the
acquisition or application, but for some fact of ownership or control of the
land unrelated to the productivity of the land; or
(c) Falls outside the five (5) of ten (10)
years criteria, but the cabinet determines is clearly cropland on the basis of
additional cropland history of:
1. Surrounding
land; and
2. The land under
consideration.
(47) "Hydrologic balance" means the
relationship between the quality and quantity of water inflow to, water outflow
from, and water storage in a hydrologic unit such as a drainage basin, aquifer,
soil zone, lake, or reservoir. It encompasses the dynamic relationship between
precipitation, runoff, evaporation, and changes in ground and surface water
storage.
(48) "Hz" means
hertz.
(49) "Imminent danger to the
health and safety of the public" means the existence of any condition or
practice, or any violation of a permit or other requirements of KRS Chapter
350, in a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, which could reasonably
be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit
area before the condition, practice, or violation can be abated. A reasonable
expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational
person, subjected to the same condition or practice giving rise to the peril,
would avoid exposure to the danger during the time necessary for
abatement.
(50) "Impounding
structure" means a dam, embankment, or other structure used to impound water,
slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid material.
(51) "Impoundment" means a water, sediment,
slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid holding structure or depression, either
naturally formed or artificially built.
(52) "Industrial/commercial lands" means
lands used for:
(a) Extraction or
transformation of materials for fabrication of products, wholesaling of
products, or long-term storage of products, and heavy and light manufacturing
facilities; or
(b) Retail or trade
of goods or services, including hotels, motels, stores, restaurants, and other
commercial establishments.
(53) "In situ process" means:
(a) In situ gasification;
(b) In situ leaching;
(c) Slurry mining;
(d) Solution mining;
(e) Borehole mining;
(f) Fluid recovery mining; or
(g) Another activity conducted on the surface
or underground in connection with:
1. In-place
distillation;
2.
Retorting;
3. Leaching;
or
4. Chemical or physical
processing of coal.
(54) "Intermittent stream" means:
(a) A stream or reach of stream that drains a
watershed of one (1) square mile or more but does not flow continuously during
the calendar year; or
(b) A stream
or reach of a stream that is below the local water table for at least some part
of the year, and obtains its flow from both surface runoff and groundwater
discharge.
(55) "KAR"
means Kentucky administrative regulations.
(56) "KPDES" means Kentucky Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System.
(57)
"KRS" means Kentucky Revised Statutes.
(58) "Land use" means specific functions,
uses, or management-related activities of an area, and could be identified in
combination if joint or seasonal uses occur and could include land used for
support facilities that are an integral part of the use. In some instances, a
specific use can be identified without active management.
(59) "Modified highwall" means either:
(a) The highwall resulting from remining
where the preexisting highwall face is removed; or
(b) The highwall resulting from remining
where the preexisting highwall is vertically enlarged.
(60) "Monitoring" means the collection of
environmental data by either continuous or periodic sampling methods.
(61) "MRP" means mining and reclamation
plan.
(62) "MSHA" means Mine Safety
and Health Administration.
(63)
"Mulch" means vegetation residues or other materials that aid in soil
stabilization and soil moisture conservation, thus providing microclimatic
conditions suitable for germination and growth.
(64) "Notice of noncompliance and order for
remedial measures" means a written document and order prepared by an authorized
representative of the cabinet that sets forth with specificity the violations
of KRS Chapter 350, 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, or permit conditions that
the authorized representative of the cabinet determines to have occurred based
upon inspection, and the necessary remedial actions, if any, and the time
schedule for completion thereof, which the authorized representative deems
necessary and appropriate to correct the violations.
(65) "Operations" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(66) "Operator" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(67) "Order for cessation and immediate
compliance" means a written document and order issued by an authorized
representative of the cabinet when:
(a) A
person to whom a notice of noncompliance and order for remedial measures was
issued has failed, as determined by a cabinet inspection, to comply with the
terms of the notice of noncompliance and order for remedial measures within the
time limits set therein, or as subsequently extended; or
(b) The authorized representative finds, on
the basis of a cabinet inspection, any condition or practice or any violation
of KRS Chapter 350, 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, or any condition of a permit
or exploration approval that:
1. Creates an
imminent danger to the health or safety of the public; or
2. Is causing or can reasonably be expected
to cause significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water
resources.
(68) "OSM" means Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, United States Department of the
Interior.
