Administrative Rules of Montana
Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Chapter 17.24 - RECLAMATION
Subchapter 17.24.8 - Strip and Underground Reclamation Act: Alluvial Valley Floors, Prime Farmlands, Alternate Reclamation, and Auger Mining
Rule 17.24.815 - PRIME FARMLAND: REVEGETATION
Universal Citation: MT Admin Rules 17.24.815
Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) Each operator who conducts strip or underground mining operations on prime farmland shall, within the area identified as prime farmland before disturbance:
(a) if the approved postmining land use is
not cropland:
(i) randomly establish test
plots that will be cropped until restoration of the premining productivity has
met the requirements of this rule. The remainder of the area not used for test
plots must be revegetated consistent with the standards of ARM
17.24.711,
17.24.713,
17.24.714,
17.24.716 through
17.24.718,
17.24.721,
17.24.723 through
17.24.726, and
17.24.731 and with the approved
postmining land use. When restoration of the premining productivity has been
demonstrated, the operator shall revegetate the test plots consistent with the
standards of ARM 17.24.711, 17.24.713, 17.24.714, 17.24.716 through 17.24.718,
17.24.721, 17.24.723 through 17.24.726 and 17.24.731 and with the approved
postmining land use; or
(ii) crop
the entire area of disturbed prime farmland until restoration of the premining
productivity is demonstrated. The operator shall then revegetate the entire
area consistent with ARM 17.24.711, 17.24.713, 17.24.714, 17.24.716 through
17.24.718, 17.24.721, 17.24.723 through 17.24.726, and 17.24.731 and with the
approved postmining land use; or
(b) if the approved postmining land use is
cropland, permanently reclaim the area to cropland.
(2) All prime farmlands reclaimed either temporarily or permanently as cropland must meet the following revegetation requirements:
(a) following soil replacement,
the operator shall implement the revegetation and erosion-control plan approved
by the department under ARM
17.24.324, as follows:
(i) This plan must be carried out in a manner
that encourages prompt vegetative cover and recovery of productive
capacity.
(ii) Nutrients, other
soil amendments, and other management techniques such as irrigation must be
applied as approved by the department and as necessary to be consistent with
(d).
(iii) The provisions of ARM
17.24.713 and
17.24.714 must be met.
(b) Within a time period specified
in the permit, but not to exceed 10 years after completion of backfilling and
rough grading, areas to be reclaimed either temporarily or permanently to
cropland must be planted to the crops that have been approved under ARM
17.24.324 and that are commonly
grown on surrounding prime farmland. As appropriate, the crops may be grown in
rotation with hay or pasture crops as defined for cropland in ARM
17.24.825(1). The
department may approve a crop use of perennial plants for hay where this is a
common long term use of prime farmland soils in the surrounding area;
(c) if row crops are the dominant crops grown
on prime farmland in the area, the row crop requiring the greatest rooting
depth must be one of the reference crops;
(d) the level of management must be
equivalent to that occurring on the reference area(s) or on which the target
yields are based pursuant to (e); and
(e)
(i)
revegetation success on prime farmlands must be determined upon the basis of a
comparison of actual crop production on the disturbed area and the crop
production on reference areas meeting the following requirements:
(A) reference areas must consist of
representative undisturbed prime farmland supporting the crops commonly grown
on those prime farmlands proposed for disturbance;
(B) reference areas must have soils, slopes,
and other pertinent characteristics comparable to those proposed for
disturbance; and
(C) the location
of reference areas and the yields from them that are used to determine
revegetation success pursuant to (2) (e) (i) must be determined with the
concurrence of the Montana state office of the U.S. natural resources
conservation service.
(ii) if undisturbed prime farmland is not
available for comparison purposes, comparison of production on the disturbed
area must be made with target yields approved by the department and meeting the
following standards:
(A) target yields for a
given year must be determined on the basis of current yield records of
representative local farms, with the concurrence of the Montana state office of
the U.S. natural resources conservation service, or by the average county
yields recognized by the U.S. department of agriculture;
(B) these yields must be adjusted as
necessary by the Montana state office of the U.S. natural resources
conservation service for local yield variation that is associated with
differences between undisturbed prime farmland soil and all other soils that
produce the crops of interest within the locale or the county;
(iii) under either procedure in
(2) (e) (i) or (ii), crop production of the reference area or the target yield
must be adjusted, as necessary, with the concurrence of the Montana state
office of the U.S. natural resources conservation service, for:
(A) disease-, pest-, and weather-induced
seasonal variations; or
(B)
differences in specific management practices where the overall management
practices of the crops being compared are equivalent;
(f) crop production on disturbed
prime farmland must be determined based upon a minimum of three consecutive
crop years of data;
(i) for permanent
cropland, these three years of data must include the last year of a minimum
10-year period of responsibility preceding the application for phase III bond
release;
(ii) for temporary test
plots, these three years of data must include the last year of a minimum
10-year period of crop production;
(g) crop production on the prime farmland
reference area must be determined based upon a minimum of three consecutive
crop years of data consistent with (f) (i) or (ii) above, as appropriate;
and
(h) revegetation on prime
farmland is considered successful when the crop yield for each of the three
years is equivalent to, or higher than, that on the reference area or the
target yield. This equivalence must be shown at least at the 10% level of
significance using statistically appropriate sampling techniques approved by
the department in consultation with the Montana state office of the U.S.
natural resources conservation service.
AUTH: 82-4-205, MCA; IMP: 82-4-227, 82-4-232, MCA
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