Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A.
Thin
Overburden-insufficient spoil and other waste materials available from
the entire permit area to restore the disturbed area to its approximate
original contour.
1. Insufficient spoil and
other waste materials occur where the overburden thickness times the swell
factor, plus the thickness of other available waste materials, is less than the
combined thickness of the overburden and coal bed prior to removing the coal,
so that after backfilling and grading the surface configuration of the
reclaimed area would not:
a. closely resemble
the surface configuration of the land prior to mining; or
b. blend into and complement the drainage
pattern of the surrounding terrain.
B. In surface mining activities carried out
continuously in the same limited pit area for more than one year from the day
coal removal operations begin and where the volume of all available spoil and
suitable waste materials over the mine plan area is demonstrated to be
insufficient to achieve the approximate original contour of the lands
disturbed, surface mining activities shall be conducted to meet, at a minimum,
the following standards:
1. haul or convey,
backfill and grade, using all available spoil and suitable waste materials from
the entire mine area, to attain the lowest practicable stable grade, to achieve
a static safety factor of 1.3, and to provide adequate drainage and long-term
stability of the regraded areas and cover all acid-forming and toxic-forming
materials;
2. eliminate highwalls
by grading or backfilling to stable slopes not exceeding 1v:2h (50 percent), or
such lesser slopes as the office may specify to reduce erosion, maintain the
hydrologic balance, or allow the approved post-mining land use;
3. haul or convey, backfill, grade and
revegetate in accordance with §5417-5423 to achieve an ecologically sound land
use compatible with the prevailing use in unmined areas surrounding the mine
plan area; and
4. haul or convey,
backfill and grade to ensure impoundments are constructed only where:
a. it has been demonstrated to the
satisfaction of the office that all requirements of §5319-5347 have been
met;
b. the impoundments have been
approved by the office as suitable for the approved post-mining land use and as
meeting the requirements of this Chapter and all other applicable federal and
state laws and regulations.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
30:901-932.
