Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 13, September 23, 2024
Subpart
1.
Preapplication conferences and site visits.
Before the preparation of an application for a permit to
mine, persons intending to submit an application shall meet with the
commissioner for a preapplication conference and site visit. The purpose is to
review the proposed mining operation and to provide direction on the
preparation of an application for a permit to mine. In conjunction with the
preapplication conference, the commissioner shall hold a public informational
meeting with the assistance of the applicant and invite the participation of
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Environmental Quality Board, and
the local unit of government. A notice of the meeting shall be published once
at least 30 days before the meeting as follows:
A. by the commissioner in the State Register
and the EQB Monitor; and
B. by the
applicant in a qualified newspaper under Minnesota Statutes, section
331A.02,
that is circulated in the locality of the proposed operation.
Subp. 2.
Application.
An application for a permit to mine shall be submitted in
duplicate by the applicant to the commissioner.
Subp. 3.
Documents.
To comply with statutory requirements, the applicant shall
submit:
A. the advertisement and
affidavit of publication according to parts 6132.4000, subpart 1, and
6132.4900;
B. a copy of the
certificate of authority to transact business in Minnesota if the applicant is
a foreign corporation as defined in Minnesota Statutes, sections 300.02 and
303.02;
C. a certificate issued by an insurance
company authorized to do business in the United States under Minnesota
Statutes, section
93.481,
subdivision 1, clause (2), confirming that the applicant has a public liability
insurance policy in force for the mining operation for which the permit is
sought or evidence that the applicant has satisfied other state or federal
self-insurance requirements, to provide personal injury and property damage
protection in an amount adequate to compensate persons who might be damaged as
a result of the mining operation or any reclamation or restoration connected
with the operation; and
D.
documents relating to financial assurance under part 6132.1200.
Subp. 4.
Organizational
structure.
The applicant shall submit the following information on
organizational structure:
A. the post
office address of the applicant;
B.
the organizational structure of the applicant including, but not limited to,
parent companies, owners, principal stockholders, partners, and joint
venturers;
C. managing agents or
subsidiaries that are or may be involved in the mining operation; and
D. organizational relationships between or
among joint applicants.
Subp.
5.
Environmental setting.
To describe the environmental setting of the proposed mining
area, the applicant shall submit:
A. a
copy of the draft environmental impact statement and all environmental reports
prepared relative to the mining operation; and
B. environmental setting maps prepared as
overlays to 7-1/2 minute United States Geological Survey quadrangle maps or
other maps of the same scale delineating the mining area and adjacent lands as
required by the commissioner to show the areas directly or indirectly affected
by mining. The following information as it exists at the time of application
shall be submitted on the overlays:
(1)
bedrock geology, including the general shape of the ore body and appropriate
cross sections that show the horizontal and vertical relationships;
(2) water basins, water courses, and wetlands
that are or could be affected by mining;
(3) boundaries of watersheds that are or
could be affected by mining;
(4)
identification and description of hydrogeologic information including, but not
limited to:
(a) plan view and cross section
maps of overburden and rock features; and
(b) description of features on maps
including, but not limited to, well locations, uses, well logs, pumping rates,
and capacities;
(5)
surface water and groundwater compliance monitoring sites as well as water
quality and toxicity standards established by other regulatory
authorities;
(6) a soil inventory
including soil type, extent, and thickness;
(7) recorded locations of rare, endangered,
and threatened species;
(8) past
mining facilities including storage piles, tailings basins, mines, and
beneficiating plants;
(9) recorded
archeological or historic sites;
(10) all known surface and subsurface uses,
such as pipelines and cables;
(11)
areas identified under part 6132.2000;
(12) zoning ordinances and associated land
use plans applicable to the proposed mining area; and
(13) surface and mineral rights ownership
within the mining area based on information of record in the county recorder's
office. An owner's agent may be identified in place of the owner.
Subp. 6.
Mining
and reclamation plan.
The mining and reclamation plan shall be based on discussions
between the applicant and the commissioner at the preapplication conference and
on results from the mine waste characterization. The mining and reclamation
plan shall describe:
A. the operating
life of the mine, including the rate of mining and anticipated changes in that
rate;
B. the mining activities to
be conducted, including:
(1) the types,
amounts, sequence, and schedule of mining the ore body and storage piling
materials, including the distinctions among ore, lean ore, and waste rock;
and
(2) the ore beneficiating
process, including a discussion of the type and amount of chemicals to be added
and the types, amounts, sequence, schedule, and means of tailings
disposal;
C. the
engineering design, methods, sequence, and schedules of reclamation including
closure and postclosure maintenance that address the goals and meet the
requirements of parts 6132.2000 to 6132.3200, including anticipated reclamation
research; and
D. the mine waste
characterization.
Subp.
7.
Mining and reclamation maps.
The applicant shall submit maps and cross sections containing
all features normally found on a United States Geological Survey quadrangle
map, at a scale that is normally used by the operator for mine planning
purposes, that:
A. define the shape
and extent of the ore body that will support the operating life of the
mine;
B. identify lands proposed
for use as vegetative reference areas;
C. show the detailed drainage patterns for
waters that may contact reactive mine wastes; and
D. show, at intervals during mining approved
by the commissioner based on the preapplication conference, the status of:
(1) mining the ore body;
(2) watershed and hydrogeologic
modifications; and
(3)
construction, including shape, extent, and content, and reclamation, including
contouring, covering, temporary stabilization, vegetation, closure, and
postclosure maintenance, of each of the following: storage pile, tailings
basin, mine, reservoir, dam, diversion channel, drainage control, settling
basin, heap and dump leaching facility, and auxiliary facility.
Subp. 8.
First
year of operation.
A detailed plan for the activities planned during the first
year of operation shall be submitted as part of the permit application. The
plan shall include all of the information required by part 6132.1300, subparts
3 to 6.
Statutory Authority: MS s
93.44 to
93.51;
103G.222
