North Dakota Administrative Code

If the commission requires performance bond forfeiture, the total amount of all bonds for the bonded area for which liability is outstanding must be forfeited. Any bond proceeds remaining after reclamation is completed will be refunded. If there is more than one bond for a bonded…

Repealed effective June 1, 1983.

1. The permittee shall submit to the commission a certificate of public liability insurance in accordance with subsection 3 of North Dakota Century Code section 38-14.1-14. Minimum coverage for bodily injury and property damage must be one million dollars for each occurrence and …

reclamation fee report. Repealed effective May 1, 1999.

The permittee shall submit two copies of an annual map to the commission for all permit areas by each March fifteenth. The scale must be 1:4,800 or other scale approved by the commission. The information must be reported for each calendar year until all bond has been released. Th…

A copy of all current permits, licenses, approved plans, or other authorizations to operate the mine must be available for inspection at or near the minesite. History: Effective August 1, 1980; amended effective May 1, 1990. General Authority: NDCC 38-14.1-03 Law Implemented: NDC…

The permittee shall, at a minimum, comply with the following requirements for areas within a permit where a performance bond has been posted. 1. Specifications. Signs and markers must: a. Be posted and maintained by the operator. b. Be of a uniform design throughout the operation…

technology currently available. All surface coal mining and reclamation operations must be conducted to minimize disturbances on lands where coal is not removed and utilize the best technology currently available. History: Effective August 1, 1980; amended effective May 1, 1990. …

mine areas. Surface coal mining activities may not be conducted closer than five hundred feet [152.40 meters] of an underground mine, unless the activities result in improved resource recovery, abatement of water pollution, or elimination of hazards to public health and safety. H…

The permittee shall comply with all applicable air pollution control laws and rules of the department of environmental quality and stabilize and protect all surface areas. History: Effective August 1, 1980; amended effective June 1, 1983; May 1,1990; June 1, 1997. General Authori…

and related environmental values. 1. The permittee shall affirmatively demonstrate how protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife resources will be achieved where practicable on the basis of information gathered and management plans developed under sections 69-05.2-08-15 and…

The operator shall promptly notify the commission and comply with required remedial measures whenever a slide occurs which may potentially adversely affect public property, health, safety, or the environment. History: Effective August 1, 1980; amended effective May 1, 1990. Gener…

Temporary. 1. Each permittee shall effectively secure surface facilities in temporarily inactive areas. Temporary abandonment does not affect a permittee's obligation to comply with permit provisions. 2. Before temporarily ceasing or abandoning operations, the permittee shall sub…

Permanent. The permittee shall: 1. Close, backfill, or otherwise permanently reclaim all affected areas where mining has permanently ceased in accordance with this article and the permit. 2. Remove equipment, structures, or other facilities not required for monitoring, unless app…

The operator shall: 1. Conduct auger mining to maximize the utilization and conservation of coal. 2. Conduct augering operations to: 6 a. Prevent subsidence to the extent technologically and economically feasible by one of the following: (1) Backfilling the auger holes to assure …

located within the permit area of a mine. Each person who operates a coal preparation plant in connection with a coal mine but outside the permit area for a specific mine shall obtain a permit in accordance with section 69-05.2-09-19, obtain a bond in accordance with chapter 69-0…

requirements. The operator shall case, seal, or otherwise manage each drill hole, borehole, or well within the permit area to prevent toxic drainage from entering ground or surface waters, minimize disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance, and ensure the safety of people,…

Each drill hole or borehole identified in the approved permit application to be used to monitor ground water conditions shall be temporarily sealed before use and protected during use by barricades, or fences, or other protective devices approved by the commission. These devices …

When no longer needed for monitoring or other use approved by the commission upon a finding of no adverse environmental or health and safety effect, the operator shall permanently close drill holes and boreholes to prevent toxic drainage from entering ground or surface waters. Hi…

requirements. Repealed effective January 1, 1987.

1. Timing. Suitable plant growth material must be removed after vegetative cover that would interfere with its use is cleared from the areas to be disturbed. To prevent suitable plant growth materials from becoming contaminated by other materials, all suitable plant growth materi…

protection. 1. Suitable plant growth materials removed as required by section 69-05.2-15-02 must be stockpiled only when it is impractical to promptly redistribute such materials on regraded areas. 2. Suitable plant growth material to be stockpiled must be selectively placed on a…

1. After final grading is approved under section 69-05.2-21-06 and before the suitable plant growth material is replaced, regraded land must be scarified or otherwise treated, if necessary, to eliminate slippage surfaces or to promote root penetration. 2. Subsoil must then be red…

amendments. The operator shall apply necessary nutrients and soil amendments to the redistributed surface soil layer. Soil tests to identify nutrients, amendments, and rates must be performed by a qualified laboratory using standard methods. History: Effective August 1, 1980; ame…

gullies. When rills and gullies deeper than nine inches [22.86 centimeters] form in areas that have been regraded and respread with suitable plant growth material, the operator shall fill, grade, or otherwise stabilize the rills and gullies and reseed or replant the area. The com…

reclamation plan in section 69-05.2-09-12, frequency of collection, and determine reporting requirements. a. For locations in surface water bodies, such as streams, lakes, and impoundments, monitoring must: (1) Be adequate to measure accurately and record quantity and quality of …

