Texas Administrative Code
Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION
Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Chapter 12 - COAL MINING REGULATIONS
Subchapter G - SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS, PERMITS, AND COAL EXPLORATION PROCEDURES SYSTEMS
Division 5 - SURFACE MINING PERMIT APPLICATIONS - MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR INFORMATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES
Section 12.127 - Geology Description

Universal Citation: 16 TX Admin Code § 12.127

Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025

(a) The description shall include, at a minimum:

(1) a description of the geology of the proposed permit and adjacent areas, down to and including the deeper of, either the stratum immediately below the lowest coal seam to be mined, or any aquifer below the lowest coal seam to be mined which may be adversely impacted by mining;

(2) the areal and structural geology of the permit and adjacent areas and other geologic parameters which influence the required reclamation; and

(3) the occurrence, availability, movement, quantity, and quality of potentially impacted surface and ground waters.

(b) The geologic description shall include analyses of samples collected from test borings, drill cores, or fresh unweathered, uncontaminated samples from rock outcrops from the permit area, down to and including the deeper of either the stratum immediately below the lowest coal seam to be mined or any aquifer below the lowest coal seam to be mined which may be adversely impacted by mining. The analyses shall result in the following:

(1) location of subsurface water, if encountered;

(2) logs of drill holes showing the lithologic characteristics, including physical properties and thickness of each stratum and each coal seam;

(3) chemical analyses identifying those strata that may contain acid- or toxic-forming or alkalinity-producing materials and to determine their content, except that the Commission may find that the analysis for alkalinity-producing material is unnecessary; and

(4) chemical analyses of the coal seam for acid- or toxic-forming materials, including the total sulfur and pyritic sulfur, except that the Commission may find that the analysis of pyritic sulfur content in unnecessary.

(c) If determined to be necessary to protect the hydrologic balance or to meet the performance standards of this chapter (relating to Coal Mining Regulations), the Commission may require the collection, analysis, and description of geologic information in addition to that required by subsection (b) of this section.

(d) An applicant may request that the requirement for a statement of the results of the test borings or core samplings be waived by the Commission. The waiver may be granted only if the Commission makes a written determination that the statement is unnecessary because other equivalent information is accessible to it in a satisfactory form.

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