- alluvial valley floors
means the unconsolidated stream laid deposits holding streams where water availability is 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 by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with talus, other mass movement accumulation and windblown deposits;
- amount due
means the unappropriated amount allocated to a State or Indian tribe before October 1, 2007, under subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 1232(g)(1) of this title.
- applicant
means a person applying for a permit;
- approximate original contour
means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined area 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 and spoil piles eliminated;
- certified State or Indian tribe
means a State or Indian tribe for which a certification is made under subsection (a) in which the Secretary concurs.
- commerce
means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States, or between a State and any other place outside thereof, or between points in the same State which directly or indirectly affect interstate commerce;
- Federal inspector
means personnel of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and such additional personnel of the United States Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, or of the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration so designated by the Secretary, or such other personnel of the Forest Service, Soil Conservation Service, or the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service as arranged by appropriate agreement with the Secretary on a reimbursable or other basis;
- Federal lands
means any land, including mineral interests, owned by the United States without regard to how the United States acquired ownership of the land and without regard to the agency having responsibility for management thereof, except Indian lands: Provided, That for the purposes of this chapter lands or mineral interests east of the one hundredth meridian west longitude owned by the United States and entrusted to or managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority shall not be subject to sections 1304 (Surface Owner Protection) and 1305 (Federal Lessee Protection) of this title.1
- Federal lands program
means a program established by the Secretary pursuant to section 1273 of this title to regulate surface coal mining and reclamation operations on Federal lands;
- Federal program
means a program established by the Secretary pursuant to section 1254 of this title to regulate surface coal mining and reclamation operations on lands within a State in accordance with the requirements of this chapter;
- fund
means the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund established pursuant to section 1231 of this title;
- imminent danger to the health and safety of the public
means the existence of any condition or practice, or any violation of a permit or other requirement of this chapter in a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, which condition, practice, or violation could reasonably be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit area before such condition, practice, or violation can be abated.
- Indian lands
means all lands, including mineral interests, within the exterior boundaries of any Federal Indian reservation, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and including rights-of-way, and all lands including mineral interests held in trust for or supervised by an Indian tribe;
- Indian tribe
means any Indian tribe, band, group, or community having a governing body recognized by the Secretary;
- lands eligible for remining
means those lands that would otherwise be eligible for expenditures under section 1234 of this title or under section 1232(g)(4) of this title.
- lands within such State
means all lands within a State other than Federal lands and Indian lands;
- lignite coal
means consolidated lignitic coal having less than 8,300 British thermal units per pound, moist and mineral matter free;
- Office
means the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement established pursuant to subchapter II;
- operator
means any person, partnership, or corporation engaged in coal mining who removes or intends to remove more than two hundred and fifty tons of coal from the earth by coal mining within twelve consecutive calendar months in any one location;
- other minerals
means clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous and nonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid material or substances of commercial value excavated in solid form from natural deposits on or in the earth, exclusive of coal and those minerals which occur naturally in liquid or gaseous form;
- permit
means a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the State regulatory authority pursuant to a State program or by the Secretary pursuant to a Federal program;
- permit area
means the area of land indicated on the approved map submitted by the operator with his application, which area of land shall be covered by the operator’s bond as required by section 1259 of this title and shall be readily identifiable by appropriate markers on the site;
- permittee
means a person holding a permit;
- person
means an individual, partnership, association, society, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, or other business organization;
- qualified hydrologic unit
means a hydrologic unit—
- reclamation plan
means a plan submitted by an applicant for a permit under a State program or Federal program which sets forth a plan for reclamation of the proposed surface coal mining operations pursuant to section 1258 of this title;
- regulatory authority
means the State regulatory authority where the State is administering this chapter under an approved State program or the Secretary where the Secretary is administering this chapter under a Federal program;
- related coal wage agreement
means an agreement between the United Mine Workers of America and an employer in the bituminous coal industry that—
- school or department of divinity
means an institution or department or branch of an institution, whose program is specifically for the education of students to prepare them to become ministers of religion or to enter upon some other religious vocation or to prepare them to teach theological subjects.
- Secretary
means the Secretary of the Interior, except where otherwise described;
- State
means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam;
- State program
means a program established by a State pursuant to section 1253 of this title to regulate surface coal mining and reclamation operations, on lands within such State in accord with the requirements of this chapter and regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to this chapter;
- State regulatory authority
means the department or agency in each State which has primary responsibility at the State level for administering this chapter;
- surface coal mining and reclamation operations
means surface mining operations and all activities necessary and incident to the reclamation of such operations after August 3, 1977;
- surface coal mining operations
means—
- surface owner
means the natural person or persons (or corporation, the majority stock of which is held by a person or persons who meet the other requirements of this section) who— In computing the three-year period the Secretary may include periods during which title was owned by a relative of such person by blood or marriage during which period such relative would have met the requirements of this subsection.
- unwarranted failure to comply
means the failure of a permittee to prevent the occurrence of any violation of his permit or any requirement of this chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care, or the failure to abate any violation of such permit or the chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care;
- violation
has the same meaning as such term has under subsection (c).