Chapter 880-X-10C - PERFORMANCE STANDARDS SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES

This Rule establishes the environmental protection performance standards for surface mining activities. Author: Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.01 Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 9-16-71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 80, 84, 90, 92, 97.

This Rule is intended to ensure that all surface mining activities are conducted in a manner which preserves or enhances environmental and other values in accordance with the Act. Author: Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.02 Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 9-16-71, …

(1) Specifications. Signs and markers required under this Part shall --(a) Be posted and maintained by the person who conducts the surface mining operations; (b) Be of a uniform design throughout the operation that can be easily seen and read; (c) Be made of durable material; and…

Each exploration hole, other drill or borehole, well, or other exposed underground opening shall be cased, sealed, or otherwise managed, to prevent acid or other toxic drainage from entering ground or surface waters, to minimize disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance, a…

Each exploration hole, other drill or borehole, wells and other exposed underground openings which have been identified in the approved permit application for use to return coal processing waste or water to underground workings, or to be used to monitor ground water conditions, s…

When no longer needed for monitoring or other use approved by the State Regulatory Authority upon a finding of no adverse environmental or health and safety effect, or unless approved for transfer as water well under Rule 880-X-10C-.24, each exploration hole, other drilled hole, …

(1) Before disturbance of an area, topsoil and subsoils to be saved under Rule 880-X-10C-.08 shall be separately removed and segregated from other material. (2) After removal, topsoil shall be immediately redistributed in accordance with Rule 880-X-10C-.10, stockpiled pending red…

(1) Timing. Topsoil shall be removed after vegetative cover that would interfere with the use of the topsoil is cleared from the areas to be disturbed but before any drilling, blasting, mining, or other surface disturbance that would result in erosion, compaction or contamination…

(1) Topsoil and other materials removed in accordance with Rule 880-X-10C-.08 shall be stockpiled only when it is impractical to promptly redistribute such materials on regraded areas. (2) Stockpiled materials shall be selectively placed on a stable area within the permit area, n…

(1) After final grading and before the replacement of topsoil and other materials segregated in accordance with Rule 880-X-10C-.09, regraded land shall be scarified or otherwise treated as required by the State Regulatory Authority to eliminate slippage surfaces and to promote ro…

Nutrients and soil amendments in the amounts determined by soil tests shall be applied to the redistributed surface soil layer, so that it supports the approved postmining land use and meets the revegetation requirements of Rules 880-X-10C-.58 - 880-X-10C-.63. All soil tests shal…

(1) General. All surface mining and reclamation activities shall be conducted to minimize disturbance of the hydrologic balance within the permit and adjacent areas, to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area, to assure the protection or replacem…

(1) (a) All surface drainage from the disturbed area shall be passed through a sedimentation pond, a series of sedimentation ponds or other treatment facility before leaving the permit area. (b) Other treatment facilities shall mean any chemical treatment system, such as floccula…

(1) General Requirements. (a) With the approval of the Regulatory Authority, any flow from mined areas abandoned before May 3, 1978, and any flow from undisturbed areas or reclaimed areas, after meeting the criteria of Section 880-X-10C-.27 for siltation structure removal, may be…

(1) Appropriate sediment control measures shall be designed, constructed, and maintained using the best technology currently available to: (a) Prevent, to the extent possible, additional contributions of sediment to streamflow or to runoff outside the permit area, (b) Meet the mo…

(1) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section only: (a) Siltation structure means a sedimentation pond, a series of sedimentation ponds, or other treatment facility. (b) Disturbed area shall not include those areas --1. In which the only surface mining activities include dive…

Discharge from sedimentation ponds permanent and temporary impoundments, coal processing waste, dams and embankments, and diversions shall be controlled, by energy dissipators, riprap channels, and other devices, where necessary, to reduce erosion, to prevent deepening or enlarge…

Drainage from acid-forming and toxic-forming spoil into ground and surface water shall be avoided by -- (a) Identifying, burying, or treating where necessary, spoil which, in the judgment of the State Regulatory Authority, may be detrimental to vegetation or may adversely affect …

(1) General requirements. The requirements of this Paragraph apply to both temporary and permanent impoundments. (a) An impoundment meeting the size or other criteria of 30 CFR 77.216(a) shall comply with the requirements of 30 CFR 77.216 and this section. (b) Design certificatio…

(1) Backfilled materials shall be placed so as to minimize contamination of ground water systems with acid, toxic, or otherwise harmful mine drainage, to minimize adverse effects of mining on ground water systems outside the permit area, and to support approved postmining land us…

Surface mining activities shall be conducted in a manner that facilitates reclamation which will restore approximate premining recharge capacity, through restoration of the capability of the reclaimed areas as a whole, excluding coal processing waste and underground development w…

