Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
151.100,
151.250(3),
350.020,
350.100,
350.151,
350.420,
350.465,
30 C.F.R. Parts 730-733, 735,
817.46,
917,
30 U.S.C. 1253,
1255,
1266
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS 350.028(1),
(5),
350.151(1),
and
350.465(2)
authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations relating to
surface and underground coal mining operations. This administrative regulation
establishes the requirements for the location, design, construction,
certification, maintenance, removal, and retention of sedimentation ponds for
underground mines.
Section 1. General
Requirements. Sedimentation ponds shall be used individually or in series and
shall:
(1) Comply with Sections 1 through 6 of
this administrative regulation and
405 KAR
18:100;
(2)
(a) In
accordance with
405 KAR
18:100, Section 1(2), be designed and certified by a
qualified registered professional engineer as meeting the requirements of
Sections 1 through 6 of this administrative regulation and
405 KAR
18:100;
(b) In accordance with
405 KAR
18:100, Section 1(9), be inspected during construction
by or under the direct supervision of the responsible registered professional
engineer, and after construction be certified by the responsible registered
professional engineer as having been constructed in accordance with the
approved design plans;
(3) Be constructed and certified under
subsection (2) of this section before any disturbance in the watershed that
drains into the sedimentation pond and prior to any discharge of water to
surface waters from underground mine workings; and
(4) Be located as near as possible to the
disturbed area and out of perennial streams, unless approved by the cabinet,
pursuant to the cabinet's authority in
KRS
350.050.
Section 2. Sediment Storage Volume.
Sedimentation ponds shall provide adequate sediment storage volume as approved
on a case-by-case basis by the cabinet based upon the anticipated volume of
sediment to be collected and a feasible plan for clean-out operations. The plan
shall include a time schedule or clean-out elevations, or an appropriate
combination, that shall provide periodic sediment removal sufficient to
maintain adequate volume for the sediment to be collected during the design
precipitation event under Section 3 of this administrative regulation. The
proposed clean-out plan shall be included in the design and shall be approved
if the cabinet determines that the proposed plan is feasible.
Section 3. Detention Time. Sedimentation
ponds shall be designed, constructed, and maintained to:
(1) Provide detention time such that
discharges from the sedimentation pond shall meet the requirements of
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g); and
(2)
(a)
Contain the runoff from the ten (10) year, twenty-four (24) hour precipitation
event by providing a runoff storage volume, between the top elevation of the
design sediment storage volume and the principal spillway elevation, equal to
or greater than the runoff from that precipitation event. The cabinet may
approve a smaller runoff storage volume based on terrain, the amount of
disturbance, other site specific conditions, and a demonstration by the
permittee that the effluent limitations of
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g) will be met; or
(b) Treat the runoff from the ten (10) year,
twenty-four (24) hour precipitation event by using other treatment facilities
in conjunction with adequate runoff storage volume, so that the effluent
limitations of
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g), will be met.
Section 4. Dewatering.
The water storage resulting from inflow shall be removed by a nonclogging
dewatering device or spillway approved by the cabinet, pursuant to the
cabinet's authority in
KRS 350.050.
The dewatering device or spillway shall not be located at a lower elevation
than the top elevation of the design sediment storage volume.
Section 5. Other Requirements.
(1) Each permittee shall design, construct,
and maintain sedimentation ponds to prevent short-circuiting to the extent
possible.
(2) The design,
construction, and maintenance of a sedimentation pond or other sediment control
measures in accordance with Sections 1 through 6 of this administrative
regulation shall not relieve the permittee from compliance with
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g).
(3) The design shall take into account the
volume of water and sediment contributed by the underground mine
discharge.
(4) Sediment shall be
removed from sedimentation ponds in accordance with the approved clean-out
plan.
(5) Spillways shall be
provided in accordance with
405 KAR
18:100. Emergency spillway grades and allowable
velocities shall be approved by the cabinet.
(6) Sedimentation ponds shall be properly
maintained and shall not be removed until the requirements of
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(b) have been met.
(7) Sedimentation ponds shall be removed
prior to final release of bond liability for the permit area unless retention
of the pond is approved by the cabinet under subsection (8) of this section.
After a sedimentation pond is removed, the affected land shall be regraded and
revegetated in accordance with
405 KAR
18:190 and
405 KAR
18:200.
(8) If the cabinet approves retention of a
sedimentation pond as a permanent impoundment, the sedimentation pond shall
meet all the requirements for permanent impoundments under
405 KAR
18:060, Section 10, and
405 KAR
18:100.
Section 6. Other Treatment Facilities.
(1)
(a)
This section applies to "other treatment facilities" as defined in
405 KAR
18:001.
(b) Other treatment facilities may be used in
conjunction with sedimentation ponds.
(c) Other treatment facilities may be used in
place of sedimentation ponds, if specifically approved by the cabinet for that
purpose on a case-by-case basis, pursuant to the cabinet's authority in
KRS
350.050.
(2) Other treatment facilities shall be
designed to treat the ten (10) year, twenty-four (24) hour precipitation event
unless a lesser design event is approved by the cabinet based on terrain,
climate, other site-specific conditions and a demonstration by the permittee
that the effluent limitations of
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g), will be met.
(3) Other treatment facilities shall meet all
requirements for sedimentation ponds, if the requirements can be appropriately
applied to the other treatment facilities. The cabinet shall determine the
applicable requirements on a case-by-case basis depending upon the type of
other treatment facilities. In every case the other treatment facilities shall
be designed, constructed, and maintained to:
(a) Be located as near as possible to the
disturbed area and out of perennial streams unless approved by the cabinet,
pursuant to the cabinet's authority in
KRS
350.050;
(b) Provide adequate sediment storage volume,
as approved on a case-by-case basis by the cabinet based upon the anticipated
volume of sediment to be collected during the design precipitation event and a
feasible plan for clean-out operations;
(c) Provide adequate detention time so that
the discharges shall meet the requirements of
405 KAR
18:070, Section 1(1)(g);
(d) Minimize short circuiting to the extent
possible; and
(e) Provide periodic
sediment removal sufficient to maintain adequate volume for the design event.
The proposed plan for clean-out operations shall be included in the design and
shall be approved if the cabinet determines it is feasible. The plan shall
include a time schedule or clean-out elevations, or an appropriate combination,
sufficient to maintain adequate volume for the sediment to be collected during
the design precipitation event.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS 350.028,
350.151(1),
350.465(2),
30 C.F.R. Parts 730-733, 735,
817.46,
917,
30 U.S.C. 1253,
1255,
1266
