New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE
Chapter 8 - COAL MINING
Part 36 - NEW MEXICO COAL SURFACE MINING REGULATIONS [CSMC 1979-1]
Section 19.8.36.7 - DEFINITIONS: INITIAL REGULATORY PROGRAM

(1) Auger mining means a method of mining coal at a cliff or highwall by drilling holes laterally into an exposed coal seam from the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the surface.

(2) Coal means combustible carbonaceous rock, classified as anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, or lignite by A.S.T.M. designation 0-338-66.

(3) Director means the director, office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement, or his representative.

(4) Federal lands means any land, including mineral interests, owned by the United States without regard to how the United States acquired ownership of the lands and without regard to the agency having responsibility for management therof, except Indian lands; provided, that for the purposes of the Act lands or mineral interests east of the one-hundredth meridian west longitude owned by the United States and entrusted to or managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority are not subject to sections 714 (Surface Owner Protection); and 715 (Federal Lessee Protection) of the Act.

(5) Imminent danger to the health and safety to the public means the existence of any condition or practice, or any violation of a permit or other requirement of the Act in a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, which condition, practice or violation could reasonably be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit area before such condition, practice or violation can be abated. A reasonable expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational person, subjected to the same condition or practice giving rise to the peril, would not expose himself or herself to the danger during the time necessary for abatement.

(6) Office means the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement established under Title II of the Act.

(7) Operator means any person engaged in coal mining.

(8) Permit means a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the state under state law.

(9) Permittee means any individual, partnership, association, society, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, or other business organization holding a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the state under state law.

(10) Person means an individual, partnership, association, society, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, or other business organization.

(11) Secretary means the secretary of the Interior or his representative.

(12) Significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air or water resources is determined as follows:

(13) State program means a program established by a state pursuant to section 503 of the Act to regulate surface coal mining and reclamation operations on lands within such state in accord with the requirements of the Act and regulations issued by the secretary under the Act.

(14) State regulatory authority means the department or agency in each state which has primary responsibility at the State level for administering the Act under both the initial and permanent regulatory programs.

(15) Surface coal mining operations means: (a) activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine or subject to the requirements of Section 516 surface operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine, the products of which enter commerce or the operations of which directly or indirectly affect interstate commerce. Such activities include excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, mountaintop removal, box cut, open pit and area mining, the uses of explosives and blasting and in situ distillation or restoring, leaching or other chemical or physical processing, and the cleaning, concentrating or other processing or preparation, loading of coal for interstate commerce at or near the mine site; provided however, that such activities do not include the extraction of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed 16 2/3 per centum of the tonnage of minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale or coal exploration subject to Section 512 of the Act; and (b) the areas upon which such activities occur or where such activities disturb the natural land surface. Such area shall also include any adjacent land, the use of which is incidental to any such activities, all lands affected by the construction of new roads or the improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to the site of such activities and for haulage and excavation, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stock piles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, processing areas, shipping areas and other areas upon which are sited structures, facilities or other property or material on the surface, resulting from or incident to such activities.

(16) Surface coal mining and reclamation operations means surface coal mining operations and all activities necessary and incidental to the reclamation of such operations. This term includes the term "surface coal mining operations.

(17) Ton means 2,000 pounds avoirdupois (.90718 metric ton).

(18) Approval of the state regulatory authority means approval by the chief of the bureau of surfacemining unless such approval is subsequently withdrawn by the commission.

(1) Acid drainage means water with a pH of less than 6.0 discharged from active or abandoned mines and from areas affected by coal mining operations.

(2) Acid-forming materials means earth materials that contain sulfide mineral or other materials which, if exposed to air, water or weathering processes, will cause acids that may create acid drainage.

(3) Alluvial valley floors means unconsolidated stream-laid deposits holding streams where water availability is sufficient for subirrigation or flood irrigation agricultural activities but does not include upland areas which are generally overlain by a thin veneer of colluvial deposits composed chiefly of debris from sheet erosion, deposits by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with talus, other mass movement accumulation and windblown deposits.

(4) Approximate original contour means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined area so that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access roads, closely resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to mining and blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding terrain, with all highwalls and spoil piles eliminated; water impoundments may be permitted where the regulatory authority determines that they are in compliance with Section 715.17.

(5) Aquifer means a zone, stratum or group of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for a specific use.

(6) Combustible material means organic material that is capable of burning either by fire or through a chemical process (oxidation) accompanied by the evolution of heat and a significant temperature rise.

(7) Compaction means the reduction of pore spaces among the particles of soil or rock, generally done by running heavy equipment over the earth materials.

(8) Disturbed area means those lands that have been affected by surface coal mining and reclamation operations. "Disturbed area" is synonymous with the words "affected area" used in Section 1 through 37 [19.8.36.8 NMAC through 19.8.36.43 NMAC].

(9) Diversion means a channel, embankment, or other manmade structure constructed for the purpose of diverting water from one area to another.

(10) Downslope means the land surface between a valley floor and the projected outcrop of the lowest coalbed being mined along each highwall.

(11) Embankment means an artificial deposit of material that is raised above the natural surface of the land and used to contain, divert, or store water, support roads or railways, or other similar purposes.

(12) Essential hydrologic functions means, with respect to alluvial valley floors, the role of the valley floor in collecting, storing, and regulating the natural flow of surface water and groundwater, and in providing a place for irrigated and subirrigated farming, by reason of its position in the landscape and the characteristics of its underlying material.

