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 17.24.903 - GENERAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
Universal Citation: MT Admin Rules 17.24.903
Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) In addition to all appropriate requirements of subchapters 4 through 8, and 10 through 13, except ARM 17.24.519 and as provided in ARM 17.24.905, the following requirements apply to underground mining operations:
(a) Each prospecting hole, other drill hole
or borehole, shaft, well, or other exposed underground opening must be cased,
lined, or otherwise managed as approved by the department to prevent acid or
other toxic drainage from entering ground and surface waters, to minimize
disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to ensure the safety of
people, livestock, fish and wildlife, and machinery in the mine plan and
adjacent area, and the safety and integrity of underground mines in the area,
present and future. Each prospecting hole, drill hole, borehole, or well that
is uncovered or exposed by mining operations must be permanently sealed, in
compliance with ARM
17.24.1005, unless approved for
water monitoring or otherwise managed in a manner approved by the department.
Use of a drilled hole or monitoring well as a water well must meet the
provisions of ARM
17.24.647. This rule does not
apply to holes drilled and used for blasting in the area affected by surface
operations.
(b) Each mine entry,
open to the surface, that is temporarily inactive, but has a further projected
useful service under the approved permit application, must be protected by
barricades or other covering devices, fenced, and posted with signs to prevent
access into the entry and to identify the hazardous nature of the opening.
These devices must be periodically inspected and maintained in good operating
condition by the operator.
(c) Each
prospecting hole, other drill hole or borehole, shaft, well, and other exposed
underground opening that has been identified in the approved permit application
for use to return underground development waste, coal processing waste, water
to underground workings, or to be used to monitor ground water conditions, must
be temporarily sealed until actual use.
(d) When no longer needed for monitoring or
other use approved by the department and upon a finding of no adverse
environmental or health and safety effects, each shaft, drift, adit, tunnel,
prospecting hole, entry way or other opening to the surface from underground
must be capped, sealed, backfilled, or otherwise properly managed, as required
by the department in accordance with (1)(a), (g), (h), and (i). Permanent
closure measures must be designed to prevent access to the mine workings by
people, livestock, fish, wildlife, and machinery and to keep acid or other
toxic drainage from entering ground or surface waters.
(e) In addition to the measures identified in
ARM 17.24.631 through
17.24.646, the following practices
are acceptable for minimizing water pollution in underground mines:
(i) designing mines to prevent gravity
drainage of acid waters;
(ii)
sealing;
(iii) controlling
subsidence; and
(iv) preventing
acid mine drainage;
(f)
In addition to the requirements of ARM
17.24.633(1), any
discharge of water from underground workings to surface waters that does not
meet the effluent limitations of ARM
17.24.633 must also be passed
through a sedimentation pond, a series of sedimentation ponds, or a treatment
facility before leaving the permit area.
(g) In addition to the requirements of ARM
17.24.633(2),
sedimentation ponds and treatment facilities that receive discharges from
underground workings must be maintained until the discharge continuously meets
the effluent limitations of ARM
17.24.633 without treatment or
until the discharge has permanently ceased.
(h) Surface entries and accesses to
underground workings, including adits and slopes, must be located, designed,
constructed, and utilized to prevent or control gravity discharge of water from
the mine.
(i) Gravity discharge of
water from an underground mine, other than a drift mine in an acid-producing or
iron-producing coal seam, may be allowed by the department, if it is
demonstrated that:
(i)
(A) the discharge, without treatment,
satisfies the water effluent limitations of ARM
17.24.633 and all applicable state
and federal water quality standards; and
(B) any changes in the prevailing hydrologic
balance are minimal and the approved postmining land uses will not be adversely
affected; or,
(ii)
(A) the discharge is conveyed to a treatment
facility in the permit area in accordance with ARM
17.24.633 through
17.24.640;
(B) all water from the underground mine
discharged from the treatment facility meets the effluent limitations of ARM
17.24.633 and all other applicable
state and federal statutes and regulations; and
(C) consistent maintenance of the treatment
facility will occur throughout the anticipated period of gravity
discharge;
(j)
For a drift mine located in acid-producing or iron-producing coal seams,
surface entries and accesses must be located in such a manner as to prevent any
gravity discharge from the mine.
(2) Adversely affected water supplies must be replaced in accordance with 82-4-243 and 82-4-253, MCA, and ARM 17.24.648.
AUTH: 82-4-205, 82-4-207, MCA; IMP: 82-4-227, 82-4-231, 82-4-232, 82-4-233, 82-4-243, 82-4-253, MCA
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Montana may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.