(a)
General requirements.
Underground mining operations shall be planned and conducted in accordance with
the following:
(1) The subsidence control
plan required by §
89.141(d)
(relating to subsidence control: application requirements) and the postmining
land use requirements in §
89.88 (relating to postmining land
use).
(2) The performance standards
in subsections (b)-(j).
(3)
Underground mining will not be authorized beneath structures where the depth of
overburden is less than 100 feet (30.48 meters), unless the subsidence control
plan demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that the mine workings will
be stable and that overlying structures will not suffer irreparable
damage.
(4) The mine operator shall
adopt measures to maximize mine stability. This subsection does not prohibit
planned subsidence in a predictable and controlled manner or the standard
method of room and pillar mining.
(b)
Structure surveys.
(1) The operator shall conduct premining
surveys of all structures listed under subsection (f)(1). The operator is
relieved of the duty to conduct a premining survey if the operator has complied
with the notice procedure in paragraph (2) and the landowner denies the
operator access to conduct a premining survey or the structure was constructed
less than 15 days before mining will enter the area described in subparagraph
(ii).
(i) The premining survey shall document
the existing condition of each structure and for structures that are recognized
as historically or architecturally significant, the presence of any
architectural characteristics that will require special craftsmanship to
replace.
(ii) The premining survey
shall be completed prior to the time that a structure falls within a 30°
angle of draw of underground mining, or a larger area as required by the
Department.
(iii) The results of a
premining survey shall be submitted to the landowner within 30 days of
completion and to the Department upon Department request.
(iv) The operator may not provide the results
of a premining survey to persons other than the structure owner and the
Department without the consent of the structure owner.
(v) The operator shall store survey results
in a secure location and shall limit access to the results to authorized
personnel.
(2) The
operator will be relieved of the duty to conduct a premining survey if the
operator submits evidence to the Department that:
(i) The operator notified the owner by
certified mail or personal service of the landowner's rights as set forth in
sections
5.4-
5.6 of The Bituminous Mine
Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (
52 P. S. §§
1406.5d-1406.5f).
(ii) The operator attempted to conduct a
survey.
(iii) The landowner failed
to provide the operator with access to the site to conduct a survey within 10
days of receipt of the operator's notice of intent to conduct the
survey.
(3) A landowner,
who is notified of an operator's intent to conduct a premining or postmining
survey in accordance with the notification procedures described in paragraph
(2), should provide the operator access to the site for the purpose of
conducting the survey within the time frame specified in paragraph (2) so the
operator can do the following:
(i) Document
the premining condition of the structure, assess the potential for material
damage and plan appropriate damage minimization measures.
(ii) Determine the extent of subsidence
damage and the scope of necessary repairs.
(c)
Restrictions on underground
mining.
(1) Unless the subsidence
control plan demonstrates that subsidence will not cause material damage to, or
reduce the reasonably foreseeable use of the structures and features listed in
subparagraphs (i)-(v), no underground mining may be conducted beneath or
adjacent to:
(i) Public buildings and
facilities.
(ii) Churches, schools
and hospitals.
(iii) Impoundments
with a storage capacity of 20 acre-feet (2.47 hectare-meters) or
more.
(iv) Bodies of water with a
volume of 20 acre-feet (2.47 hectare-meters) or more.
(v) Bodies of water or aquifers which serve
as significant sources to public water supply systems.
(2) The measures adopted by the operator to
comply with paragraph (1) shall consist of one of the following:
(i) Providing a support area beneath the
structure or surface feature to be protected where coal extraction is limited
to 50%, and the following:
(A) The support
area shall consist of pillars of coal of a size and in a pattern which
maximizes bearing strength, and which is approved by the Department.
(B) For purposes of this section, the support
area shall be rectangular in shape and determined by projecting a 15° angle
of draw from the surface to the coal seam beginning 15 feet (4.57 meters) from
the sides of the structure. For a structure on a slope of 5% or greater, the
support area on the downslope side of the structure shall be extended an
additional distance determined by multiplying the thickness of the overburden
by the percentage expressed as a decimal of the surface slope. A pillar lying
partially within the support area shall be considered part of the support area
and shall be consistent with the other support pillars in size and
pattern.
(C) The area lying between
two support areas shall be treated as a support area, when the distance between
the two support areas is less than the depth of the overburden.
(D) If the Department determines there is a
potential for material damage or reducing the reasonably foreseeable use of a
structure or feature listed in paragraph (1), the Department may limit the
percentage of coal extracted under or adjacent to the structure or feature as
necessary to minimize the potential for material damage or reduction in
reasonably foreseeable use.
