Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
151.125,
151.297,
224.10-100,
224.10-410,
350.020,
350.090(1),
350.420
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
350.020 authorizes the Energy and Environment
Cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations that are necessary to
accomplish the purpose of KRS Chapter 350.
KRS
151.125 authorizes the cabinet to promulgate
administrative regulations concerning flood control, water resources,
requirements for dams or reservoirs, and waste planning and management
activities.
KRS
224.10-410 requires the secretary to
promulgate administrative regulations concerning the issuance of abate and
alleviate orders when there is a danger to the health or welfare of the people
of the Commonwealth or to natural resources. This administrative regulation
provides for the control of coal processing waste dams, waste impoundments, and
waste banks in order to prevent loss of life, damage to property, and injurious
effects on the environment of the Commonwealth due to structural failure of
these facilities and is necessary because these facilities are not otherwise
adequately regulated. This administrative regulation provides for submittal of
engineering reports, performance standards, and remedial measures to correct
dangerous facilities.
Section 1.
Applicability. This administrative regulation shall apply to all coal
processing waste disposal sites, such as dams, waste impoundments, or waste
banks that were constructed or utilized after August 3, 1977, regardless of
whether or not the sites are or have been under permit or bond under KRS
Chapter 350.
Section 2. Reports.
(1) Operators or owners of coal processing
waste disposal sites shall submit two (2) copies of the following to the
cabinet regional office:
(a) All existing
information currently available to the operator or owner, including complete
design of the facility, stability analyses, and a description of the coal
processing waste material at the site that includes moisture content and
particle size gradation. This submittal shall also include copies of plans
submitted to or approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
If these plans include all of the information required by this paragraph, then
submittal of copies of the plans shall suffice. If information required by this
paragraph has already been submitted to the cabinet as a part of a permit
application, the operator or owner shall notify the cabinet regional office in
writing and shall not resubmit duplicate material.
(b) As-built drawings of the current phase of
construction or of the completed facility, as applicable, including a map
showing the location of the facility.
(2)
(a)
Analyses and descriptions submitted under subsection (1)(a) of this section
shall be based upon current information available to the operator or
owner.
(b) If the failure of the
facility could cause damage to life or property or injurious effects on the
environment of the Commonwealth, the cabinet shall require the operator or
owner to submit additional plans and analyses or to conduct the investigations
and testing of materials that are necessary to determine the stability of the
facility.
(c) These investigations
and tests may include seepage investigations, settlement studies based on
compressibility and mining subsidence, foundation investigations including
borings or test pits, laboratory testing of foundation materials, and
determination of strength parameters based on laboratory testing of site
specific coal processing waste materials.
Section 3. Performance Standards.
(1) Any coal processing waste disposal site
impounding water, or impounding coal processing waste which is physically
unstable due to excessive moisture content or excessive fine-grained material,
and any dam containing coal processing waste in the embankment shall comply
with
405 KAR
16:100 or
405 KAR
18:100.
(2) All other coal processing waste disposal
sites shall comply with
30 C.F.R.
77.214 as amended at 36 Fed. Reg. 13,143
(1971) and
30 C.F.R.
77.215 as amended at 40 Fed. Reg. 41,776
(1975), except a facility shall not be constructed in a manner that may cause
loss of life, damage to property, or injurious effects on the environment of
the Commonwealth due to structural failure of the facility.
(3) Those portions of structures that have
already been constructed and structures that have been completed shall not be
reconstructed unless reconstruction is necessary to ensure stability of the
facility to:
(a) Eliminate potential hazards
to life or property; or
(b) Prevent
injurious effects on the environment of the Commonwealth.
(4) This administrative regulation shall not
be construed as relieving an operator from the obligation to comply with any
other provision of 405 KAR Chapters 7 - 24, including compliance with the
permanent program performance standards and the requirements for existing
structures in
405 KAR
7:040, Section 4.
Section 4. Remedial Measures. The cabinet may
require operators or owners of coal processing waste disposal sites to revise
the facility design and to implement remedial measures if necessary to comply
with Section 3 of this administrative regulation.
Section 5. Certifications.
(1) All designs, maps, plans, and drawings
submitted under this administrative regulation shall be prepared and certified
by a qualified registered professional engineer.
(2) Construction or reconstruction of coal
processing waste disposal sites shall be inspected during and after
construction by a qualified licensed professional engineer or by qualified
persons under the engineer's supervision. The facility shall be certified
within two (2) weeks of each inspection by the responsible qualified licensed
professional engineer as having been constructed in accordance with the design
approved by the cabinet under 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24. If the cabinet has
not yet reviewed and approved the design, the engineer shall make the
certifications based upon the design approved by MSHA.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
151.125,
224.10-410,
350.020
