Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) Success of
Revegetation
1) Success of revegetation shall
be judged in accordance with this Section, Section 1817.117, and as described
in the Agricultural Lands Productivity Formula (Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, Office of Mines and Minerals, Land Reclamation Division and Illinois
Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Land and Water Resources October 19, 2021,
this incorporation includes no later amendments or additions). The Agricultural
Lands Productivity Formula is a program that compares reclaimed field crop
yields against projected county yields adjusted annually for weather
variations. The Agricultural Lands Productivity Formula is described in writing
and made available to the public.
2) Requirements
A) The period of extended responsibility for
successful revegetation shall begin after the last year of augmented seeding,
fertilizing, irrigation, or other work, excluding husbandry practices that are
approved by the Department in accordance with subsection (a)(2)(C).
B) The period of extended responsibility
shall continue for a period of not less than 5 full years, except that on lands
eligible for remining, the period of responsibility shall be 2 full years.
Vegetation parameters identified in subsection (a)(1) shall equal or exceed the
approved success standard set forth in subsection (a)(3).
C) The Department shall approve selective
husbandry practices, excluding irrigation or augmented seeding or augmented
fertilization, without extending the period of responsibility for revegetation
success and bond liability, if such practices can be expected to continue as
part of the post-mining land use or if discontinuance of the practices after
the liability period expires will not reduce the probability of permanent
revegetation success. Approved practices shall be normal conservation and land
use management practices within the region for unmined lands having land uses
similar to the approved post-mining land use of the disturbed area, including
such practices as diseases, pest, and vermin control; any pruning, reseeding
and/or transplanting specifically necessitated by such actions; approved
agricultural practices described in the Illinois Agronomy Handbook,
24th Edition (University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana, University of Illinois Extension, College of Agriculture,
Consumer and Environmental Science, (2009; this incorporation includes no later
amendments or editions)); and those practices that are a part of an approved
conservation plan subject to the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002
(P.L. 107-171; 116 Stat. 134). On all lands with a post-mining land use other
than cropland, any areas reseeded or replanted as a part or result of a normal
husbandry practice must be sufficiently small in size and limited in extent of
occurrence, or part of a hay management plan which is an agricultural practice
described by the Illinois Agronomy Handbook or as part of an approved
conservation plan subject to the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of
2002, and the reestablished vegetation must be in place for a sufficient length
of time so as not to adversely affect the Department's ability to make a valid
determination at the time of bond release as to whether the site has been
properly reclaimed to a condition in which it will support a diverse,
effective, permanent vegetative cover of the required nature and productivity.
The Illinois Agronomy Handbook is published by the University of
Illinois-Cooperative Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications
and Education, 69E Mumford Hall, 1301 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, Illinois
61801. Copies of the Illinois Agronomy Handbook and the Farm Security and Rural
Investment Act of 2002 are available at the Department's Springfield
office.
D) Rill and gully repair on
cropland-capable reclaimed land will not be considered augmentation if a
permittee has an approved erosion control plan in place in the field pursuant
to 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1823.14(g) or 1825.14(f), and shortly after the first
rainfall event after the repair, the Department makes the following
determinations:
i) the area is a minor
erosional feature;
ii) the area is
small;
iii) the erosion is not
expected to recur; and
iv) the area
is stable.
The Department shall notify the permittee in writing whether or
not a repair is augmentative. Such written notice shall be in the form of an
inspection report or other document issued by the Department.
E) Rill and gully repair on
noncropland-capable land will not be considered augmentation if, shortly after
the first rainfall event after the repair, the Department makes the following
determinations:
i) the area is a minor
erosional feature;
ii) the area is
small;
iii) the erosion is not
expected to recur; and
iv) the area
is stable.
The Department shall notify the permittee in writing whether or
not a repair is augmentative. Such written notice shall be in the form of an
inspection report or other document issued by the Department.
