Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
Each application shall include geologic information in sufficient detail to
assist in:
1) Determining the probable
hydrologic consequences of the operation upon the quality and quantity of
surface and ground water in the permit, shadow and adjacent areas, including
the extent to which surface and ground water monitoring is necessary;
2) Determining all potentially acid- or
toxic-forming strata down to and including the stratum immediately below the
lowest coal seam to be mined;
3)
Determining whether required reclamation can be accomplished and whether the
proposed operation has been designed to prevent material damage to the
hydrologic balance outside the permit area; and
4) Preparing the subsidence control plan
under 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1784.20.
b) Geologic information shall
include, at a minimum:
1) A description of the
geology of the proposed permit, shadow and adjacent areas down to and including
the deeper of either the stratum immediately below the lowest coal seam to be
mined, or any aquifer below the lowest coal seam to be mined which may be
adversely impacted by mining. The description shall include the areal and
structural geology of the permit, shadow and adjacent areas, and other
parameters which influence the required reclamation and the occurrence,
availability, movement, quality and quantity of potentially impacted surface
and ground waters. It shall be based on:
A)
The cross-sections, maps and plans required by 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1783.25;
B) The information obtained under subsections
(b)(2), (b)(3) and (c); and
C)
Geologic literature and practices.
2) For any portion of a permit area in which
the strata down to the coal seam to be mined will be removed or are already
exposed, samples shall be collected and analyzed from test borings; drill
cores; or fresh unweathered, uncontaminated samples from rock outcrops down to
and including the deeper of either the stratum immediately below the the lowest
coal seam to be mined or any aquifer below the lowest coal seam to be mined
which may be adversely impacted by mining. The analyses shall result in the
following:
A) Logs showing the lithologic
characteristics including physical properties and thickness of each stratum and
location of ground water where occurring;
B) Chemical analyses identifying those strata
that may contain acid- or toxic-forming or alkalinity-producing materials and
to determine their content except that the Department may find that the
analysis for alkalinity-producing materials is not necessary to assure
protection to the hydrologic balance; and
C) Chemical analyses of the coal seam for
acid- or toxic-forming materials, including total sulfur and pyritic sulfur,
except that the Department may find that the analysis of pyritic sulfur is
unnecessary to assure protection to the hydrologic balance.
3) For lands within the permit,
shadow and adjacent areas where the strata above the coal seam to be mined will
not be removed, samples shall be collected and analyzed from test borings or
drill cores to provide the following data:
A)
Logs of drill holes showing the lithologic characteristics, including the
physical properties and thickness of each stratum that may be impacted, and
location of ground water where occurring;
B) Chemical analyses for acid- or
toxic-forming or alkalinity-producing materials and their content in the strata
immediately above and below the coal seam to be mined;
C) Chemical analyses of the coal seam for
acid- or toxic-forming materials, including the total sulfur and pyritic
sulfur, except that the Department may find that the analysis of pyritic sulfur
content is unnecessary to determine whether adverse impacts will occur to the
hydrologic balance; and
D) For
room-and-pillar mining operations, the thickness and engineering properties of
clays or soft rocks such as clay shale, if any, in the stratum immediately
above and below each coal seam to be mined.
c) If determined to be necessary to protect
the hydrologic balance, to minimize or prevent subsidence, or to meet the
performance standards of 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1817, the Department shall require
the collection, analysis and description of geologic information in addition to
that required by subsection (b).
d)
An applicant may request the Department to waive in whole or in part the
requirements of subsections (b)(2) and (b)(3). The waiver shall be granted only
if the Department finds in writing that the collection and analysis of such
data is unnecessary because other information having equal value or effect is
available to the Department in a satisfactory form.