(1) Ground water.(a) When surface mining activities may affect the ground water systems which serve as aquifers which significantly ensure the hydrologic balance of water use on or off the permit area, ground water levels and ground water quality shall be periodically monitored. …

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.24

Any person who conducts surface mining activities shall replace the water supply of an owner of interest in real property who obtains all or part of his or her supply of water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other legitimate use from an underground or surface source, w…

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.26

Before abandoning a permit area or seeking bond release, the operator shall ensure that all temporary structures are removed and reclaimed, and that all permanent sedimentation ponds, diversions, impoundments, and treatment facilities meet the requirements of this chapter for per…

(1) No land within 100 feet of a perennial stream or an intermittent stream shall be disturbed by surface mining activities, unless the Regulatory Authority specifically authorizes surface mining activities closer to, or through, such a stream. The Regulatory Authority may author…

Surface mining activities shall be conducted to remove and extract all economically recoverable coal and to maximize the utilization and conservation of it, while utilizing the best appropriate technology currently available to maintain environmental integrity, so that reaffectin…

(a) Each person who conducts surface mining activities shall comply with all applicable State and Federal laws and regulations in the use of explosives. (b) Blasts that use more than five pounds of explosive or blasting agent shall be conducted according to the schedule required …

(1) shall notify, in writing, all residents or owners of dwellings or other structures located within 1/2 mile of the permit area how to request a preblasting survey. (2) A resident or owner of a dwelling or structure within 1/2 mile of any part of the permit area may request a p…

(1) General requirements:(a) The operator shall conduct blasting operations at times approved by the Regulatory Authority and announced in the blasting schedule. The Regulatory Authority may limit the area covered, timing, and sequence of blasting as listed in the schedule, if su…

(1) Blasting signs. Blasting signs shall meet the specification of Rule 880-X-10C-.03. The operator shall:(a) Conspicuously place signs reading "Blasting Area" along the edge of any blasting area that comes within 100 feet of any public road right-of-way, and at the point where a…

(1) General requirements. Blasting shall be conducted to prevent injury to persons, damage to public or private property outside the permit area, adverse impacts on any underground mine, and change in the course, channel, or availability of surface or ground-water outside the per…

The operator shall retain a record of all blasts for at least 3 years. Copies of these records shall be kept at the mine site and upon request made available to the Regulatory Authority and to the public for inspection. Such records shall contain the following data: (1) Name of t…

(1) Spoil not required to achieve the approximate original contour within the area where overburden has been removed shall be transported and placed in a controlled manner in position for concurrent compaction and in such a way to assure mass stability and to prevent mass movemen…

No surface coal mining activities shall be conducted closer than 500 feet to any point of an active or abandoned underground mine, except to the extent that -- (1) The nature, timing, and sequence of the activities proposed to be conducted within 500 feet of an active underground…

(1) General. All coal mine waste shall be placed in new or existing disposal areas within a permit area, which are approved by the Regulatory Authority for this purpose. Coal mine waste shall be handled and conveyed and placed in a controlled manner to --(a) Minimize adverse effe…

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.39

Refuse piles shall meet the requirements of Section 880-X-10C-.38, the additional requirements of this section, and the requirements of 30 CFR 77.214 and 30 CFR 77.215. (1) Drainage control. (a) If the disposal area contains springs, natural or manmade water courses, or wet weath…

New and existing impounding structures constructed of coal mine waste or intended to impound coal mine waste shall meet the requirements of Section 880-X-10C-.38. (1) Coal mine waste shall not be used for construction of impounding structures unless it has been demonstrated to th…

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.42

(1) Coal mine waste fires shall be extinguished by the person who conducts the surface mining activities, in accordance with a plan approved by the Regulatory Authority and the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The plan shall contain, at a minimum, provisions to ensure that …

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.44

(1) Noncoal mine wastes including, but not limited to grease, lubricants, paints, flammable liquids, garbage, abandoned mining machinery, lumber and other combustible materials generated during mining activities shall be placed and stored in a controlled manner in a designated po…

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.46

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.47

(Not Used) Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-X-10C-.48

(1) The operator shall, to the extent possible using the best technology currently available, minimize disturbances and adverse impacts on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values and shall achieve enhancement of such resources where practicable. (2) Endangered and threat…

(1) An undisturbed natural barrier shall be provided beginning at the elevation of the lowest coal seam to be mined and extending from the outslope for such distance as may be determined by the State Regulatory Authority as is needed to assure stability. The barrier shall be reta…

Reclamation efforts including, but not limited to, backfilling, grading: topsoil replacement and revegetation of all land that is disturbed by surface mining activities, shall occur as contemporaneously as practicable with mining operations. Author: Notes Ala. Admin. Code r. 880-…