F) Augmentation
Wetlands shall be considered augmented when significant
alterations are made to the size or character of the watershed, pumping is used
to maintain water levels, or neutralizing agents, chemical treatments or
fertilizers are applied to the wetland area, except that wetlands managed as
wildlife food plot areas using agricultural techniques shall not be considered
augmented when normal agricultural husbandry practices, such as routine liming
and fertilization, are used. The application of neutralization agents and
fertilizers used for minor remediation work or repairs is considered a normal
husbandry practice and not augmentative. Water level management using permanent
water control structures is considered a normal husbandry practice.
G) Other Management Practices
The Department shall approve the use of deep tillage for prime
farmland and high capability land as a beneficial practice that will not
restart the 5 year period of responsibility, if the following conditions are
met:
i) The permittee has submitted a
request to use the practice and has identified the field that will be deep
tilled;
ii) One or more hay crops,
or other acceptable row crops, have been grown or will be grown to dry out the
subsoil prior to deep tilling the field; and
iii) The Department has determined that the
use of deep tillage will be beneficial to the soil structure and long term crop
production of the field and the benefits will continue well beyond the
responsibility period.
The Department shall notify the permittee in writing of its
decision. Such written notice shall be in the form of an inspection report or
other document issued by the Department.
3) Ground cover and production shall be
considered equal to the approved success standard when they are not less than
90% of the success standard. The sampling techniques for measuring success
shall use a 90% statistical confidence interval (i.e., one-sided t test with a
0.10 alpha error). Vegetative ground cover shall be measured using the
technique set forth in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1817.117(d). Standards for success
shall be applied in accordance with the approved post-mining land use and, at a
minimum, the following conditions:
A) The
vegetative ground cover for areas previously disturbed by mining operations
that were not reclaimed to the requirements of 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1800 through
1828, and that are remined or otherwise redisturbed by surface coal mining
operations, shall not be less than the greater of 70% or the percentage of
ground cover existing before redisturbance, and shall be adequate to control
erosion during the last year of the responsibility period;
B) For areas to be developed for industrial,
commercial or residential use less than 2 years after regrading is completed,
the vegetative ground cover shall not be less than that required to control
erosion and shall not be less than 70%;
C) For areas designated in the approved
reclamation plan as cropland, except those cropland areas subject to 62 Ill.
Adm. Code 1823.15, success of revegetation of cropland areas shall be
determined in accordance with 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(4) or (a)(6). Crop
production shall be considered successful if it is 90% of that crop production
required in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(4) or (a)(6). Crop production shall
be considered successful if it is 90% of that crop production required in 62
Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(4) or (a)(6) with 90% statistical confidence (i.e.,
one-sided t test with a 0.10 alpha error) for a minimum of any 2 crop years of
a 10 year period prior to release of the performance bond, except the first
year of the 5 year responsibility period. During the extended 5 year
responsibility period, erosion from cropland must be minimized using equivalent
or better management practices than surrounding unmined cropland. The 5 year
responsibility period shall begin after the last year of augmented seeding,
fertilizing, or soil treatment and at the time of the planting of the crops to
be grown for the productivity showing or crops grown in rotation. Crop
production for proof of productivity purposes shall be initiated within 10
years after completion of backfilling and final grading. All cropland shall be
maintained using proper management practices as set forth in subsection
(a)(2)(C) until the end of the responsibility period. Once chosen by the
permittee, the productivity alternative in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(6) may
not be modified without approval from the Department;
D) For areas to be developed for fish and
wildlife habitat (including shelter belts), recreation, or forest products land
uses, success of revegetation shall be determined on the basis of tree and
shrub populations and ground cover. The tree and shrub population and ground
cover shall meet the standards described in Section 1817.117;
E) For areas designated as pasture and/or
hayland or grazing land in the approved reclamation plan, except for erosion
control devices and other structures (i.e., levees, ditches, waterways,
impounding structure, etc.) productivity success (tons of grasses and/or
legumes per acre) shall be determined in accordance with 62 Ill. Adm. Code
1816.116(a)(4) or (a)(6). Productivity shall be considered successful if it is