(69) "Other treatment
facilities" means any chemical treatments, such as flocculation or
neutralization, or mechanical structures, such as clarifiers or precipitators,
that have a point source discharge and are utilized:
(a) To prevent additional contributions of
dissolved or suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area;
or
(b) To comply with
405 KAR
16:070.
(70) "Outslope" means the face of the spoil
or embankment sloping downward from the highest elevation to the toe.
(71) "Overburden" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(72) "Pastureland" means land used primarily
for the long-term production of adapted, domesticated forage plants to be
grazed by livestock or occasionally cut and cured for livestock feed.
(73) "Perennial stream":
(a) Means a stream or that part of a stream
that flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a result of
groundwater discharge or surface runoff; and
(b) Does not mean "intermittent stream" or
"ephemeral stream."
(74)
"Performance bond" means a surety bond, a collateral bond, or a combination
thereof, or bonds filed pursuant to the provisions of the Kentucky Bond Pool
Program (405 KAR
10:200,
KRS
350.595, and
KRS 350.700 through
350.755), by which a
permittee assures faithful performance of all the requirements of KRS Chapter
350, 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, and the requirements of the permit and
reclamation plan.
(75) "Permanent
diversion" means a diversion remaining after surface coal mining and
reclamation operations are completed that has been approved for retention by
the cabinet and other appropriate Kentucky and federal agencies.
(76) "Permit" means written approval issued
by the cabinet to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation
operations.
(77) "Permit area"
means the area of land, indicated on the approved map submitted by the
permittee with an application, required to be covered by the permittee's
performance bond pursuant to 405 KAR Chapter 10 and that shall include the area
of land upon which the permittee proposes to conduct surface coal mining and
reclamation operations pursuant to the permit, including all disturbed areas.
Areas adequately bonded under another valid permit, pursuant to 405 KAR Chapter
10, could be excluded from the permit area.
(78) "Permittee" means an operator or a
person holding or required by KRS Chapter 350 or 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24
to hold a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations
during the permit term and until all reclamation obligations required by KRS
Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 are satisfied.
(79) "Person" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(80) "Precipitation event" means a quantity
of water resulting from drizzle, rain, snowmelt, sleet, or hail in a specified
period of time.
(81) "Previously
mined area" means land that was affected by coal mining operations conducted
prior to August 3, 1977, that has not been reclaimed to the standards of this
title.
(82) "Prime farmland" means
those lands that are defined by the Secretary of Agriculture in 7 C.F.R. 657
and that have been "historically used for cropland" as that phrase is defined
in this administrative regulation.
(83) "Probable hydrologic consequences" means
the projected results of proposed surface coal mining and reclamation
operations which may reasonably be expected to change the quantity or quality
of the surface and groundwater; the surface or groundwater flow, timing, and
pattern; and the stream channel conditions on the permit area, shadow area, and
adjacent areas.
(84) "Public
building" means any structure that is owned or leased, and principally used by
a governmental agency for public business or meetings.
(85) "Public road" means any publicly owned
thoroughfare for the passage of vehicles.
(86) "RAM" means Reclamation Advisory
Memorandum.
(87) "Reasonably
available spoil" means spoil and suitable coal mine waste material generated by
the remining operation and other spoil or suitable coal mine waste material
located in the permit area that is accessible and available for use and that
when rehandled will not cause a hazard to public safety or significant damage
to the environment. For this purpose, the permit area includes all spoil of
this nature located in the immediate vicinity of the mining
operation.
(88) "Recharge capacity"
means the ability of the soils and underlying materials to allow precipitation
and runoff to infiltrate and reach the zone of saturation.
(89) "Reclamation" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(90) "Recreation land" means land used for
public or private leisure-time use, including developed recreation facilities
such as parks, camps, and amusement areas, as well as areas for less intensive
uses such as hiking, canoeing, and other undeveloped recreational
uses.
(91) "Reference area" means a
land unit maintained under appropriate management for the purpose of measuring
vegetative ground cover, productivity, and plant species diversity that are
produced naturally or by crop production methods approved by the
cabinet.
(92) "Refuse pile" means a
surface deposit of coal mine waste that is not retained by an impounding
structure and does not impound water, slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid
material.
(93) "Remining" means
conducting surface coal mining and reclamation operations that affect
previously mined areas.
(94)
"Residential land" means tracts employed for single and multiple-family
housing, mobile home parks, and other residential lodgings.
