Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
350.151,
350.420,
350.465
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 establishes requirements for
temporary and permanent casing, sealing, or other management of drill holes,
boreholes, shafts, wells, or other exposed underground openings.
Section 1. General Requirements.
(1) Each exploration hole, other drill hole
or borehole, shaft, well, or other exposed underground opening shall be cased,
lined, or otherwise managed as approved by the cabinet, as necessary to prevent
acid or other toxic drainage from entering ground and surface waters, to
minimize disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance, and to ensure the
safety of people, livestock, fish and wildlife, and machinery in the permit
area, shadow area, and adjacent area.
(2) Each exploration hole, drill hole or
borehole or well that is uncovered or exposed by mining activities within the
permit area or shadow area shall be permanently closed, unless approved for
water monitoring or otherwise managed in a manner approved by the cabinet in
accordance with 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24.
(3) Use of a drilled hole or monitoring well
as a water well shall comply with
405 KAR
18:060, Section 6.
(4) This section shall not apply to holes
drilled and used for blasting, in the area affected by surface
operations.
Section 2.
Temporary.
(1) Each mine entry that is
temporarily inactive, but has a further projected useful service under the
approved permit application, shall be protected by barricades or other covering
devices, fenced, and posted with signs, to prevent access into the entry and to
identify the hazardous nature of the opening. These devices shall be
periodically inspected and maintained in good operating condition by the person
who conducts the underground mining activities.
(2) Each exploration hole, other drill hole
or borehole, shaft, well, or other exposed underground opening that has been
identified in the approved permit application for use to return underground
development waste, coal processing waste or water to underground workings, or
to be used to monitor ground water conditions, shall be temporarily sealed
until actual use.
Section
3. Permanent.
(1) If no longer
needed for monitoring or other use approved by the cabinet upon a finding of no
adverse effects, or unless approved for transfer as a water well pursuant to
405 KAR
18:060, Section 6, each shaft, drift, adit, tunnel,
exploratory hole, entry-way, or other opening to the surface from underground
shall be capped, sealed, backfilled, or otherwise properly managed, as required
by the cabinet in accordance with Section 1 of this administrative regulation
and
405 KAR
18:060, Section 5 and consistent with
30 C.F.R.
75.1711.
(2) Permanent closure measures shall be
designed to prevent access to the mine workings by people, livestock, fish and
wildlife, machinery, and to keep acid or other toxic drainage from entering
ground or surface waters.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS 350.028,
350.151,
350.465