90% of the productivity required in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(4) or (a)(6)
with 90% statistical confidence (i.e., one-sided t test with a 0.10 alpha
error) for a minimum of any 2 crop years of a 10 year period prior to release
of the performance bond, except the first year of the 5 year extended
responsibility period. All pasture, hayland and grazing land shall be
maintained using proper management practices as set forth in subsection
(a)(2)(C), until the end of the responsibility period. Production for proof of
productivity purposes shall be initiated within 10 years after completion of
backfilling and final grading. Ground cover shall be considered successful if
it is 90% with 90% statistical confidence (i.e., one sided t test with a 0.10 alpha error) for a minimum of any 2 years of a 10 year period prior to the
release of the performance bond, except the first year of the 5 year extended
responsibility period. On high capability land, the Department shall allow the
permittee to substitute corn production for hay production. If determined to be
a proper management practice in accordance with subsection (a)(2)(C), the
Department shall allow the permittee to substitute one year of crop production
of an allowable crop specified in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(4)(D) for one
year of hay production on limited capability land. Once chosen by the
permittee, the productivity alternative in 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(6) may
not be modified without approval from the Department; and
F) Non-contiguous areas less than or equal to
4 acres which were disturbed from activities such as, but not limited to,
signs, boreholes, power poles, stockpiles and substations shall be considered
successfully revegetated if the permittee can demonstrate that the soil
disturbance was minor, i.e., the majority of the subsoil remains in place, the
soil has been returned to its original capability and the area is supporting
its approved post-mining land use at the end of the responsibility
period.
4) In order to
use the Agricultural Lands Productivity Formula, or the alternative under 62
Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(6), to determine success of revegetation, the
requirements of 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816.116(a)(4) shall apply.
5) Wetland revegetation shall be deemed
successful when:
A) The applicable wetland
vegetation criteria included in the following reference materials have been
met: Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual (Department of the Army
Technical Report Y-87-1, January 1987, published by the Department of the Army,
Waterways Experiment Station, Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 631, Vicksburg,
Mississippi 39180-0631), Regional Supplement to the Corp of Engineers Wetlands
Delineation Manual: Midwest Region (Department of the Army ERDC/EL TR-10-16,
August 2010, published by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Engineer
Research and Development Center, 3909 Ferry Halls Road, Vicksburg, MS
39180-6199), and the National Wetland Plant List for the State of Illinois
(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2018, National Wetland Plant List, version 3.4
http://wetland-plants.usace.army.mil).
The reference materials are available for inspection and copying at the
Department's Springfield office; and
B) Areas designed to support vegetation in
the approved plan shall have a minimum areal coverage of 30%. The testing
procedure in Section 1817.117(d)(1) through (3) shall be used to evaluate the
extent of cover. Areal cover shall be determined to be present if any approved
wetland species is measured at the increment. The percentage of areal cover
shall be established for the area tested by taking the total number of
measurements where areal cover was determined to be present.
b) The person who
conducts underground mining activities shall:
1) Conduct periodic measurements of
vegetation, soils, and water prescribed or approved by the Department, to
identify if remedial actions are necessary during the applicable period of
liability specified in subsection (a).
2) Initiate a soil compaction and fertility
testing plan, subject to the approval of the Department, for areas that have
incurred five unsuccessful attempts to meet the production required by
subsection (a)(3)(C) or (E) or 62 Ill. Adm. Code 1823.15, or shall initiate
deep tillage under appropriate soil moisture conditions on the areas, subject
to the approval of the Department.
3) Permittees shall submit by February 15 of
each year a report of reclamation activities conducted during the previous
calendar year, which initiate or may alter the responsibility period or are
specifically required by the Department to evaluate a normal husbandry
practice, using forms provided by the Department. Examples of reclamation
activities to be reported and/or evaluated include, but are not limited to,
crops used in temporary and permanent seedings, grasses and legumes planted,
trees and shrubs planted, soil amendments added, and type and location of
augmentation activities. The forms shall be submitted with a copy of the
approved post-mining land use and capability map depicting the location of such
activities. The map shall be planned as a continuous map so the reclamation
activities conducted each year may be added and indicated on the map by the
dates the activities were conducted.