South Dakota Administrative Rules
Title 74 - Department of Environment And Natural Resources
Article 74:29 - Mined land reclamation
Chapter 74:29:01 - Permit applications - Filing and review
Section 74:29:01:01 - Definitions

(1) "Abandoned well," a well whose use has been permanently discontinued or which is in such a state of disrepair that it cannot be used for its intended purpose or for observation purposes, or which is abandoned pursuant to SDCL 46-6-27;

(2) "Angle of repose," the maximum angle of slope, measured from the horizontal plane, at which loose cohesionless material will come to rest on a pile of similar material. The angle of repose commonly ranges between 33° and 37° on natural slopes and is rarely less than 30° or more than 39°;

(3) "Average commodity price," a price statistically representative of the prices quoted on a major recognized market over a specified period of time for a given commodity;

(4) "Background," the ambient radiation condition that exists as part of the natural environment at a particular location;

(5) "Bankfull," the mean average high-water stage;

(6) "Baseline," a premining condition, concentration, quantity, or quality that is set as a specific value or guideline against which future values are compared;

(7) "Baseline well," a well from which ground water is analyzed to define baseline water quality in the permit area (a regional baseline well) or in the production area (a production area baseline well);

(8) "Becquerel," a unit of radioactivity based on disintegrations (transformations) per unit of time. One becquerel (Bq) equals one disintegration per second. One curie equals 3.7x1010 disintegrations per second, which equals 3.7x1010 becquerels. A megabecquerel (MBq) is one million becquerels;

(9) "Beneficial use," a practical use of land which has economic or social value and which allows other sustainable uses;

(10) "Best practicable technology," a technology-based process justifiable in terms of existing performance and achievability in relation to health and safety which minimizes, to the extent safe and practicable, disturbances and adverse impacts of the operation on human or animal life, fish, wildlife, plant life, and related environmental values;

(11) "Buffer," a means used to separate, shield, screen, or lessen the effect of the mine operation on the surrounding area by reducing noise or dust, improving aesthetics, and protecting the public health, safety, and welfare;

(12) "Byproduct material," surface wastes produced by or resulting from uranium in situ leach mining extraction and concentration processes. Underground ore bodies deployed by in situ leach mining do not constitute byproduct material within this definition;

(13) "Carrying capacity," the maximum animal stocking rate possible without inducing damage to vegetation or related resources;

(14) "Casing," a tubular structure, generally of metal, concrete, or thermoplastic, which is installed in a well bore to maintain the well opening;

(15) "Catastrophic collapse," the sudden and utter failure of overlying strata caused by removal of underlying materials;

(16) "Cementing," the process of mixing and placing cement grout in a hole to prevent the vertical movement of fluids in the hole or the annulus;

(17) "Class III well," under the federal Underground Injection Control (UIC) program promulgated under Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300 et seq (2003), a well that injects fluids for extraction of minerals, including solution mining of minerals. The term includes any well used in:

(18) "Class V well," under the federal UIC program promulgated under Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300 et seq (2003), a well not included in Class I, II, III, or IV. This includes a well not used to inject hazardous or radioactive waste, other industrial and municipal waste below the lowermost underground source of drinking water, fluids for the enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas, or for the storage of hydrocarbons;

(19) "Composite liner," a liner made of two components, typically a geomembrane in conjunction with a soil liner;

(20) "Concurrent reclamation," reclamation conducted during the course of mining;

(21) "Confining zone," a geological unit that is stratigraphically adjacent to one or more aquifers and that restricts the movement of ground water into and out of the aquifer or aquifers it confines;

(22) "Contaminant," any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water, soil, or air that is potentially harmful to human health or the health of animals or plants;

(23) "Contiguous land," any land in immediate contact with and bounding the affected land within the permit area;

(24) "Control parameter," a chemical constituent of ground water monitored on a routine basis and used to detect or confirm the presence of recovery fluids in a designated monitor well;

(25) "Critical habitat," habitat that is present in minimal amounts and is the limiting factor that determines the potential for animal population maintenance or growth. The determination of "critical" is related to a specific animal population unit and is not related to the density of species compared to another population unit;

(26) "Curie," a special unit of radioactivity based on disintegrations (transformations) per unit of time. One curie (Ci) equals 3.7x1010 disintegrations per second, which equals 3.7x1010 becquerels. A microcurie is one-millionth (10-6) of a curie, and a picocurie is one-trillionth (10-12) of a curie;

(27) "Effluent," partially or completely treated or untreated liquid waste that is discharged to waters of the state or to the surface environment;

