Administrative Rules of Montana
Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Chapter 17.24 - RECLAMATION
Subchapter 17.24.9 - Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act: Underground Coal and Uranium Mining
Rule 17.24.901 - GENERAL APPLICATION AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS
Universal Citation: MT Admin Rules 17.24.901
Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) In addition to appropriate material required under subchapter 3, any plan for underground mining must include the following:
(a) a detailed description, with appropriate
drawings, of permanent entry seals and down-slope barriers designed to ensure
stability under anticipated hydraulic heads developed while promoting mine
inundation after mine closure for the proposed mine plan area;
(b) descriptions, including appropriate maps
and cross-section drawings, of the proposed disposal methods and sites for
placing waste and excess spoil generated at surface areas affected by surface
operations and facilities. Each plan must describe the
geotechnical-investigation, design, construction, operation, maintenance and
removal, if appropriate, of the structures and be prepared according to ARM
17.24.313,
17.24.320,
17.24.505,
17.24.510, and
17.24.520;
(c)
(i) a
complete subsidence control plan for the proposed operation which must include:
(A) a map of the proposed underground
workings;
(B) the proposed
technique of coal extraction, such as longwall, room and pillar, hydraulic
mining, or other methods;
(C) a
description of the sequence and timing for the development of the underground
workings;
(D) a description of the
physical and geological conditions, such as depth of cover, seam thickness, and
lithology of overlying strata, affecting the subsidence potential;
(E) an analysis of the amount and lateral
extent of planned or controlled subsidence anticipated, using acceptable
geotechnical practices, including specific methods proposed for the control of
subsidence;
(F) a survey, including
a map at 1":400' scale or larger as determined by the department and a
narrative, which shows the location and type of all structures, renewable
resource lands, and domestic water supplies within the permit area and adjacent
areas, and whether subsidence, if it should occur, could cause material damage
or diminish the reasonably foreseeable use of such structures or lands, or
could contaminate, diminish, or interrupt such domestic water supplies;
and
(G) of the structures and
domestic water supplies identified in (1)(c)(i)(F) (the structure survey
requirements of ARM
17.24.911(4)
notwithstanding), a survey of the condition of all non-commercial buildings or
occupied residential dwellings and structures related thereto, and a
determination, in accordance with ARM
17.24.304(1)(e) and
(1)(f), of the quality and quantity of all
domestic water supplies.
(I) The applicant
must submit copies of the results of this survey and determination to the
surface owner of the land where the above structures and domestic water
supplies are found, as well as to the department.
(II) If the applicant cannot make this survey
and determination because the surface owner will not allow access, the
applicant must notify the surface owner, in writing, of the effect that denial
of access will have on the rebuttable presumption of causation of subsidence as
stated in ARM
17.24.911(8)(b).
This notification must be documented in the application;
(ii) If the plan shows that no
such structures or renewable resource lands, or domestic water supplies exist,
or that no such material damage or diminution of the reasonably foreseeable use
of such structures or lands, and no contamination, diminution, or interruption
of such water supplies would occur as a result of mine subsidence, and if the
department agrees with such conclusion, no further information must be provided
in the application under this section;
(iii) In the event the survey shows such
structures, renewable resource lands, or water supplies exist, and that
subsidence could cause material damage or diminution of value or foreseeable
use of the land or contamination, diminution, or interruption of such water
supplies, or if the department determines that such damage or diminution or
contamination, diminution, or interruption could occur, the application must
include the following information:
(A) a
detailed description of the measures to be taken to prevent subsidence and
subsidence-related damage, including:
(I) the
anticipated effects of planned subsidence, if any, and a map of the proposed
underground mine workings which shows the location and extent of the areas in
which planned-subsidence mining methods will be used and that identifies all
areas where the measures in (1)(e)(i)(C) will be taken to prevent
subsidence-related damage;
(II)
measures, if any, to be taken in the mine to prevent subsidence including, but
not limited to, such measures as backstowing or backfilling of voids, leaving
support pillars of coal, and areas in which no coal removal is planned,
including a description of the overlying area to be protected by leaving coal
in place;
(III) measures to be
taken on the surface to prevent material damage or diminution of the value or
the reasonably foreseeable use of structures or the surface, including such
measures as reinforcement of sensitive structures or features, installation of
footers designed to reduce damage caused by movement, change of location of
pipelines, utility lines, or other features, relocation of movable improvements
to sites outside the angle-of-draw, and monitoring to determine the
commencement and degree of subsidence so that other appropriate measures can be
taken to prevent material damage in accordance with ARM 17.24.911. For areas
where planned subsidence is proposed, written consent or request by the owners
of non-commercial buildings and occupied residential dwellings and structures
related thereto that material damage prevention measures should not or need not
be taken may be provided in lieu of a description of prevention measures to be
taken;
(B) a detailed
description of the measures to be taken to mitigate the effects of any material
damage or diminution of value or foreseeable use of lands that may occur,
including one or more of the following:
(I)
restoration or rehabilitation of structures and features, including approximate
land-surface contours, to premining condition;
(II) replacement of structures and water
sources adversely affected by subsidence;
(III) purchase of structures prior to mining
and restoration of the land after subsidence to a condition capable of
supporting and suitable for the structures and foreseeable land uses;
and
(IV) purchase of non-cancelable
insurance policies payable to surface owner in the full amount of the possible
material damage or other comparable measures;
(C) a detailed description of measures to be
taken to determine the degree of material damage or diminution of value or
foreseeable use of the surface, including such measures as:
(I) the results of presubsidence surveys of
all structures and surface features that might be materially damaged by
subsidence;
(II) monitoring
proposed to measure deformations near specified structures or features or
otherwise as appropriate for the operation;
(D) any other information that the department
deems necessary to demonstrate compliance with ARM 17.24.911;
(d) location of each
water and subsidence monitoring point;
(e) location of each facility that will
remain on the proposed permit area as a permanent feature, after the completion
of underground mining operations;
(f) a description of the design, operation
and maintenance of any proposed processing waste disposal facility, including
flow diagrams and any other necessary drawings and maps, for the approval of
the department and the mine safety and health administration;
(g) a description of the source and quality
of waste to be stowed, area to be backfilled, percent of the mine void to be
filled, method of constructing underground retaining walls, influence of the
backfilling operation on the active underground mine operations, surface area
to be supported by the backfill, and the anticipated occurrence of surface
effects following backfilling, including:
(i)
a description of the source of the hydraulic transport mediums, method of
dewatering the placed backfill, retention of water underground, treatment of
water if released to the surface; and
(ii) a description of each permanent
monitoring well to be located in the backfilled area, the stratum underlying
the mined coal, and gradient from the backfilled area.
(h) a complete description, where applicable,
of any hydraulic mining or transport system for coal, including:
(i) the source of the hydraulic
medium;
(ii) methods for dewatering
the coal;
(iii) methods for control
or containment of water underground; and
(iv) treatment of water to be released at the
surface, if any.
(2) The requirements of (1)(g) and (h) also apply to pneumatic backfilling operations, except where the operations are exempted by the department from requirements specifying hydrologic monitoring.
AUTH: 82-4-205, MCA; IMP: 82-4-222, MCA
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