(95) "Road":
(a) Means a surface right-of-way for purposes
of travel by land vehicles used in coal exploration or surface coal mining and
reclamation operations. A road consists of the entire area within the
right-of-way, including the roadbed, shoulders, parking and side area,
approaches, structures, ditches, surface, and contiguous appendages necessary
for the total structure. The term includes access and haul roads constructed,
used, reconstructed, improved, or maintained for use in coal exploration or
surface coal mining and reclamation operations, including use by coal hauling
vehicles leading to transfer, processing, or storage areas; and
(b) Does not mean pioneer or construction
roadways used for part of the road construction procedure and promptly replaced
by a road pursuant to 405 KAR Chapters 16 and 18 located in the identical
right-of-way as the pioneer or construction roadway. The term also excludes any
roadway within the immediate mining pit area.
(96) "Safety factor" means the ratio of the
available shear strength to the developed shear stress, or the ratio of the sum
of the resisting forces to the sum of the loading or driving forces, as
determined by accepted engineering practices.
(97) "SCS" means Soil Conservation
Service.
(98) "Sedimentation pond"
means a primary sediment control structure:
(b) That could include a barrier, dam, or
excavated depression to:
1. Slow water runoff;
and
2. Allow suspended solids to
settle out; and
(c) That
does not include secondary sedimentation control structures, such as a straw
dike, riprap, check dam, mulch, dugout, or other measure that reduces overland
flow velocity, reduces runoff volume, or trap sediment, to the extent that the
secondary sedimentation structure drains into a sedimentation pond.
(99) "Shadow area" means the
surface area overlying underground mine works and surface areas associated with
auger and in situ mining.
(100)
"Significant, imminent environmental harm" means an adverse impact on land,
air, or water resources including plant and animal life as further defined in
this subsection.
(a) An environmental harm is
imminent, if a condition, practice, or violation exists that:
1. Is causing environmental harm;
or
2. Could reasonably be expected
to cause environmental harm at any time before the end of the reasonable
abatement time that would be set by the cabinet's authorized agents pursuant to
the provisions of KRS Chapter 350.
(b) An environmental harm is significant if
that harm is appreciable and not immediately reparable.
(101) "Slope" means average inclination of a
surface, measured from the horizontal, generally expressed as the ratio of a
unit of vertical distance to a given number of units of horizontal distance
(such as 1v:5h). It can also be expressed as a percent or in degrees.
(102) "Slurry mining" means the hydraulic
breakdown of subsurface coal with drill-hole equipment and the eduction of the
resulting slurry to the surface for processing.
(103) "SMCRA" means Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act, 30 U.S.C. Chapter 25.
(104) "Soil horizons" means contrasting
layers of soil parallel or nearly parallel to the land surface. Soil horizons
are differentiated on the basis of field characteristics and laboratory data.
The four (4) master soil horizons are:
(a) "A
horizon." The uppermost mineral layer, often called the surface soil. It is the
part of the soil in which organic matter is most abundant, and leaching of
soluble or suspended particles is typically the greatest;
(b) "E horizon." The layer commonly near the
surface below an A horizon and above a B horizon. An E horizon is most commonly
differentiated from an overlying A horizon by lighter color and generally has
measurably less organic matter than the A horizon. An E horizon is most
commonly differentiated from an underlying B horizon in the same sequum by
color of higher value or lower chroma, by coarser texture, or by a combination
of these properties;
(c) "B
horizon." The layer that typically is immediately beneath the E horizon and
often called the subsoil. This middle layer commonly contains more clay, iron,
or aluminum than the A, E, or C horizons; and
(d) "C horizon." The deepest layer of soil
profile. It consists of loose material or weathered rock that is relatively
unaffected by biologic activity.
(105) "Spoil" means overburden and other
materials, excluding topsoil, coal mine waste, and mined coal, that are
excavated during surface coal mining and reclamation operations.
(106) "Stabilize" means to control movement
of soil, spoil piles, or areas of disturbed earth by modifying the geometry of
the mass, or by otherwise modifying physical or chemical properties, such as by
providing a protective surface coating.
(107) "Steep slope" means any slope of more
than twenty (20) degrees.
(108)
"Surety bond" means an indemnity agreement in a sum certain, payable to the
cabinet and executed by the permittee, which is supported by the performance
guarantee of a corporation licensed to do business as a surety in the
Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(109)
"Surface blasting operations":
(a) Means the
on-site storage, transportation, and use of explosives in association with:
1. A coal exploration operation;
2. Surface mining activities; or
3. A surface disturbance of underground
mining activities; and
(b) Includes:
1. Design of an individual blast;
2. Implementation of a blast
design;
3. Initiation of a
blast;
4. Monitoring of an airblast
and ground vibration; and
5. Use of
access control, warning and all-clear signals, and similar protective
measures.