1. The operator shall conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations to: a. Minimize disturbance of the hydrologic balance within the permit and adjacent areas and prevent material damage outside the permit area. b. Minimize changes in water quality and quantity, in the d…

environmental quality standards. Runoff water and pit water discharge must meet the water quality requirements of the North Dakota department of environmental quality, as well as those of this article. The commission will not issue or revise a mining permit until the department o…

requirements of the state engineer and water resource district. Any water impoundment, diversion, structure, or drainage ditch built as part of an approved mining and reclamation plan must be constructed to meet the requirements of the North Dakota state engineer and the appropri…

effluent limitations. 1. The operator must comply with the following requirements: 2 a. All surface drainage from the disturbed area, including disturbed areas that have been graded, seeded, or planted, must be passed through a sedimentation pond, a series of sedimentation ponds,…

1. Surface water monitoring must be conducted in accordance with the monitoring program and based on the probable hydrologic consequences determination submitted under section

Overland flow, including flow through litter, shallow ground water flow from undisturbed areas, and flow in ephemeral streams, may be diverted from disturbed areas by temporary or permanent diversions, if required or approved by the commission. The following requirements must be …

1. Flow from perennial and intermittent streams within the permit area may be diverted, if the diversions: a. Are approved by the commission after making the findings in section 69-05.2-16-20; b. Comply with other requirements of this chapter; c. Comply with local and state laws …

1. Appropriate sediment control measures must 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 more s…

1. General requirements. Sedimentation ponds must be used individually or in series and: 7 a. Be constructed before any disturbance of the undisturbed area to be drained into the pond. b. Be located as near as possible to the disturbed area and out of perennial streams, unless ap…

Discharges from sedimentation ponds, permanent and temporary impoundments, coal processing waste dams and embankments, and diversions must be controlled, where necessary using energy dissipators, riprap channels, surge ponds, and other devices to reduce erosion, prevent deepening…

The discharge of toxic mine drainage into ground and surface water must be avoided by: 1. Identifying, burying, and treating where necessary, spoil which, in the judgment of the commission, may be detrimental to vegetation or water quality. 2. Preventing water from coming into co…

impoundments. 1. In addition to the standards for permanent impoundments in subsection 7 of North Dakota Century Code section 38-14.1-24, the design, construction, and maintenance of structures in which water is impounded by a dam must utilize the best technology currently availa…

1. Backfilled materials must be placed to minimize contamination of ground water systems with toxic or otherwise harmful mine drainage, minimize adverse effects on ground water flow and quality, minimize offsite effects, and support approved postmining land uses. 2. To control th…

1. The ground water monitoring plan must be based on the probable hydrologic consequences determination and conducted according to the monitoring program submitted under section 69-05.2-09-12 and approved by the commission. Ground water levels, infiltration rates, subsurface flow…

recharge capacity. Surface mining activities must restore approximate premining recharge capacity, through restoration of the capability of the reclaimed areas as a whole, excluding coal processing waste and underground development waste disposal areas and fills, to a condition w…

1. An exploratory or monitoring well may be transferred by the permittee for further use as a water well with the prior approval of the commission. The permittee and the surface owner shall jointly submit a written request to the commission for that approval. 2. Upon an approved …

A permittee shall replace the water supply of an owner of interest in real property who obtains all or part of the owner's supply of water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other legitimate use from an underground or surface source, where the water supply has been affect…

underground mine. Surface water must not be diverted or otherwise discharged into underground mine workings or abandoned surface mines, unless the operator or permittee demonstrates to the commission that the diversion or discharge will: 1. Minimize disturbance to the hydrologic …

sedimentation ponds, diversions, impoundments, and treatment facilities. Before abandoning the permit area, the operator shall renovate all permanent sedimentation ponds, diversions, impoundments, and treatment facilities to meet criteria specified in the detailed design plan for…

1. The operator may not disturb land within one hundred feet [30.48 meters] of an intermittent or perennial stream unless the commission, after consulting the state engineer and the department of environmental quality, specifically authorizes surface mining activities closer to, …

1. Operators shall comply with all applicable local and state laws in the use of explosives. 2. Blasts that use five pounds [2.27 kilograms] or less of explosive or blasting agent are subject to all requirements of this chapter except those of section 69-05.2-17-03. 3. All blasti…

1. Each operator shall notify in writing, at least thirty days before blasting, all residents and owners of manmade dwellings or structures located within one mile [1.61 kilometers] of the permit area how to request a preblasting survey. 2. On request to the commission by a resid…

schedule. 1. Blasting schedule publication. Each operator shall: a. Publish the blasting schedule required by subdivision a of subsection 13 of North Dakota Century Code section 38-14.1-24 at least ten days, but not more than twenty days, before beginning a blasting program in wh…

blasting schedules. Repealed effective May 1, 1990.