405 KAR 18:110 - Surface and groundwater monitoring
RELATES TO: KRS 350.100, 350.151, 350.405, 350.420, 350.465
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 350 requires the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations establishing performance standards for protection of people and property, land, water and other natural resources, and aesthetic values, during underground mining activities and for restoration and reclamation of surface areas affected by underground mining activities. This administrative regulation establishes requirements for the monitoring and reporting of surface water quality and quantity, groundwater levels and quality and aquifer conditions, and the required duration of monitoring.
Section 1. General
Requirements.
(1) Surface and groundwater
monitoring shall be conducted in a manner acceptable to the cabinet in
accordance with 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 and utilize, at a minimum, a
sufficient number of appropriately located groundwater monitoring wells (or
springs), surface water monitoring stations, and quantity and quality
parameters to demonstrate if:
(a) The mining
and reclamation operations are conducted to minimize disturbances to the
hydrologic balance within the permit area, shadow area, and adjacent area
pursuant to
405 KAR
18:060;
(b) The mining operation is meeting
applicable effluent limitations and stream standards as required by
405 KAR
18:060, Section 1(3);
(c) Reclamation as required by 405 KAR is
being accomplished and the operation is preventing material damage to the
hydrologic balance in the cumulative impact area pursuant to
405 KAR
8:010, Section 14(2) and (3); and
(d) The mining operation complies with water
quality criteria for bond release pursuant to
405
KAR 10:040.
(2) Surface and groundwater monitoring shall
be coordinated with baseline data collection by conducting surface and
groundwater monitoring at locations where baseline data was collected, or by
other appropriate data collection and analysis procedures that shall allow a
comparison of baseline conditions with during-mining and postmining
conditions.
(3) Equipment,
structures, monitoring wells, or other facilities used to monitor surface and
groundwater quantity and quality shall be properly installed, maintained, and
operated, and shall be removed or otherwise properly disposed of, including
sealing of monitoring wells, if no longer needed; except that monitoring wells
may be transferred to the surface owner of lands where the well is located,
pursuant to
405 KAR
18:060, Section 6.
(4) Except as established pursuant to
subsection (7) of this section:
(a) Surface
and groundwater monitoring data collection shall begin during the calendar
quarter of initial disturbance and continue during mining and reclamation until
final bond release; and
(b) Surface
and groundwater monitoring data shall be collected once each calendar quarter,
with no two (2) samples collected closer than thirty (30) days apart. The
results of the quarterly data collection shall be submitted to the appropriate
regional office on or before the end of the first month following the calendar
quarter in which the data were collected.
(5) If the results of any data collection
indicate noncompliance with a permit condition, the permittee shall promptly
notify the cabinet in writing and shall take immediate corrective actions to
return the operations to compliance with all permit conditions.
(6) The cabinet may require the installation
of additional groundwater monitoring wells and surface water monitoring
stations, the collection of additional quantity and quality parameters, and
more frequent data collection and submittal if additional information is needed
to meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section.
(7)
(a)
Pursuant to an application for a revision of a permit, the cabinet may approve
reduction of the sampling frequency for surface or groundwater, except as
required by the KPDES permit, if the permittee demonstrates, using the
monitoring data obtained pursuant to this administrative regulation, that the
operation has minimized disturbance to the hydrologic balance in the permit
area, shadow area, and adjacent areas and prevented material damage to the
hydrologic balance outside the permit area, and water quantity and quality
shall be suitable to support the postmining land uses.
(b)
1. The
cabinet shall not approve reduction of sampling frequency to less than
quarterly until at least thirty (30) months after Phase I bond release on the
permit.
2. The cabinet shall not
approve a sampling frequency of less than once per year.
Section 2. Groundwater
Monitoring.
(1) Groundwater monitoring shall
be conducted according to the requirements of Section 1 of this administrative
regulation and the monitoring plan required by
405 KAR
8:040, Section 32(4).
(2) At a minimum, groundwater monitoring
shall include the parameters of:
(a) Water
levels; and
(b) Total dissolved
solids, or specific conductance corrected to twenty-five (25) degrees
Centigrade; pH; dissolved iron; dissolved manganese; acidity; alkalinity; and
sulfate.
(3) If the
applicant can demonstrate, by use of the baseline geologic or hydrologic
information, the mining and reclamation plan, and the determination of probable
hydrologic consequences, that a particular water transmitting zone in the
proposed permit and adjacent area is not one that serves as an aquifer that
significantly ensures the hydrologic balance anywhere within the cumulative
impact area, then monitoring of that water transmitting zone may be waived by
the cabinet.
Section 3.
Surface Water Monitoring.
(1) Surface water
monitoring shall be conducted according to the requirements of Section 1 of
this administrative regulation and the monitoring plan required by
405 KAR
8:040, Section 32(4).
(2) At a minimum, surface water monitoring
shall include the parameters of:
(a)
Discharge; and
(b) Total dissolved
solids, or specific conductance corrected to twenty-five (25) degrees
Centigrade; total suspended solids; pH; total iron; total manganese; acidity;
alkalinity; and sulfate.
(3) Surface water monitoring for KPDES.
(a) Monitoring of point source discharges
pursuant to a KPDES permit shall be conducted in accordance with 40 C.F.R.
Parts 122, 123, and 434 and in accordance with the requirements of the KPDES
permit. The permittee shall submit a copy of the KPDES monitoring results to
the cabinet on the time schedule and in the format required by the KPDES
permit. The permittee shall report all noncompliances with the KPDES permit to
the cabinet in the manner required by the KPDES permit.
(b) Compliance with KPDES monitoring
requirements shall not relieve the permittee of the obligation to comply with
other surface and groundwater monitoring requirements of this administrative
regulation.
Notes
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 350.028, 350.151, 350.420, 350.465
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