Virginia Administrative Code
Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Chapter 130 - COAL SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION REGULATIONS
Part 817 - Permanent Program Performance Standards-Underground Mining Activities
Section 4VAC25-130-817.100 - Contemporaneous reclamation
Universal Citation: 4 VA Admin Code 25-130-817-100
Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
(a) General. Reclamation efforts, including but not limited to backfilling, grading, topsoil replacement, and revegetation, on all areas affected by surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine shall occur as contemporaneously as practicable with mining operations, except when such mining operations are conducted in accordance with a variance for concurrent surface and underground mining activities issued under 4VAC25-130-785.18.
(b) Timing of backfilling and grading.
(1) Contour mining.
Rough backfilling and grading shall follow coal removal by not more than 60
days or 1,500 linear feet. The division may grant additional time for rough
backfilling and grading if the permittee can demonstrate, through a detailed
written analysis under 4VAC25-130-784.13(b)(3), that additional time is
necessary.
(2) Open pit mining with
thin overburden. Rough backfilling and grading shall occur in accordance with
the time schedule approved by the division, on the basis of the materials
submitted under 4VAC25-130-784.13(b)(3), which shall specifically establish in
stated increments the period between removal of coal and completion of
backfilling and grading.
(3) Area
strip mining. Rough backfilling and grading shall be completed within 180 days
following coal removal and shall not be more than four spoil ridges behind the
pit being worked, the spoil from the active pit being considered the first
ridge. The division may grant additional time for rough backfilling and grading
if the permittee can demonstrate, through a detailed written analysis under
4VAC25-130-784.13(b)(3), that additional time is necessary.
Statutory Authority
§§ 45.1-161.3 and 45.1-230 of the Code of Virginia.
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