(110) "Surface coal mining and reclamation
operations" is defined by
KRS
350.010.
(111) "Surface coal mining operations" is
defined by
KRS
350.010.
(112) "Surface mining activities" means those
surface coal mining and reclamation operations incident to the extraction of
coal from the earth by removing the materials over a coal seam before
recovering the coal, by auger coal mining, by extraction of coal from coal
refuse piles, or by recovery of coal from slurry ponds.
(113) "Suspended solids" or nonfilterable
residue, expressed as milligrams per liter, means organic or inorganic
materials carried or held in suspension in water that are retained by a
standard glass fiber filter in the procedure outlined by the U.S. EPA's
regulations for waste water and analyses (40 C.F.R. 136) .
(114) "Temporary diversion" means a diversion
of a stream or overland flow that is used during coal exploration or surface
coal mining and reclamation operations and not approved by the cabinet to
remain after reclamation as part of the approved postmining land use.
(115) "Ton" means 2000 pounds avoirdupois
(.90718 metric ton).
(116)
"Topsoil" means the A and E soil horizon layers of the four (4) master soil
horizons.
(117) "Toxic-forming
materials" means earth materials or wastes that, if acted upon by air, water,
weathering, or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical
conditions in soils or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of
water.
(118) "Toxic mine drainage"
means water that is discharged from active or abandoned mines or other areas
affected by coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations,
which contains a substance that through chemical action is likely to kill,
injure, or impair biota commonly present in the area that might be exposed to
it.
(119) "Transfer, assignment, or
sale of permit rights" means a change in ownership or other effective control
over the right to conduct surface coal mining operations under a permit issued
by the cabinet.
(120) "TRM" means
Technical Reclamation Memorandum.
(121) "Underground development waste" means
waste coal, shale, claystone, siltstone, sandstone, limestone, or similar
materials that are extracted from underground workings in connection with
underground mining activities.
(122) "Underground mining activities" means a
combination of:
(a) Surface operations
incident to underground extraction of coal or in situ processing, including
construction, use, maintenance, and reclamation of roads, aboveground repair
areas, storage areas, processing areas, and shipping areas; areas upon which
are sited support facilities including hoist and ventilating ducts; areas
utilized for the disposal and storage of waste; and areas on which materials
incident to underground mining operations are placed; and
(b) Underground operations such as
underground construction, operation, and reclamation of shafts, adits,
underground support facilities; in situ processing; and underground mining,
hauling, storage, and blasting.
(123) "Undeveloped land or no current use or
land management" means land that is undeveloped or, if previously developed,
land that has been allowed to return naturally to an undeveloped state or has
been allowed to return to forest through natural succession.
(124) "U.S. EPA" means United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
(125) "Valley fill" means a fill structure
consisting of any material other than coal waste and organic material that is
placed in a valley where side slopes of the existing valley measured at the
steepest point are greater than twenty (20) degrees or the average slope of the
profile of the valley from the toe of the fill to the top of the fill is
greater than ten (10) degrees.
(126) "Valuable environmental resources"
means:
(a) Listed or proposed endangered or
threatened species of plants or animals or their critical habitats listed by
the Secretary of the Interior under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (16
U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), or those species
or habitats protected by similar state statutes; and
(b) Habitats of unusually high value for fish
and wildlife, as determined by the cabinet in consultation with state and
federal agencies with responsibilities for fish and wildlife.
(127) "Water table" means the
upper surface of a zone of saturation, where the body of groundwater is not
confined by an overlying impermeable zone.
(128) "Water transmitting zone" means a body
of consolidated or unconsolidated rocks that, due to their greater primary or
secondary permeability relative to the surrounding rocks, can reasonably be
considered to function as a single hydraulic medium for the flow of
groundwater.
(129) "Wetland" means
land that has a predominance of hydric soils and that is inundated or saturated
by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support,
and that under normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of hydrophytic
vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
(a) "Hydric soil" means soil that, in its
undrained condition, is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during a
growing season to develop an anaerobic condition that supports the growth and
regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation.
(b) "Hydrophytic vegetation" means a plant
growing in:
1. Water; or
2. A substrate that is at least periodically
deficient in oxygen during a growing season as a result of excessive water
content.
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.