(ii) Backfilling or backstowing of
voids.
(iii) Leaving areas in which
no coal extraction will occur.
(iv)
Taking measures on the surface to prevent material damage or reduction in the
reasonably foreseeable use of the structure or feature.
(v) Demonstrating that the structure or
feature will not be materially damaged through an engineering report or a
report of the effects of mining under similar conditions.
(vi) Initiating a monitoring program within a
specified area to detect surface movement resulting from the underground
mining. The program shall entail placing monitors sufficiently in advance of
the underground mining so that if exces sive subsidence occurs the underground
mining can be stopped before the protected structures or features are damaged.
In calculating the area to be monitored, a 30° angle of draw shall be
used.
(3) If the measures
implemented by the operator cause material damage or reduce the reasonably
foreseeable use of the structures or features listed in paragraph (1), the
Department may suspend mining under or adjacent to these structures or features
until the subsidence control plan is modified to ensure prevention of further
material damage to these structures or features.
(d)
Protection of certain EPACT
structures and agricultural structures.
(1) For EPACT structures other than
noncommercial buildings protected under subsection (c):
(i) If an operator employs mining technology
that provides for planned subsidence in a predictable and controlled manner,
the operator shall take necessary and prudent measures, consistent with the
mining method employed, to minimize material damage to the extent
technologically and economically feasible to the structure, except when one of
the following applies:
(A) The structure owner
has consented, in writing, to allow material damage.
(B) The costs of these measures would exceed
the anticipated cost of repairs and the anticipated damage will not constitute
a threat to health or safety.
(ii) If an operator employs mining technology
that does not result in planned subsidence in a predictable and controlled
manner, the operator shall adopt measures consistent with known technology to
prevent subsidence and subsidence-related damage to the extent technologically
and economically feasible to the structure. Measures may include, but are not
limited to:
(A) Backstowing or backfilling of
voids.
(B) Leaving support pillars
of coal.
(C) Leaving areas in which
no coal is removed, including a description of the overlying area to be
protected by leaving coal in place.
(D) Taking measures on the surface to prevent
or minimize material damage or diminution in value of the surface.
(E) Other measures approved by the
Department.
(2)
If the Department determines and so notifies a mine operator that a proposed
mining technique or extraction ratio will result in irreparable damage to a
structure enumerated in subsection (f)(1)(iii)-(v), the operator may not use
the technique or extraction ratio unless the building owner, prior to mining,
consents to the mining or the operator, prior to mining, takes measures
approved by the Department to minimize or reduce impacts resulting from
subsidence to these structures.
(3)
Nothing in paragraph (1) or (2) prohibits planned subsidence in a predictable
and controlled manner or the standard method of room and pillar
mining.
(e)
Repair of damage to surface lands. To the extent
technologically and economically feasible, the operator shall correct material
damage to surface lands resulting from subsidence caused by the operator's
underground mining operations.
(f)
Repair of damage to structures.
(1)
Repair or compensation for damage
to certain structures. Whenever underground mining operations
conducted on or after August 21, 1994, cause damage to any of the structures
listed in subparagraphs (i)-(v), the operator responsible for extracting the
coal shall promptly and fully rehabilitate, restore, replace or compensate the
owner for material damage to the structures resulting from the subsidence
unless the operator demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that one of
the provisions of §
89.144a (relating to subsidence
control: relief from responsibility) relieves the operator of responsibility.
(i) Buildings that are accessible to the
public including, but not limited to, commercial, industrial and recreational
buildings and all structures that are securely attached to the land surface and
adjunct to or used in conjunction with these buildings, including:
(A) Garages.
(B) Storage sheds and barns.
(C) Greenhouses and related
buildings.
(D) Customer-owned
utilities and cables.
(E) Fences
and other enclosures.
(F) Retaining
walls.
(G) Paved or improved
patios.
(H) Walks and
driveways.
(I) Septic sewage
treatment facilities.
(J) Inground
swimming pools.
(K) Lot drainage
and lawn and garden irrigation systems.
(ii) Noncommercial buildings customarily used
by the public, including, but not limited to, schools, churches and
hospitals.
(iii) Dwellings which
are used for human habitation and permanently affixed appurtenant structures or
improvements. In the context of this paragraph, the phrase "permanently affixed
appurtenant structures or improvements" includes, but is not limited to,
structures adjunct to or used in conjunction with dwellings, such as:
(A) Garages.
(B) Storage sheds and barns.
(C) Greenhouses and related
buildings.
(D) Customer-owned
utilities and cables.
