Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) General. All surface mining and
reclamation activities shall be conducted to minimize disturbance of the
hydrologic balance within the permit and adjacent areas, to prevent material
damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area, such as diminution of
recharge capacity, to prevent violations of State and Federal water quality
standards and effluent limitations, to assure the protection or replacement of
water rights, and to support approved post-mining land uses in accordance with
the terms and conditions of the approved permit and the performance standards
of this Part. The Department shall require additional preventative, remedial,
or monitoring measures to assure that material damage to the hydrologic balance
outside the permit area is prevented if the current approved plan is not
sufficient to achieve this protection. Mining and reclamation practices that
minimize water pollution and changes in flow shall be used in preference to
water treatment.
b) Ground water
protection. In order to protect the hydrologic balance, surface mining
activities shall be conducted according to the plan approved under 62 Ill. Adm.
Code
1780.21(h)
and the following:
1) Ground water quality
shall be protected by handling earth materials and runoff in a manner that
minimizes acidic, toxic, or other harmful infiltration to ground water systems
and by managing excavations and other disturbances to prevent or control the
discharge of pollutants into the ground water.
2) Ground water quantity shall be protected
by handling earth materials and runoff in a manner that will restore the
approximate premining recharge capacity of the reclaimed area as a whole,
excluding coal mine waste disposal areas and fills, so as to allow the movement
of water to the ground water system.
c) Ground water monitoring.
1) Ground water monitoring shall be conducted
according to the ground water monitoring plan approved under 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1780.21(i).
If unanticipated conditions develop, or if an approved operation or reclamation
plan is modified or revised such that the current monitoring program would not
detect possible adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance as a result of this
change, then the Department shall require additional monitoring including, but
not limited, to increased monitoring frequency, additional monitoring wells or
changes in the number of parameters being monitored, when it is determined that
the proposed, or approved, monitoring plan is not adequate to detect adverse
impacts to the hydrologic balance.
2) Ground water monitoring data shall be
submitted every 3 months to the Department or more frequently as prescribed by
the Department. Ground water monitoring reports shall be submitted by the first
day of the second month following the reporting period, unless the Department
specifies an alternative reporting schedule. Monitoring reports shall include
analytical results from each sample taken during the reporting period. When the
analysis of any ground water sample indicates noncompliance with the permit
conditions, then the operator shall promptly notify the Department and
immediately take the actions provided for in 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1773.17(e)
and
1780.21(h).
3) Ground water monitoring shall proceed
through mining and continue during reclamation until bond release. Consistent
with the procedures of 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1774.13, the
Department may modify the monitoring requirements when such changes to the
approved plan do not diminish the ability to detect adverse impacts to the
hydrologic balance, including the parameters covered and the sampling
frequencies, if the operator demonstrates, using the monitoring data obtained
under this subsection that:
A) The operation
has minimized disturbance to the hydrologic balance in the permit and adjacent
areas and prevented material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the
permit area; water quality and quantity are suitable to support approved
post-mining land uses; and the water rights of other users have been protected
or replaced; or
B) Monitoring is no
longer necessary to achieve the purposes set forth in the monitoring plan
approved under 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1780.21.
4) Equipment, structures, and other devices
used in conjunction with monitoring the quality and quantity of ground water
onsite and offsite shall be properly installed, maintained, and operated and
shall be removed by the operator when no longer needed, except as provided for
under subsection (g).
d)
Surface water protection. In order to protect the hydrologic balance, surface
mining activities shall be conducted according to the plan approved under 62
Ill. Adm. Code
1780.21(h)
and the following:
1) Surface water quality
shall be protected by handling earth materials, ground water discharges, and
runoff in a manner that minimizes the formation of acidic or toxic drainage;
prevents, to the extent possible using the best technology currently available,
additional contributions of suspended solids to streamflow outside the permit
area; and otherwise prevents water pollution. If drainage control,
restabilization and revegetation of disturbed areas, diversion of runoff,
mulching, or other reclamation and remedial practices are not adequate to meet
the requirements of this Section and Section
1816.42,
the operator shall use and maintain the necessary water treatment facilities or
water quality controls.
2) Surface
water quantity and flow rates shall be protected by handling earth materials
and runoff in accordance with the steps outlined in the plan approved under 62
Ill. Adm. Code
1780.21(h).
e) Surface water monitoring.
1) Surface water monitoring shall be
conducted according to the surface water monitoring plan approved under 62 Ill.
Adm. Code
1780.21(j).