(13) Flood irrigation means irrigation through natural overflow or the temporary diversion of high flows in which the entire surface of the soil is covered by a sheet of water.

(14) Groundwater means subsurface water that fills available openings in rock or soil materials such that they may be considered water-saturated.

(15) Highwall means the face of exposed overburden and coal in an open cut of surface or for entry to an underground coal mine.

(16) Hydrologic balance means the relationship between the quality and quantity of inflow to, outflow from, and storage in a hydrologic unit such as a drainage basin, aquifer, soil zone, lake or reservoir. It encompasses the quantity and quality relationships between precipitation, runoff, evaporation and the change in ground and surface water storage.

(17) Hydrologic regime means the entire state of water movement in a given area. It is a function of the climate, and includes the phenomena by which water first occurs as atmospheric water vapor, passes into a liquid or solid form and falls as precipitation, moves thence along or into the ground surface and returns to the atmosphere as vapor by means of evaporation and transpiration.

(18) Impoundment means a closed basin formed naturally or artifically built, which is dammed or excavated for the retention of water, sediment or waste.

(19) Intermittent or perennial stream means a stream or part of a stream that flows continuously during all (perennial) or for at least one month (intermittent) of the calendar year as a result of groundwater discharge or surface runnoff. The term does not include an ephemeral stream which is one that flows for less than one month of a calendar year and only in direct response to precipitation in the immediate watershed and whose channel bottom is always above the local water table.

(20) Introduced species means a species which does not occur naturally in an area.

(21) Leachate means a liquid that has percolated through soil, rock or waste and has extracted dissolved or suspended materials.

(22) Native species means a species which either originated in an area or became naturalized and occurs naturally in an area.

(23) Noxious plants means species that have been included on official state lists of noxious plants for the state in which the operation occurs.

(24) Overburden means material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a coal deposit, excluding topsoil.

(25) Outslope means the exposed area sloping away from a bench or terrace being constructed as a part of a surface coal mining and reclamation operation.

(26) Productivity means the vegetative yield produced by a unit area for a unit of time.

(27) Recharge capacity means the ability of the soils and underlying materials to allow precipitation and runoff to infiltrate and reach the zone of saturation.

(28) Roads means access and haul roads constructed, used, reconstructed, improved or maintained for use in surface coal mining and reclamation operations, including use by coal-hauling vehicles leading to transfer, processing or storage areas. The term includes any such road used and not graded to approximate original contour within 45 days of construction other than temporary roads used for topsoil removal and coal haulage roads within the pit area. Roads maintained with public funds such as all federal, state, county, or local roads are excluded.

(29) Recurrence interval means the precipitation event expected to occur, on the average, once in a specified interval. For example, the ten-year 24-hour precipitation event would be that 24-hour precipitation event expected to be exceeded on the average once in ten years. Magnitude of such events are as defined by the national weather service technical paper no. 40, "Rainfall Frequency Atlas of the U.S.," May 1961, and subsequent amendments or equivalent regional or rainfall probability information developed therefrom.

(30) Runoff means precipitation that flows overland before entering a defined stream channel and becoming streamflow.

(31) Safety factor means the ratio of the available shear strength to the developed shear stress on a potential surface of sliding determined by accepted engineering practice.

(32) Sediment means undissolved organic and inorganic material transported or deposited by water.

(33) Sedimentation pond means any natural or artificial structure or depression used to remove sediment from water and store sediment or other debris.

(34) Slope means average inclination of a surface, measured from the horizontal. Normally expressed as a unit of vertical distance to a given number of units of horizontal distance (e.g., 1v to 5h=20 percent=11.3 degrees).

(35) Soil horizons means contrasting layers of soil lying one below the other, parallel or nearly parallel to the land surface. Soil horizons are differentiated on the basis of field characteristics and laboratory data. The three major soil horizons are:

(36) Spoil means overburden that has been removed during surface mining.

(37) Stabilize means any method used to control movement of soil, spoil piles or areas of disturbed earth and includes increasing bearing capacity, increasing shear strength, draining, compacting or revegetating.

(38) Subirrigation means irrigation of plants with water delivered to the roots from underneath.

(39) Surface water means water, either flowing or standing, on the surface of the earth.

(40) Suspended solids means organic or inorganic materials carried or held in suspension in water that will remain on a 0.45 micron filter.

(41) Toxic-forming materials means earth materials or wastes which, if acted upon by air, water, weathering or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical or physical conditions in soils or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of water.

(42) Toxic-mine drainage means water that is discharged from active or abandoned mines and other areas affected by coal mining operations and which contains a substance which through chemical action or physical effects is likely to kill, injure or impair biota commonly present in the area that might be exposed to it.

(43) Valley fill and head-of-hollow fill means a structure consisting of any materials other than waste placed so as to encroach upon or obstruct to any degree any natural stream channel other than those minor channels located on highland areas where overland flow in natural rills and gullies is the predominant form of runoff. Such fills are normally constructed in the uppermost portion of a V-shaped valley in order to reduce the upstream drainage area (head-of-hollow fills). Fills located farther downstream (valley fills) must have larger diversion structures to minimize infiltration. Both fills are characterized by rock underdrains and are constructed in compacted lifts from the toe to the upper surface in a manner to promote stability.

(44) Waste means earth materials, which are combustible, physically unstable, or acid-forming or toxic-forming, wasted or otherwise separated from product coal and are slurried or otherwise transported from coal processing facilities or preparation plants after physical or chemical processing, cleaning or concentrating of coal.

(45) Water table means upper surface of a zone of saturation, where the body of groundwater is not confined by an overlying impermeable zone.