(28) "Ephemeral stream," a stream or reach of a stream that flows only in direct response to precipitation in the immediate watershed or to the melting of a cover of snow or ice;

(29) "Excursion," any unwanted and unauthorized movement of recovery fluid out of the production zone as a result of in situ leach mining activities;

(30) "Exempted aquifer," an aquifer or portion of an aquifer that meets the criteria in the definition of "underground source of drinking water" but which has been exempted according to ARSD 74:29:11:09;

(31) "Facility," for an in situ leach mine, all contiguous land, structures, and improvements on the land used for underground injection activities associated with injection wells;

(32) "Filing," notification of the applicant in writing by the department that the submitted application is procedurally complete; or receipt by the department of a request from the applicant that the application be considered filed following the initial seven-day deficiency review period, as specified by subsection 74:29:01:07(3)(b);

(33) "Final reclamation," reclamation performed during and following a mining operation to meet the requirements of the approved reclamation plan and attain the approved postmining land use on land affected by the mining operation that is not planned to be disturbed again;

(34) "First operator," the operator presently holding the mining operation permit;

(35) "Fluid," any material or substance that flows or moves whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or other form or state;

(36) "Formation," a body of consolidated or unconsolidated rock characterized by a degree of lithologic homogeneity that is prevailingly, but not necessarily, tabular and is mapable on the earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface;

(37) "Formation fluid," fluid present in a formation under natural conditions as opposed to introduced fluids;

(38) "Geomembrane," a synthetic impermeable membrane used in contact with soil or other materials in geotechnical and civil engineering applications and for the containment of liquids. Geomembranes are made of various materials, with each type having different characteristics that affect installation procedures, lifespan, and performance;

(39) "Geonet," "drainage net," a synthetic planar structure that allows for fluid movement. A geonet or drainage net is used in contact with soil, rock, or other materials in geotechnical and civil engineering applications and as an alternative to aggregate drains in containment systems;

(40) "Geosynthetic clay liner," a factory-assembled hydraulic barrier consisting of clay supported by geosynthetic carriers, such as geomembranes or geotextiles, used in contact with soil or other materials in geotechnical and civil engineering applications;

(41) "Geotechnical analysis," a study of the engineering characteristics and properties of the site's soils, rocks, and other materials for suitability in construction;

(42) "Grab sample," an individual discrete sample collected over a period of time not exceeding 15 minutes;

(43) "Gray," a unit of absorbed radiation dose. One gray (Gy) is equal to an absorbed dose of 100 rads;

(44) "Ground water," water below the land surface that is in the zone of saturation;

(45) "Ground water restoration," for an in situ leach mine, the condition achieved when the quality of ground water affected by the injection of mining solution in production and nonproduction zones is returned to restoration table values;

(46) "Grout," a slurry that is used to form a permanent, impervious seal in the annular space or to fill and seal abandoned holes or wells;

(47) "Hazardous waste," as defined in SDCL subdivision 34A-11-2(4);

(48) "Injection well," a Class III well;

(49) "Injection zone," a geological formation, group of formations, or part of a formation receiving fluids through a well for the purposes of mineral recovery;

(50) "In situ leach mining," a method of in-place surface mining in which quantities of overburden are disturbed to install a conduit or well and the mineral is mined by injecting or recovering a liquid, solid, sludge, or gas that causes the leaching, dissolution, gasification, liquefaction, or extraction of the mineral. In situ leach mining does not include the primary or enhanced recovery of naturally-occurring oil and gas;

(51) "Interim reclamation," reclamation performed during a mining operation or between mining phases to stabilize affected land by regrading and revegetating to control erosion, improve aesthetics, and minimize hazards. It can be construed to be temporary reclamation for affected land that will be disturbed again;

(52) "Intermittent stream," a stream or reach of a stream that flows for at least some part of the year and obtains its flow from both surface runoff and groundwater discharge;

(53) "Land application," a process or activity involving the placement of process water, process contaminated water, wastewater, surface water, or semiliquid material on the ground surface for the purpose of disposal and pollutant removal;

(54) "Life form," the characteristic form or appearance of vegetative species at maturity, such as trees, shrubs, and herbs;

(55) "Major modification," a change in the approved operating or reclamation plan which might significantly increase adverse environmental effects;

(56) "Mechanical integrity," for an in situ leach mine, the condition of an injection well, when there is no significant leak in the casing, tubing, or packer, and there is no significant fluid movement into an unauthorized zone or underground source of drinking water through vertical channels adjacent to the injection well bore. The determination that there are no significant leaks or fluid movement is based on the results of the mechanical integrity testing;

