Sec. 128.
(a) All
affected areas shall be restored in a timely manner to:
(1) conditions that are capable of supporting
the uses which they were capable of supporting before any mining; or
(2) higher or better uses achievable under
criteria and procedures of this section.
(b) The premining uses of land to which the
postmining land use is compared shall be those uses that the land previously
supported, if the land had not been previously mined and had been properly
managed. Determinations concerning land use may also consider the following:
(1) The postmining land use for land that has
been previously mined and not reclaimed shall be judged on the basis of the
highest and best use that can be achieved.
(2) The postmining land use for land that has
received improper management shall be judged on the basis of the premining use
of surrounding lands that have received proper management.
(3) If the premining use of the land was
changed within five (5) years of the beginning of mining, the comparison of
postmining use to premining use shall include a comparison with the historic
use of the land as well as its use immediately preceding mining.
(c) Prior to the release of lands
from the permit area in accordance with
312 IAC
25-5-16 the permit area shall be restored, in a timely
manner, either to conditions capable of supporting the uses they were capable
of supporting before any mining or to conditions capable of supporting approved
alternative land uses. Alternative land uses shall be approved by the director
after consultation with the landowner or the land management agency having
jurisdiction over the lands, if the following criteria are met:
(1) The proposed postmining land use is
compatible, with adjacent land use and where applicable, with existing local,
Indiana, or federal (for federally controlled lands) land use policies and
plans, a written statement of the views of the authorities with statutory
responsibilities for land use policies and plans shall have been submitted to
the director within sixty (60) days of notice by the director and before
underground mining activities begin. Any required approval, including any
necessary zoning or other changes required for the land use by local, Indiana,
or federal (for federally controlled lands) land management agencies, is
obtained prior to bond release.
(2)
Specific plans are prepared and submitted to the director that show the
feasibility of the postmining land use that include a schedule showing how the
proposed use will be developed and achieved within a reasonable time after
mining and be sustained. The director may require appropriate demonstrations to
show that the planned procedures are feasible, reasonable, and integrated with
mining and reclamation, and that the plans will result in successful
reclamation.
(3) Provision of any
necessary public facilities is ensured as evidenced by letters of commitment
from parties other than the person who conducts underground mining activities,
as appropriate, to provide the public facilities in a manner compatible with
the plans submitted under
312
IAC 25-4-86. The letters shall be submitted to the
director before underground mining activities begin.
(4) Specific and feasible plans are submitted
to the director that show that financing and attainment and maintenance of the
postmining land use are feasible.
(5) Plans for the postmining land uses are
designed under the general supervision of a registered professional engineer,
or other appropriate professionals, who will ensure that the plans conform to
applicable accepted standards for adequate land stability, drainage, vegetative
cover, and aesthetic design appropriate for the postmining use of the
site.
(6) The proposed use or uses
will neither present actual or probable hazard to public health or safety nor
will they pose any actual or probable threat of water flow diminution or
pollution.
(7) The use or uses will
not involve unreasonable delays in reclamation.
(8) Necessary approval of measures to prevent
or mitigate adverse effects on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values
and threatened or endangered plants is obtained from the director and
appropriate Indiana and federal fish and wildlife management agencies have been
provided a sixty (60) day period in which to review the plan before mining
activities begin.
(9) Proposals to
change premining land uses of fish and wildlife habitat, forest land, hayland,
or pasture to a postmining cropland use, where the cropland would require
continuous maintenance, such as seeding, plowing, cultivation, fertilization,
or other similar practices to be practicable or to comply with applicable
federal, Indiana, and local laws, are reviewed by the director to ensure the
following:
(A) There is sufficient water
available and committed to maintain crop production.
(B) Topsoil quality and depth are sufficient
to support the proposed use.
(10) Air and water quality resulting from the
alternative postmining land use will not be impacted in a way that will have a
greater adverse effect upon the land within the proposed permit area and
adjacent areas than if the alternative postmining land use was not
approved.
(d) The
requirements of subsection (c) concerning plans and demonstrations to be made
prior to the commencement of underground mining activities for alternate
postmining land uses are not applicable if the demonstration under
312
IAC 25-4-86(c) is approved by the
department.
