Texas Administrative Code

(a) Any auger mining associated with surface mining activities shall be conducted to maximize recoverability of mineral reserves remaining after the mining activities are completed. Each person who conducts auger mining operations shall leave access for removal of those reserves …

(a) Records required by the Act to be made available locally to the public shall be retained at the geographically closest office to the Commission's Surface Mining and Reclamation Division. (b) Other records or documents in the possession of the Commission may be requested pursu…

(a) Support facilities shall be operated in accordance with a permit issued for the mine or coal preparation plant to which it is incident or from which its operation results. (b) In addition to the other provisions of §§ 12.500 - 12.571 of this title (relating to Permanent Progr…

All underground mining activities shall be conducted in a manner which minimizes damage, destruction, or disruption of services provided by oil, gas, and water wells; oil, gas, and coal-slurry pipelines, railroads; electric and telephone lines; and water and sewage lines which pa…

Primary roads shall meet the requirements of § 12.569 of this title (relating to Roads: General) and the additional requirements of this section. (1) Certification. The construction or reconstruction of primary roads shall be certified in a report to the Commission by a qualified…

(a) Road classification system. (1) Each road, as defined in § 12.3 of this title (relating to Definitions), 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; (B) frequently used fo…

(a) General. Surface land areas affected by mining activities 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 pro…

(a) The person who conducts underground mining activities shall close or backfill or otherwise permanently reclaim all affected areas, in accordance with this chapter (relating to Coal Mining Regulations) and according to the permit approved by the Commission. (b) All surface equ…

(a) Each person who conducts underground mining activities shall effectively support and maintain all surface-access openings to underground operations, and secure surface facilities in areas in which there are no current operations but operations are to be resumed under an appro…

(a) Cover. (1) A person who conducts underground mining activities shall cover, with a minimum of 4 feet of the best available non-toxic and non-combustible material, all exposed coal seams remaining after mining and all acid-forming materials, toxic-forming materials, combustibl…

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

(a) Timing. Surface areas disturbed incident to underground mining activities shall be backfilled and graded in accordance with the time schedule approved by the Commission as a condition of the permit. (b) Backfilling and grading. (1) All areas affected by surface operations sha…

Reclamation efforts, including, but not limited to, backfilling, grading, topsoil replacement and revegetation, of all areas affected by surface operations shall occur as contemporaneously as practicable with mining operations. Notes 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 12.550 The provisions of…

With respect to pipelines transmitting crude oil, liquid petroleum, natural gas, toxic or flammable substances: (1) identify and describe pipelines located in the permit area, and within 100 feet thereof, in the application for a surface mining permit; (2) visibly mark the locati…

At any time a slide occurs which may have a potential adverse effect on public property, health, safety, or the environment, the person who conducts the underground mining activities shall notify the Commission by the fastest available means and comply with any remedial measures …

(a) All coal mine waste shall be hauled or conveyed and placed in new and existing disposal areas approved by the Commission for this purpose. These areas shall be within a permit area. The disposal area shall be designed, constructed and maintained: (1) in accordance with § 12.5…

(a) In lieu of the requirements of § 12.532 and § 12.533 of this title (relating to Disposal of Underground Development Waste and Excess Spoil: Valley Fills, and to Disposal of Underground Development Waste and Excess Spoil: Head-of-Hollow Fills), the Commission may approve alter…

Disposal of underground development waste and excess spoil in the head-of-hollow fill shall meet all standards set forth in § 12.531 and § 12.532 of this title (relating to Disposal of Underground Development Waste and Excess Spoil: General Requirements, and to Disposal of Underg…

(a) Valley fills shall meet all of the requirements of § 12.531 of this title (relating to Disposal of Underground Development Waste and Excess Spoil: General Requirements) and the additional requirements of this section. (b) The fill shall be designed to attain a long-term stati…

(a) Underground development waste and spoil not required to achieve the approximate original contour and which is not used as backfill shall be hauled or conveyed to and placed in designated disposal areas within a permit area if the disposal areas are authorized for such purpose…

The operator shall retain a record of each blast, including seismograph reports, which shall be retained for at least three years and which shall be available for inspection by the Commission and the public on request. The record shall contain the following data: (1) name of the …

(a) General requirements. (1) Blasting shall be conducted in a manner that will 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 ground or surfac…

