Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
350.020,
350.090,
350.093,
350.151,
350.410,
350.440,
350.465,
30 C.F.R. Parts 730-733, 735,
817.59,
817.99,
817.131
-.132, 917,
30 U.S.C. 1253,
1255,
1266
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 350 requires
the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations establishing performance
standards for protection of people and property, land, water and other natural
resources, and aesthetic values, during underground mining activities and for
restoration and reclamation of surface areas affected by underground mining
activities. This administrative regulation contains general performance
standards for maximizing coal recovery, prevention, and correction of
landslides, temporary cessation of operations, permanent abandonment of
operations, and protection against the sudden release of water accumulated in
underground workings to the land surface.
Section
1. Applicability. The provisions of this chapter shall be
applicable to all underground mining activities including coal processing
plants, conducted pursuant to 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24. The requirements
of 405 KAR Chapter 18 shall also apply to those special categories of
underground mining activities for which performance standards are established
in 405 KAR 20:020 through
405 KAR
20:080, except to the extent that a provision of those
administrative regulations specifically exempts a particular category from a
particular requirement of 405 KAR Chapter 18.
Section 2. Coal Recovery. Underground mining
activities shall be conducted so as to maximize the utilization and
conservation of the coal, while utilizing the best appropriate technology
currently available to maintain environmental integrity, so that reaffecting
the land in the future through surface coal operations shall be
minimized.
Section 3. Slides. At
any time a slide occurs that may have a potential adverse effect on property,
health, safety, or the environment, the permittee shall notify the cabinet by
the fastest available means and comply with any remedial measures required by
the cabinet pursuant to 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24.
Section 4. Permanent Abandonment of
Operations.
(1) Notice required. On or before
the date of permanent abandonment of operations, the permittee shall provide
written notice to the cabinet that permanent abandonment is intended.
(2) Prior to permanent abandonment, and prior
to removal of necessary equipment from the site, all affected areas shall be
closed, backfilled, and otherwise permanently reclaimed in accordance with the
requirements of KRS Chapter 350, KAR Title 405, and the permit.
(3) All equipment, underground openings,
structures, or other facilities not required for monitoring shall be removed
and the affected areas reclaimed unless the cabinet approves the retention of
the equipment, openings, structures, or other facilities as compatible with the
post-mining land use or as beneficial to environmental monitoring.
Section 5. Temporary Cessation of
Operations.
(1) Notice required. Prior to a
temporary cessation of operations that the permittee intends to last for thirty
(30) days or more, or as soon as it is known to the permittee that an existing
temporary cessation will last beyond thirty (30) days, the permittee shall
provide written notice to the cabinet that temporary cessation is anticipated.
The notice shall state to what extent equipment will be removed from the site
during the temporary cessation, and shall state the approximate date on which
the permittee intends that operations will be resumed.
(2) Temporary cessation shall not relieve a
permittee of the obligation to comply with
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g), the surface and groundwater
monitoring requirements of
405 KAR
18:110, and the obligation to comply with all
applicable conditions of the permit during the cessation.
(3) During temporary cessations, equipment
and facilities necessary to environmental monitoring or to compliance with
performance standards shall be made secure to the extent practicable.
Section 6. Protection Against
Sudden Release of Water Accumulated in Underground Workings to the Land
Surface.
(1) Except where surface openings are
approved in the permit, an unmined barrier of coal shall be left where the
underground workings dip toward and approach the land surface. The cabinet
shall waive this requirement if the proposed operation complies with all other
applicable requirements of 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, KRS Chapter 350, and
either:
(a) The applicant has demonstrated in
the permit application to the satisfaction of the cabinet, based upon the
geologic and hydrologic conditions in the permit area and shadow area, that
accumulation of water in the underground workings cannot reasonably be expected
to occur; or
(b) Adequate measures
to prevent accumulation of water in the underground workings have been included
in the permit application and have been approved by the cabinet.
(2) If an unmined barrier of coal
is required pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, it shall be of
sufficient width to prevent failure and sudden release of water accumulated in
underground workings to the land surface.
(a)
The cabinet shall determine on a case-by-case basis the width of the unmined
barrier of coal that shall be required to comply with this subsection in
accordance with paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(b)
1. The
width of the unmined barrier of coal shall not be less than the width given by
the following formula: W = 50 + H, where W is the minimum width in feet and H
is the maximum hydrostatic head in feet that can build up on the unmined
barrier of coal.
2. The cabinet
shall approve, for the purpose of protecting against the sudden release of
water accumulated in underground workings to the land surface, a width less
than the minimum width determined by this formula if the applicant has
demonstrated in the permit application to the satisfaction of the cabinet that
the lesser width shall achieve the purpose of this subsection.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
350.020,
350.028,
350.151,
350.465,
30 C.F.R. Parts 730-733, 735,
817.59,
817.99,
817.131
-.132, 917,
30 U.S.C. 1253,
1255,
1266
