Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
Each person who conducts surface coal mining and reclamation
operations on prime farmland shall meet the following revegetation requirements
during reclamation:
A. following soil
replacement, that person shall establish a vegetative cover capable of
stabilizing the soil surface with respect to erosion; all vegetation shall be
in compliance with the plan approved by the director under 19.8.10.1004 NMAC
and carried out in a manner that encourages prompt vegetative cover and
recovery of productive capacity; the timing and mulching provisions of
19.8.20.2062 and 2063 NMAC shall be met;
B. within a time period specified in the
permit, but not to exceed 10 years after completion of backfilling and rough
grading, any portion of the permit area which is prime farmland must be used
for crops commonly grown, such as corn, alfalfa, permanent pasture grain,
sorghum, wheat, oats, barley, or other crops on surrounding prime farmland; the
crops may be grown in rotation with any or pasture crops as defined for
cropland; the director 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; the level of management shall be equivalent to that on which the target
yields are based;
C. measurement of
success in prime farmland revegetation will be determined based upon the
techniques approved in the permit by the director under 19.8.10.1004 NMAC; as a
minimum, the following standards shall be met:
(1) average annual crop production shall be
determined based upon a minimum of 3 years data; crop production shall be
measured for the three years immediately prior to release of bond according to
19.8.14 NMAC;
(2) revegetation on
prime farmland shall be considered achieved when the average yield during the
measurement period equals or exceeds the average yield of the reference crop
established for the same period for non-mined soils of the same or similar
texture or slope phase of the soil series in the surrounding area under
equivalent management practices;
(3) the reference crop on which restoration
of soil productivity is proven shall be selected from the crops most commonly
produced on the surrounding prime farmland; where row crops are the dominant
crops grown on prime farmland in the area, the row crop requiring the greatest
rooting depth shall be chosen as one of the reference crops;
(4) reference crop yields for a given crop
season are to be determined from:
(a) the
current yield records of representative local farms in the surrounding area,
with concurrence by the U.S. natural resources conservation service;
or
(b) the average county yields
recognized by the U.S. department of agriculture, which have been adjusted by
the U.S. natural resources conservation service for local yield variation
within the county that is associated with differences between non-mined prime
farmland soil and all other soils that produce the reference crop.
(5) under either procedure in
Paragraph (4) of Subsection C of 19.8.24.2404 NMAC, the average reference crop
yield may be adjusted, with the concurrence 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;
(6) a
statistically valid sampling technique at a 90-percent or greater statistical
confidence level shall be used as approved by the director in consultation with
U.S. natural resources conservation service.