(a) At least 30 days before initiation of a blasting program, the operator shall notify, in writing, all residents or owners of dwellings or other structures located within 1/2 mile of any part of the permit area regarding how to request a pre-blasting survey. The request shall b…

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 enlargemen…

(a) Scope. For the purposes of this section only, disturbed areas shall not include those areas: (1) in which the only underground mining activities include diversion ditches, siltation structures, or roads that are designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with §§12.500…

(a) Appropriate sediment control measures shall be designed, constructed, and maintained using the best technology currently available to: (1) prevent, to the extent possible, additional contributions of sediment to streamflow or to runoff outside the permit area; (2) meet the mo…

(a) General Requirements. (1) With the approval of the Commission, any flow from mined areas abandoned before May 3, 1978, and any flow from undisturbed areas or reclaimed areas, after meeting the criteria of § 12.514 of this title (relating to Hydrologic Balance: Siltation Struc…

Discharge of water from areas disturbed by underground mining activities shall be made in compliance with all applicable state and federal water-quality laws and regulations and with the effluent limitations for coal mining promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency …

(a) Underground mining activities shall be planned and conducted to minimize disturbance of the hydrologic balance within the permit and adjacent areas, to prevent material damages to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area, to assure the protection or replacement of water…

When no longer needed for monitoring or other use approved by the Commission upon a finding of no adverse environmental or health and safety effects, or unless approved for transfer as a water well under § 12.520 of this title (relating to Hydrologic Balance: Transfer of Wells), …

(a) Each mine entry which is temporarily inactive, but has a further projected useful service under the approved permit application, shall be protected by barricades or other covering devices, fenced, and posted with signs, to prevent access into the entry and to identify the haz…

Each exploration hole, other drill hole or borehole, shaft, well, or other exposed underground opening shall be cased, lined, or otherwise managed as approved by the Commission to prevent acid or other toxic drainage from entering ground and surface waters, to minimize disturbanc…

(a) Specifications. Signs and markers required under this section and §§ 12.501 - 12.572 of this title (relating to Permanent Program Performance Standards--Underground Mining Activities) shall: (1) be posted, maintained, and removed by the person who conducts the underground min…

(a) A person who intends to initiate a civil action on his or her own behalf under §§134.182-134.187 of the Act shall give notice of intent to do so, in accordance with this section. (b) Notice shall be given by certified mail to the Commission, the Secretary of the U.S. Departme…

Where thick overburden occurs within the permit area, the permittee at a minimum shall: (1) restore the approximate original contour and then use the remaining spoil and other waste materials to attain the lowest practicable grade, but not more than the angle of repose; (2) meet …

Where thin overburden occurs within the permit area, the permittee, at a minimum, shall: (1) use all spoil and other waste materials available from the entire permit area to attain the lowest practicable grade, but not more than the angle of repose; and (2) meet the requirements …

(a) Cover. (1) A person who conducts surface mining activities shall cover, with a minimum of 4 feet of the best available nontoxic and noncombustible material, all exposed coal seams remaining after mining, and all acid-forming materials, toxic-forming materials, combustible mat…

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

(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 Commission may grant additional time for rough backfilling and grading if the permittee can demonstrate, through a…

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. Notes 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 12.383 Th…

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

Coal processing waste may be returned to underground mine workings only in accordance with the waste disposal program approved by the Commission and MSHA under § 12.193 of this title (relating to Underground Development Waste/Return of Coal Processing Waste to Abandoned Undergrou…

Before any burned coal processing waste, other materials, or refuse is removed from a disposal area, approval shall be obtained from the Commission. A plan for the method of removal, with maps and appropriate drawings to illustrate the proposed sequence of the operation and metho…

Coal processing waste fires shall be extinguished by the person who conducts the surface mining activities in accordance with a plan approved by the Commission and the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The plan shall contain, at a minimum, provisions to ensure that only thos…

(a) Coal processing waste banks shall be constructed in compliance with §§ 12.363 and 12.364 of this title (relating to Disposal of Excess Spoil: General Requirements, and to Disposal of Excess Spoil: Valley Fills), except to the extent that the requirements of those sections are…

Surface mining activities shall be conducted so as to maximize the utilization and conservation of the coal, while utilizing the best appropriate technology currently available to maintain environmental integrity, so that reaffecting the land in the future through surface coal mi…

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