(57) "Millsite," a structure or facility used in the beneficiation of a mined material from its natural occurrence in ore, including leach pads, vats, process ponds, recovery units, sorting bins, crushers, and gravity separation devices used for the milling of placer deposits;

(58) "Mineral reserve," a mineralized deposit that is well-defined by geologic mapping and drilling that can be shown to have production potential under a given set of economic circumstances; ore reserves; potential reserves;

(59) "Mining solution," for an in situ leach mine, the injected fluid containing the chemicals used to mobilize the ore minerals into solution;

(60) "Minor modification," a change, other than a technical revision, in the approved operating or reclamation plan which does not increase the potential for adverse environmental effects;

(61) "Monitor well," a well used for the sampling or measurement of a chemical or physical property of ground water;

(62) "Negative pressure gradient," for an in situ leach mine, the condition that results from the creation of a localized hydrological cone of depression or pressure sink within the production zone caused by the production of more fluid than was injected. This pressure gradient provides containment of the recovery fluid by causing natural ground water to move from the surrounding area toward the production zone;

(63) "Nonproduction zone," an aquifer that is above or below the active production zone in an in situ leach mining operation;

(64) "On/off load pad," a heap leach pad which is designed so that treated tailings can be removed to allow for the reuse of the pad for leaching additional ore;

(65) "Pathway and fate analysis," a study conducted to determine the mechanisms and routes by which contaminants may enter a specific environment, the specific environments potentially affected by the contaminants, and the final disposition and chemical form of the contaminants in those environments;

(66) "Perennial stream" a stream or reach of a stream that flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a result of groundwater discharge or surface runoff;

(67) "Permit amendment," a change to an approved mining operation permit that requires board action and approval;

(68) "Permit application," a mining operation permit application;

(69) "Permit area," the area, including the affected lands, within specified boundaries approved by the board;

(70) "Plugging," the process of filling a borehole or a well to restore hydrologic conditions and to prevent migration of ground water between formations;

(71) "Pore water," water that exists in the void space between soil or rock particles;

(72) "Postmining land use," the selected beneficial land use or uses upon which a mining operation reclamation plan is based, including forest planting, agriculture or horticulture, rangeland, wildlife habitat, recreation, homesite, industrial, and future mineral exploration and development;

(73) "Potential reserve," that part of the mineral resource, excluding the ore reserve, which has, at the time of determination, an average total cost of production not exceeding twice the average commodity price;

(74) "Pressure," the total force per unit area acting on a surface;

(75) "Process solution," solution used in the extraction of minerals from ore during the milling process;

(76) "Production," the removal or processing of at least 10 percent of the permitted annual ore or overburden production rate or the conduct of other activities, including reclamation, which significantly move the operation toward completion;

(77) "Production area," the plan view showing the area in which mineral extraction is taking place at an in situ leach mine operation;

(78) "Production well," for an in situ leach mine, a well or conduit through which a recovery fluid, mineral, or product is produced from the subsurface. If a well is used for both injection and recovery, it is considered an injection well for the purposes of this chapter until the operator has adequately demonstrated to the department that the well has been converted to uses other than injection;

(79) "Production zone," the geologic interval into which mining solutions are to be injected and recovery fluids extracted from an in situ leach mine operation;

(80) "Proper stocking," the placement on a given area of a number of animals that will either maintain or improve the range condition at the end of the planned grazing period;

(81) "Rad," an acronym for the term radiation absorbed dose. A special unit of absorbed radiation dose, one rad is equal to an absorbed dose of 100 ergs/gram or 0.01 gray;

(82) "Radioactive waste," any waste that contains radioactive material in concentrations that exceed those listed in 10 CFR part 20, appendix B, table II, column 2 (March 27, 2006);

(83) "Receiving strata," the geologic units within which the production zones are contained;

(84) "Reclaimed land surface," affected land that has been manipulated to achieve visually and functionally compatible contours and revegetated in accordance with the approved reclamation plan and that supports the intended postmining land use;

(85) "Reclamation type," postmining land use;

(86) "Recovery fluid," for an in situ leach mine, the fluid resulting from the injection of mining solution that has dissolved or mobilized ore minerals from the production zone for extraction and recovery;

(87) "Reference area," a land unit that is representative in terms of physiography, geology, soils, aspect, hydrology, vegetation, wildlife, and land use of the area affected by a mining operation;

(88) "Rem," an acronym for the term Roentgen equivalent in man. A special unit of radiation dose equivalent that is the amount of ionizing radiation required to produce the same biological effect as one rad of high-penetration x-rays, or one roentgen (R) of x-rays or gamma rays. One rem equals 0.01 sievert;