If unanticipated conditions develop, or if an approved operation or reclamation
plan is modified or revised such that the current monitoring program would not
detect possible adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance as a result of this
change, then the Department shall require additional monitoring including, but
not limited to, changes in the number of parameters or frequency of sample
collection, when it is determined that the approved plan is not designed to
detect adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance.
2) Surface water monitoring data shall be
submitted to the Department every 3 months, or more frequently as prescribed by
the Department in those circumstances where a more frequent monitoring schedule
is necessary to detect adverse impacts to the surface water system. This shall
include, but not necessarily be limited to, copies of reports submitted for the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) sent to the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Copies of NPDES reports shall be sent to
the Department by the first day of the second month following the reporting
period. Monitoring reports shall include analytical results from each sample
taken during the reporting period. When the analytical results of any surface
water sample indicates noncompliance with the permit conditions, the operator
shall notify the Department within 5 days and immediately take the actions
provided for in 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1773.17(e)
and
1780.21(h).
The reporting requirements of this paragraph do not exempt the operator from
meeting any NPDES reporting requirements.
3) Surface water monitoring shall proceed
through mining and continue until bond release. Consistent with 62 Ill. Adm.
Code 1774.13, the Department may modify the monitoring requirements, except
those required by the Illinois EPA, when such changes to the approved plan do
not diminish the ability to detect adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance,
including the parameters covered and sampling frequency if the operator
demonstrates using the monitoring data that:
A) The operation has minimized disturbance to
the hydrologic balance in the permit and adjacent areas and prevented material
damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area; water quantity and
quality are suitable to support approved post-mining land uses; and the water
rights of other users have been protected or replaced; or
B) Monitoring is no longer necessary to
achieve the purposes set forth in the monitoring plan approved under 62 Ill.
Adm. Code
1780.21(j).
4) Equipment, structures, and
other devices used in conjunction with monitoring the quality and quantity of
surface water onsite and offsite shall be properly installed, maintained, and
operated and shall be removed by the operator when no longer needed, except as
provided for in Section
1816.49(b).
f) Acid- and toxic-forming
materials.
1) Drainage from acid- and
toxic-forming materials into surface water and ground water shall be avoided
by:
A) Identifying and burying and/or
treating, when necessary, materials which may adversely affect water quality,
or be detrimental to vegetation or to public health and safety if not buried
and/or treated, and
B) Storing
materials in a manner that will protect surface water and ground water by
preventing erosion, the formation of polluted runoff, and the infiltration of
polluted water. Storage shall be limited to the period until burial and/or
treatment first become feasible, and so long as storage will not result in any
risk of water pollution or other environmental damage.
2) Storage, burial or treatment practices
shall be consistent with other material handling and disposal provisions of
Section
1816.102.
g) Before final release of bond,
exploratory or monitoring wells shall be sealed in a safe and environmentally
sound manner in accordance with Sections
1816.13
through
1816.15.
With prior approval of the Department, wells may be transferred to another
party for further use. At a minimum, the conditions of such transfer shall
comply with State and local law and the permittee shall remain responsible for
the proper management of the well until bond release in accordance with
Sections
1816.13
through 1816.15.
h) Any person who
conducts surface mining activities shall replace the water supply of an owner
of interest in real property who obtains all or part of his or her supply of
water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other legitimate use from an
underground or surface source, where the water supply has been adversely
impacted by contamination, diminution, or interruption proximately resulting
from the surface mining activities. Information used to determine the extent of
the impact of mining upon ground water and surface water shall include, but not
be limited to, baseline hydrologic information required in 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1780.21
and
1780.22.
i) Discharges into an underground mine.
1) Discharges into an underground mine are
prohibited, unless specifically approved by the Department after a
demonstration that the discharge will:
A)
Minimize disturbance to the hydrologic balance on the permit area, prevent
material damage outside the permit area and otherwise eliminate public hazards
resulting from surface mining activities;
B) Not result in a violation of water quality
standards or effluent limitations set forth in Section 1816.42;
C) Be at a known rate and quality which shall
meet the effluent limitations of Section
1816.42
for pH and total suspended solids, except that the Department may allow pH and
total suspended solids to exceed effluent limits so long they will not result
in any adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance, and
D) Meet with the approval of the Mine Safety
and Health Administration.
2) Discharges shall be limited to the
following:
A) Water;
B) Coal processing waste;
C) Fly ash from a coal-fired
facility;
D) Sludge from an
acid-mine drainage treatment facility;
E) Flue-gas desulfurization sludge;
F) Inert materials used for stabilizing
underground mines; and
G)
Underground mine development wastes.