As used in this chapter, the following terms have the specified meanings, except where otherwise indicated: Acid drainage means water with a pH of less than 6.0 and in which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity, discharged from an active, inactive or abandoned surface coal mine and reclamation operation or from an area affected by surface coal mining and reclamation operations. Acid-forming materials means earth materials that contain sulfide minerals or other materials which, if exposed to air, water, or weathering processes, form acids that may create acid drainage. Adjacent area means the area outside the permit area where a resource or resources, determined according to the context in which adjacent area is used, are or reasonably could be expected to be adversely impacted by proposed mining operations, including probable impacts from underground workings. Administratively complete application means an application for permit approval or approval for coal exploration where required, which the regulatory authority determines to contain information addressing each application requirement of the regulatory program and to contain all information necessary to initiate processing and public review. Affected area means any land or water surface area which is used to facilitate, or is physically altered by, surface coal mining and reclamation operations. The affected area includes the disturbed area; any area upon which surface coal mining and reclamation operations are conducted; any adjacent lands the use of which is incidental to surface coal mining and reclamation operations; all areas covered by new or existing roads used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface coal mining and reclamation operations, except as provided in this definition; any area covered by surface excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, shipping areas; any areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property material on the surface resulting from, or incident to, surface coal mining and reclamation operations; and the area located above underground workings. The affected area shall include every road used for purposes of access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface coal mining and reclamation operations, unless the road (a) was designated as a public road pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located; (b) is maintained with public funds, and constructed, in a manner similar to other public roads of the same classification within the jurisdiction; and (c) there is substantial (more than incidental) public use. Agricultural activities means, with respect to alluvial valley floors, the use of any tract of land for the production of animal or vegetable life, based on regional agricultural practices, where the use is enhanced or facilitated by subirrigation or flood irrigation. These uses include, but are not limited to, farming and the pasturing or grazing of livestock. These uses do not include agricultural activities which have no relationship to the availability of water from subirrigation or flood irrigation practices. Agricultural use means the use of any tract of land for the production of animal or vegetable life. The uses include, but are not limited to, the pasturing, grazing, and watering of livestock, and the cropping, cultivation, and harvesting of plants. Alluvial valley floors means the unconsolidated stream-laid deposits holding streams with water availability sufficient for subirrigation or flood irrigation agricultural activities but does not include upland areas which are generally overlain by a thin veneer of colluvial deposits composed chiefly of debris from sheet erosion, deposits formed by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with talus, or other mass-movement accumulations, and windblown deposits. Applicant means any person seeking a permit, permit revision, renewal, and transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights from a regulatory authority to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations or, where required, seeking approval for coal exploration. Applicant/Violator System or AVS means an automated information system of applicant, permittee, operator, violation and related data OSM maintains to assist in implementing the Act. Application means the documents and other information filed with the regulatory authority under this chapter for the issuance of permits; revisions; renewals; and transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights for surface coal mining and reclamation operations or, where required, for coal exploration. Approximate original contour means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined areas so that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access roads, closely resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to mining and blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding terrain, with all highwalls, spoil piles and coal refuse piles eliminated. Permanent water impoundments may be permitted where the regulatory authority has determined that they comply with 30 CFR 816.49 and 816.56, 816.133 or 817.49, 817.56, and 817.133. Aquifer means a zone, stratum, or group of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for a specific use. Arid and semiarid area means, in the context of alluvial valley floors, an area of the interior western United States, west of the 100th meridian west longitude, experiencing water deficits, where water use by native vegetation equals or exceeds that supplied by precipitation. All coalfields located in North Dakota west of the 100th meridian west longitude, all coalfields in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona, the Eagle Pass field in Texas, and the Stone Canyon and the Ione fields in California are in arid and semiarid areas. Auger mining means a method of mining coal at a cliff or highwall by drilling holes into an exposed coal seam from the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the surface. Best technology currently available means equipment, devices, systems, methods, or techniques which will (a) prevent, to the extent possible, additional contributions of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside the permit area, but in no event result in contributions of suspended solids in excess of requirements set by applicable State or Federal laws; and (b) minimize, to the extent possible, disturbances and adverse impacts on fish, wildlife and related environmental values, and achieve enhancement of those resources where practicable. The term includes equipment, devices, systems, methods, or techniques which are currently available anywhere as determined by the Director, even if they are not in routine use. The term includes, but is not limited to, construction practices, siting requirements, vegetative selection and planting requirements, animal stocking requirements, scheduling of activities and design of sedimentation ponds in accordance with 30 CFR parts 816 and 817. Within the constraints of the permanent program, the regulatory authority shall have the discretion to determine the best technology currently available on a case-by-case basis, as authorized by the Act and this chapter. Coal exploration means the field gathering of:
(e)There is no practicable way to reclaim the land as required in subchapter K. Spoil means overburden that has been removed during surface coal mining operations. Stabilize means to control movement of soil, spoil piles, or areas of disturbed earth by modifying the geometry of the mass, or by otherwise modifying physical or chemical properties, such as by providing a protective surface coating. State program means a program established by a State and approved by the Secretary pursuant to section 503 of the Act to regulate surface coal mining and reclamation operations on non-Indian and non-Federal lands within that State, according to the requirements of the Act and this chapter. If a cooperative agreement under part 745 has been entered into, a State program may apply to Federal lands, in accordance with the terms of the cooperative agreement. Steep slope means any slope of more than 20° or such lesser slope as may be designated by the regulatory authority after consideration of soil, climate, and other characteristics of a region or State. Subirrigation means, with respect to alluvial valley floors, the supplying of water to plants from underneath or from a semisaturated or saturated subsurface zone where water is available for use by vegetation. Substantially disturb means, for purposes of coal exploration, to significantly impact land or water resources by blasting; by removal of vegetation, topsoil, or overburden; by construction of roads or other access routes; by placement of excavated earth or waste material on the natural land surface or by other such activities; or to remove more than 250 tons of coal. Successor in interest means any person who succeeds to rights granted under a permit, by transfer, assignment, or sale of those rights. Surface mining activities means those surface coal mining and reclamation operations incident to the extraction of coal from the earth by removing the materials over a coal seam, before recovering the coal, by auger coal mining, or by recovery of coal from a deposit that is not in its original geologic location. Suspended solids or nonfilterable residue, expressed as milligrams per liter, means organic or inorganic materials carried or held in suspension in water which are retained by a standard glass fiber filter in the procedure outlined by the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations for waste water and analyses (40 CFR part 136). Temporary diversion means a diversion of a stream or overland flow which is used during coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations and not approved by the regulatory authority to remain after reclamation as part of the approved postmining land use. Temporary impoundment means an impoundment used during surface coal mining and reclamation operations, but not approved by the regulatory authority to remain as part of the approved postmining land use. Topsoil means the A and E soil horizon layers of the four master soil horizons. Toxic-forming materials means earth materials or wastes which, if acted upon by air, water, weathering, or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical or physical conditions in soils or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of water. Toxic mine drainage means water that is discharged from active or abandoned mines or other areas affected by coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations, which contains a substance that through chemical action or physical effects is likely to kill, injure, or impair biota commonly present in the area that might be exposed to it. Transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights means a change of a permittee. Unanticipated event or condition, as used in § 773.13 of this chapter, means an event or condition related to prior mining activity which arises from a surface coal mining and reclamation operation on lands eligible for remining and was not contemplated by the applicable permit. Underground development waste means waste-rock mixtures of coal, shale, claystone, siltstone, sandstone, limestone, or related materials that are excavated, moved, and disposed of from underground workings in connection with underground mining activities. Underground mining activities means a combination of—