Part 20. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS - SURFACE COAL MINING OPERATIONS, version 2 (§ 19.8.20.1 to 19.8.20.2079)

A. Any person conducting surface coal mining operations shall, to the extent possible using the best technology current available, minimize disturbances and adverse impacts of the operations on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values, and achieve enhancement of such reso…

A. For surface mining activities, unless demonstrated to and approved by the director that equivalent stability can be obtained through other technology, an undisturbed natural barrier shall be provided beginning at the elevation of the lowest coal seam to be mined and extending …

Reclamation efforts, including, but not limited to, backfilling, grading, topdressing replacement and revegetation, of all land that is disturbed by surface coal mining operations shall occur as contemporaneously as practicable with mining operations.

A. Timing of backfilling and grading. (1) Contour mining. Rough backfilling and grading shall follow coal removal by not more than 60 days or 1,500 linear feet. The director may grant additional time or distance for rough backfilling and grading if the permittee can demonstrate, …

A. The final graded slopes shall not exceed in grade either the approximate premining slopes, or any lesser slopes approved by the director based on consideration of soil, climate, or other characteristics of the surrounding area. Postmining final graded slopes need not be unifor…

A. Exposed coal seams, acid- and toxic-forming materials, and combustible materials exposed, used, or produced during surface coal mining and reclamation operations shall be adequately covered with non-toxic and non-combustible materials, or treated, to control the impact on surf…

A. The provisions of 19.8.20.2057 NMAC apply only where the overburden thickness times the swell factor, plus the thickness of other available waste materials, is less than the combined thickness of the overburden and coal bed prior to removing the coal and only when surface mini…

A. The provisions of 19.8.20.2058 NMAC apply only where the overburden thickness times the swell factor exceeds the combined thickness of the overburden and coal bed prior to removing the coal and only when surface mining activities cannot be carried out to comply with 19.8.20.20…

A. All exposed surface areas shall be protected and stabilized to effectively control erosion and air pollution attendant to erosion. B. Rills and gullies, which form in areas that have been regraded and topsoiled and which either (1) disrupt the approved postmining land use or t…

A. Each person who conducts surface coal mining operations shall establish on all affected land a diverse, effective, and permanent vegetative cover of the same aspection native to the area of disturbed land or species that supports the approved postmining land use. For areas des…

Introduced species may be substituted for native species only if approved by the director under the following conditions: A. after appropriate field trials have demonstrated that the introduced species are desirable and necessary to achieve the approved postmining land use; B. th…

Seeding and planting of disturbed areas shall be conducted during the first normal period for favorable planting conditions after final preparation. The normal period for favorable planting shall be that planting time generally accepted locally for the type of plant materials sel…

A. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all regraded and topdressed areas to control erosion, promote germination of seeds, or increase the moisture retention capacity of the soil. The director may, on a case-by-case basis, suspend the requirement …

When the approved postmining land use is range or pasture land, the operator shall demonstrate to the director, that the reclaimed land has the capability of supporting livestock grazing at rates approximately equal to that for similar non-mined lands for at least two of the last…

A. Success of revegetation shall be measured by techniques identified in the director's "coal mine reclamation program vegetation standards", as approved by the director after consultation with appropriate state and federal agencies. Comparison of ground cover and productivity sh…

19.8.20.2066 NMAC sets forth forest resource conservation standards for reforestation operations to ensure that a cover of commercial tree species, noncommercial tree species, shrubs, or half-shrubs is established for the development of fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, shel…

A. The permittee must either adopt measures consistent with known technology that prevent subsidence from causing material damage to the extent technologically and economically feasible, maximize mine stability, and maintain the value and reasonably foreseeable use of surface lan…

The mining schedule shall be distributed by mail to all owners of property and residents residing within the permit area above the underground workings and adjacent areas. Each such person shall be notified by mail at least six months prior to mining beneath his property or resid…

A. The permittee must correct any material damage resulting from subsidence caused to surface lands, to the extent technologically and economically feasible, by restoring the land to a condition capable of maintaining the value and reasonably foreseeable uses that it was capable …

A. If damage to any non-commercial building or occupied residential dwelling or associated structure occurs as a result of earth movement within an area determined by projecting a specified angle of draw from the outermost boundary of any underground mine workings to the surface …

A. Underground mining activities shall not be conducted beneath or adjacent to any perennial stream or impoundment having a storage volume of 20 acre-feet or more, unless the director, on the basis of detailed subsurface information, determines that subsidence will not cause mate…

A. When subsidence-related material damage occurs to land, structures or facilities, or contamination, diminution, or interruption to a water supply protected under Subsections A through D of 19.8.20.2069 NMAC, the director must require the permittee to obtain additional performa…

A. Each person who conducts surface coal mining operations shall effectively secure surface facilities and support and maintain any surface access openings to underground operations in areas in which there are no current operations, but in which operations are to be resumed under…

A. Persons who cease surface coal mining operations permanently shall close or backfill or otherwise permanently reclaim all affected areas, in accordance with 19.8.2074 NMAC and the permit approved by the director. B. All underground openings, equipment, structures, or other fac…

A. General. All surface land areas affected shall be restored in a timely manner: (1) to conditions that are capable of supporting the uses which they were capable of supporting before any mining; or (2) to higher or better uses achievable under criteria and procedures of 19.8.20…

A. Road classification system. (1) Each road shall be classified as either a primary road or an ancillary road. (2) A primary road is any road which is: (a) used for transporting coal or spoil, except for the portions of those roads located within coal spoil and coal processing w…

Primary roads shall meet the requirements of 19.8.20.2076 NMAC and the additional requirements of 19.8.20.2077 NMAC. A. Certification. The design and construction or reconstruction of primary roads shall be certified by a qualified registered professional engineer as meeting: (1)…

Railroad loops, spurs, sidings, surface conveyor systems, chutes, aerial tramways, or other transportation facilities shall be designed, constructed or reconstructed, and maintained and the area restored, to: A. prevent, to the extent possible using the best technology currently …

A. Support facilities required for, or used incidentally to, the operation of the mine, including, but not limited to, mine buildings, coal loading facilities at, or near, the mine site, coal storage facilities, equipment storage facilities, fuel storage facilities, chemical and …

NMSA 1978, Sections 69-25A-1 et. seq. (1979)

Permanent

November 29, 1997, unless a later date is cited at the end of a section.

The objective of Parts 1 - 35 of Chapter 8 is to establish regulations to implement the New Mexico Surface Mining Act as directed in NMSA 1978, Section 69-25A-5(1979). These regulations are intended to ensure proper reclamation through permitting for operations subject to the New…

[RESERVED] [Definitions for this part can be found in 19.8.1.7 NMAC.]