N.D. Admin Code 69-05.2-26-05 - Performance standards - Prime farmland - Revegetation and restoration of productivity
The following revegetation requirements must be met for areas being returned to prime farmland after mining:
1. Following soil replacement, the operator
shall establish a vegetative cover capable of stabilizing the soil surface. All
revegetation must comply with the plan approved by the commission and be
carried out in a manner that encourages prompt vegetative cover and recovery of
productive capacity. The timing and mulching provisions of sections
69-05.2-22-04 and
69-05.2-22-05 must be met.
2. Measurement of success in prime
farmland revegetation will be determined in accordance with section
69-05.2-22-07.
3. Prime farmland productivity must be
restored in accordance with the following:
a.
Measurement of productivity must be initiated within ten years after completion
of soil replacement.
b.
Productivity must be measured on a representative sample or on all of the mined
and reclaimed prime farmland area using the crop determined under subdivision
f. The permittee shall use a statistically valid sampling technique approved by
the commission. Approved techniques are found in the commission's Standards for
Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended Procedures for Pre- and
Postmining Vegetation Assessments.
c. The measurement period for determining
average annual crop production is specified in subdivision c of subsection 3 of
section 69-05.2-22-07.
d. The level of management applied during the
measurement period must be the same as that used on nonmined prime farmland in
the surrounding area.
e.
Restoration of prime farmland productivity will be considered achieved when the
average yield equals or exceeds that of the crop established on nonmined prime
farmland soils in the surrounding areas. The soil series, texture, and slope of
the nonmined prime farmlands must be the same or similar to the prime farmlands
that were mined and management practices must be equivalent.
f. The crop on which restoration of
productivity is proven must be selected from the crops most commonly produced
on the surrounding prime farmland. Where row crops are the dominant crops grown
on prime farmland in the area, the row crop requiring the greatest rooting
depth must be used as one of the crops.
g. Crop yields for the same or similar
nonmined prime farmland soils during a given crop season must be determined by
methods contained in Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and
Recommended Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessment or other
methods approved by the commission and the office of surface mining reclamation
and enforcement.
h. If a reclaimed
tract contains a mixture of prime and nonprime farmlands, the commission may
approve a single yield standard for the entire tract as allowed under
subdivision l of subsection 4 of section
69-05.2-22-07.
Notes
General Authority: NDCC 38-14.1-03
Law Implemented: NDCC 38-14.1-24
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