(89) "Restored aquifer," for an in situ leach mine, an aquifer whose local average water quality has, by natural or artificial processes, returned to at least restoration table values;

(90) "Restoration table," for an in situ leach mine, in the mine permit, a list of parameters with assigned ground water quality restoration values that are the compliance requirements for restoration of the production and nonproduction zones;

(91) "Riparian zone," the lands and water adjacent to the banks of a stream, pond, lake, or other source of water that support vegetation dependent on the water source;

(92) "Roentgen," a unit of radiation exposure. One roentgen (R) is the dose of ionizing radiation that will produce one electrostatic unit of electricity in one cubic centimeter of dry air. A microroentgen (µR) is one-millionth (10-6) of a roentgen;

(93) "Satellite facility," a uranium recovery or ion exchange facility set up at a well field a remote distance from a central processing plant. The satellite facility extracts uranium from an in situ recovery fluid by loading it on an ion exchange resin. The loaded resin is then transported to a central processing plant where the uranium is removed from the resin and processed into yellowcake;

(94) "Sievert," a unit of ionizing radiation dose equivalent, obtained as a product of the absorbed dose in grays multiplied by a quality factor, indicating the biological effectiveness of the radiation. A millisievert (mSv) is one-thousandth (10-3) of a sievert (Sv);

(95) "Slope," the average inclination of a surface measured from the horizontal;

(96) "Slope ratio," the ratio between the horizontal and vertical components of a slope face;

(97) "Solid waste," as defined in SDCL subdivision 34A-6-1.3(17);

(98) "Spoil," waste material removed or disturbed during the course of surface or underground mining;

(99) "Stratum," a single sedimentary bed or layer, regardless of thickness, that consists of generally the same kind of rock material;

(100) "Submission," the initial physical delivery of an application to the department;

(101) "Subsoil," that part of the soil immediately below the topsoil that may be capable of supporting vegetation;

(102) "Successor operator," the operator to whom a mining operation permit is being transferred;

(103) "Surface impoundment," a natural or artificial closed basin that holds water, slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid material. A permanent surface impoundment is a structure that will remain after final bond release;

(104) "Tailings impoundment," a structure designed to hold tailings, including leach pads and dumps containing treated spent ore;

(105) "Technical revision," a change in the operating plan, reclamation plan, or permit which the board determines has only a minimal effect on the environment or on reclamation;

(106) "Topsoil," soil material at the surface of the earth that has been modified and acted upon by physical, chemical, and biological processes so that it will easily produce and sustain growths of vegetation specified in an approved reclamation plan;

(107) "Treatment," any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of a waste for the purpose of disposal or final reclamation;

(108) "Treatment solution," solution applied to tailings for the purpose of treatment;

(109) "Unauthorized zone," for an in situ leach mine, the area outside the production zone that is not permitted for the injection of mining solution or extraction of recovery fluid, or authorized for any excursion of recovery fluid out of the production zone;

(110) "Underground source of drinking water," an aquifer or part of an aquifer that meets any one of the following criteria. The aquifer or part of an aquifer:

(111) "Upper limit value," a value greater than the maximum value of a chemical or physical parameter that can be attributed to natural fluctuations and analytical variability. Upper limit values are determined from the baseline sampling and agreed upon by the department and the operator prior to initiation of mining. Upper limit values are used to determine when there is movement of recovery fluid out of authorized areas or unapproved changes to a chemical or physical parameter. For certain parameters, such as pH, an upper limit value may be defined as an acceptable range of values;

(112) "Vegetative type," a characteristic group of plant species that have similar ecological requirements and tolerances;

(113) "Verifying analysis," a second sampling and analysis of control parameters for the purpose of confirming a routine sample analysis that indicates an increase in a control parameter to a level exceeding the upper limit value;

(114) "Visual screening," means used to buffer the visual effects of a mining operation, including existing landforms and vegetation, planting vegetation, constructing fences, and painting buildings, equipment, and facilities; and

(115) "Visually and functionally compatible contours," the surface configuration that is achieved by grading the affected land so that the reclaimed land surface is stable, is similar to the surrounding topography, serves the postmining land use function, minimizes surface and groundwater pollution, and is functionally compatible with the surrounding surface and groundwater hydrology.

(116) "Well," an artificial excavation or opening in the ground with a depth greater than the largest surface dimension. A well is made by digging, boring, drilling, jetting, or another artificial method, and is often walled or cased to prevent the sides from caving; and

(117) "Yellowcake," a processed oxide of uranium, U3O8, that is extracted and concentrated from uranium ore.