Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Scope. This
section applies to any person who conducts or intends to conduct surface coal
mining and reclamation operations on prime farmlands historically used for
cropland. Areas where mining is authorized under permits issued or mining plans
approved prior to August 3, 1977, are exempt from the prime farmland
reconstruction standards.
(b)
Application contents for prime farmland. If land within the proposed permit
area is identified as prime farmland under §§
12.138 or
12.184 of this title (relating to
Prime Farmland Investigation), the applicant shall submit a plan for the mining
and restoration of the land. Each plan shall contain, at a minimum:
(1) a soil survey of the permit area
according to the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and in
accordance with the procedures set forth in U.S. Department of Agriculture
Handbook 436 (Soil Taxonomy, 1975) as amended on March 22, 1982 and October 5,
1982, and Handbook 18 (Soil Survey Manual, 1951), as amended on December 18,
1979, May 7, 1980, May 9, 1980, September 11, 1980, June 9, 1981, June 29,
1981, and November 16, 1982. The U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service
establishes the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and maintains
a National Soils Handbook which gives current acceptable procedures for
conducting soil surveys. This National Soils Handbook is available for review
at area and state NRCS offices.
(A) U.S.
Department of Agriculture Handbooks 436 (Soil Taxonomy) and 18 (Soil Survey
Manual) are on file and available for inspection at the Surface Mining and
Reclamation Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, 1701 N. Congress Avenue,
Austin, Texas.
(B) The soil survey
shall include a description of soil mapping units and a representative soil
profile as determined by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service,
including, but not limited to, soil-horizon depths, pH, and the range of soil
densities for each prime farmland soil unit within the permit area unless other
representative soil-profile descriptions from the locality, prepared according
to the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey, are available and
their use is approved by the principal officer in Texas of the U.S. Natural
Resources Conservation Service, and by the Commission. The Commission may
require the operator to provide information on other physical and chemical soil
properties as needed to make a determination that the operator has the
technological capability to restore the prime farmland within the permit area
to the soil-reconstruction standards of §§12.620-12.622, 12.624, and
12.625 of this title (relating to Special Permanent Program Performance
Standards--Operations on Prime Farmland);
(2) a plan for soil reconstruction,
replacement, and stabilization for the purpose of establishing the
technological capability of the mine operator to comply with the requirements
of §§12.620-12.622, 12.624, and 12.625 of this title (relating to
Special Permanent Program Performance Standards--Operations on Prime
Farmland);
(3) scientific data,
such as agricultural school studies, for areas with comparable soils, climate,
and management (including water management) that demonstrate that the proposed
method of reclamation, including the use of soil mixtures or substitutes, if
any, will achieve, within a reasonable time, levels of yield equivalent to, or
higher than, those of nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding
area;
(4) the productivity prior to
mining, including the average yield of food, fiber, forage, or wood products
obtained under a high level of management; and
(5) in all cases, soil productivity for prime
farmlands shall be returned to equivalent levels of yield as nonmined land of
the same soil type in the surrounding area under equivalent management
practices as determined from the soil survey performed pursuant to
§12.201(b)(1) of of this title (relating to Prime Farmland).
(c) Consultation with Secretary of
Agriculture.
(1) The Secretary of Agriculture
has assigned the responsibilities under this section to the chief of the U.S.
Natural Resources Conservation Service. The federal official who is responsible
to the chief of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service for its program
in Texas currently has the title of State Conservationist. The State
Conservationist is the principal officer in Texas of the U.S. Natural Resources
Conservation Service and is responsible for consultation and review of plans
submitted under this section.
(2)
Before any permit is issued for areas that include prime farmland, the
Commission shall consult with the principal officer in Texas of the U.S.
Natural Resources Conservation Service. The principal officer in Texas of the
U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service shall provide for the review of,
and comment on, the proposed method of soil reconstruction in the plan
submitted under subsection (b) of this section. If the principal officer in
Texas of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service considers those
methods to be inadequate, he or she shall suggest revisions to the Commission
which result in more complete and adequate reconstruction.
(d) Issuance of permit. A permit for the
mining and reclamation of prime farmland may be granted by the Commission, if
it first finds, in writing, upon the basis of a complete application, that:
(1) the approved proposed postmining land use
of these prime farmlands will be cropland;
(2) the permit incorporates as specific
conditions the contents of the plan submitted under subsection (b) of this
section, after consideration of any revisions to that plan suggested by the
principal officer in Texas of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service
under subsection (c) of this section; and
(3) the applicant has the technological
capability to restore the prime farmland, within a reasonable time, to
equivalent or higher levels of yield as non-mined prime farmland in the
surrounding area under equivalent levels of management; and
(4) The proposed operations will be conducted
in compliance with the requirements of §§12.620-12.622, 12.624, and
12.625 of this title (relating to Special Permanent Program Performance
Standards--Operations on Prime Farmland) and other environmental protection
performance and reclamation standards for mining and reclamation of prime
farmland of the regulatory program.
(5) The aggregate total prime farmland
acreage shall not be decreased from that which existed prior to mining. Water
bodies, if any, to be constructed during mining and reclamation operations,
shall be located within the post-reclamation non-prime farmland portions of the
permit area. The creation of any such water bodies shall be approved by the
Commission and the consent of all affected property owners within the permit
area shall be obtained.