(E) Fences
and other enclosures.
(F) Retaining
walls.
(G) Paved or improved
patios.
(H) Walks and
driveways.
(I) Septic sewage
treatment facilities.
(J) Inground
swimming pools.
(K) Lot drainage
and lawn and garden irrigation systems.
(iv) Barns and silos.
(v) Permanently affixed structures of 500 or
more square feet (46.45 square meters) in area that are used for raising
livestock, poultry or agricultural products, for storage of animal waste or for
the processing or retail marketing of agricultural products produced on the
farm on which the structures are located.
(2)
Amount of compensation.
(i) If, rather than repair the damage, the
operator compensates the structure owner for damage caused by the operator's
underground mining operations, the operator shall provide compensation equal to
the reasonable cost of repairing the structure or, if the structure is
determined to be irreparably damaged, the compensation shall be equal to the
reasonable cost of its replacement except for an irreparably damaged
agricultural structure identified in paragraph (1)(iv) or (v) which at the time
of damage was being used for a different purpose than the purpose for which the
structure was originally constructed. For such an irreparably damaged
agricultural structure, the operator may provide for the reasonable cost to
replace the damaged structure with a structure satisfying the functions and
purposes served by the damaged structure before the damage occurred if the
operator can affirmatively prove that the structure was being used for a
different purpose than the purpose for which the structure was originally
constructed.
(ii) The operator
shall compensate the occupants with an additional payment for reasonable,
actual expenses incurred during their temporary relocation, if the occupants of
a damaged structure are required to relocate. The operator shall also
compensate the occupants for other actual, reasonable incidental costs agreed
to by the parties or approved by the Department.
(g)
Protection of utilities.
(1) Underground mining operations shall be
planned and conducted in a manner which minimizes damage, destruction or
disruption in services provided by oil, gas and water wells; oil, gas and coal
slurry pipelines; rail lines; electric and telephone lines; and water and
sewerage lines which pass under, over, or through the permit area, unless
otherwise approved by the owner of the facilities and the Department.
(2) The measures an operator may take to
minimize damage, destruction or disruption in services protected by this
subsection may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:
(i) A program for detecting subsidence damage
and minimizing disruption in services.
(ii) A notification to the owner of the
facility which specifies when underground mining beneath or adjacent to the
utility will occur.
(iii) Providing
support in accordance with the utility owner's support rights.
(iv) Providing temporary or alternate service
to customers.
(v) Demonstrating to
the Department that subsidence will not materially damage the utility.
(3) A mine operator
shall take measures to minimize damage to customer-owned gas and water service
connections, unless the customer does not consent to the measures.
(4) The Department will suspend or restrict
underground mining if it determines that mining beneath or adjacent to a
utility will present an imminent hazard to human safety.
(h)
Perennial streams.
(1) Underground mining operations shall be
planned and conducted in a manner which maintains the value and reasonably
foreseeable uses of perennial streams, such as aquatic life; water supply; and
recreation, as they existed prior to coal extraction beneath streams.
(2) If the Department finds that the
underground mining operations have adversely affected a perennial stream, the
operator shall mitigate the adverse effects to the extent technologically and
economically feasible, and, if necessary, file revised plans or other data to
demonstrate that future underground mining operations will meet the
requirements of paragraph (1).
(i)
Prevention of hazards to human
safety.
(1) The Department will
suspend underground mining operations beneath urbanized areas; cities; towns;
and communities and adjacent to or beneath industrial or commercial buildings;
lined solid and hazardous waste disposal areas; major impoundments of 20
acre-feet (2.47 hectare-meters) or more; or perennial streams, if the
operations present an imminent danger to the public.
(2) If the Department determines and so
notifies the operator that a mining technique or extraction ratio will result
in subsidence which creates an imminent hazard to human safety, the operator
may not use the technique or extraction ratio unless the operator, prior to
mining, takes measures approved by the Department to eliminate the imminent
hazard to human safety.
(j)
Prohibition. Underground
mining is prohibited under an area which is not included within a subsidence
control plan that has been submitted under §
89.141(d) and
approved by the Department.
(k)
Report of claim. Within 10 days of being advised of a claim of
subsidence damage to a structure or surface feature, the operator shall provide
the Department with a report of the claim which shall include the following
information:
(1) The date of the
claim.
(2) The name, address and
telephone number of the owner of the structure, surface feature or surface land
claimed to be damaged.
(3) The
number assigned to the structure or feature under §
89.154(a)
(relating to maps).
(l)
Property rights. This section does not authorize the
Department to adjudicate property rights disputes between mine operators and
other parties.