KRS § 350.010 — KY Code / Title XXVIII / Chapter 350 / Section 350.010
350.010 Definitions for chapter
Status: in_force

350.010 Definitions for chapter.

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Surface coal mining operations" means activities conducted on the surface of lands

in connection with a surface coal mine and surface impacts incident to an

underground coal mine. The activities shall include excavation for the purpose of

obtaining coal, including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, extended

depth secondary recovery systems, mountaintop removal, box cut, open pit, and

area mining, the use of explosives and blasting, and in situ distillation or retorting,

leaching, or other chemical or physical processing, and cleaning, concentrating, or

other processing or preparation, and the loading of coal at or near the mine site.

Excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal includes extraction of coal from refuse

piles. The activities shall not include the extraction of coal by a landowner of fifty

(50) tons or less within twelve (12) successive calendar months for his own

noncommercial use from land owned or leased by him; the extraction of twenty-five

(25) to two hundred fifty (250) tons of coal as an incidental part of privately

financed construction where the coal is donated to a charitable or educational

organization for noncommercial use or noncommercial distribution; the extraction

of coal as an incidental part of federal, state, or local government financed highway

or other construction under administrative regulations established by the cabinet;

the extraction of, or intent to extract, twenty-five (25) tons or less of coal by any

person by surface coal mining operations within twelve (12) successive calendar

months; the extraction of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where

coal does not exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent (16-2/3%) of the tonnage of

minerals removed for purposes of commercial use or sale; or coal exploration

subject to KRS 350.057. Surface coal mining operations shall also include the areas

upon which the activities occur or where the activities disturb the natural land

surface. The areas shall also include any adjacent land, the use of which is

incidental to the 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 the activities and

for haulage, and excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts,

entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, 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 materials on the surface resulting from or incident to the activities. This

definition shall include the terms "strip mining" of coal and the "surface effects of

underground mining" of coal as used in this chapter;

(2) "Strip mining" means the breaking of the surface soil in order to facilitate or

accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals, ores, or other solid matter; any

activity or process constituting all or part of a process for the extraction or removal

of minerals, ores, and other solid matter from its original location; and the

preparation, washing, cleaning, or other treatment of minerals, ores, or other solid

matter so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use;

but shall not include the extraction of coal by a landowner for his own

noncommercial use of fifty (50) tons or less within twelve (12) successive calendar

months from land owned or leased by him; the extraction of coal as an incidental

part of federal, state, or local government financed highway or other construction

under administrative regulations established by the cabinet; the extraction of, or

intent to extract, twenty-five (25) tons or less of coal by any person by surface coal

mining operations within twelve (12) successive calendar months; the extraction of

coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed

sixteen and two-thirds percent (16-2/3%) of the tonnage of minerals removed for

purposes of commercial use or sale; coal exploration subject to KRS 350.057; nor

shall it include the surface effects or surface impacts of underground coal mining;

(3) "Surface coal mining and reclamation operations" means surface coal mining

operations and all activities necessary and incident to the reclamation of the

operations as required by this chapter;

(4) "Overburden" means material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated,

excluding topsoil, which lies above a natural deposit of coal and also means the

material after removal from its natural state in the process of surface coal mining;

(5) "Area of land affected" means any area of land or water upon which surface coal

mining and reclamation operations are conducted or located or are to be conducted

or located;

(6) "Operations" means surface coal mining operations, all of the premises, facilities,

roads, and equipment used in the process of producing coal from a designated area

or removing overburden for the purpose of determining the location, quality, or

quantity of a natural coal deposit or the activity to facilitate or accomplish the

extraction or the removal of coal;

(7) "Method of operation" means the method or manner by which the cut or open pit is

made, the overburden is placed or handled, water is controlled, and other acts are

performed by the operator in the process of uncovering and removing the coal;

(8) "Operator" means any person, partnership, or corporation engaged in surface coal

mining operations who removes or intends to remove more than twenty-five (25)

tons of coal from the earth by coal mining within twelve (12) consecutive calendar

months in any one (1) location;

(9) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, society, joint

stock company, firm, company, or other business organization and shall also

include any agency, unit, or instrumentality of federal, state, or local government

including any publicly-owned utility or publicly-owned corporation of federal,

state, or local government;

(10) "Cabinet" means the Energy and Environment Cabinet;

(11) "Secretary" means the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet;

(12) "Reclamation" means the reconditioning of the area affected by surface coal mining

operations under a plan approved by the cabinet;

(13) "Degree" when used in this chapter shall mean from the horizontal, and in each case

shall be subject to a tolerance of five percent (5%) of error;

(14) "Bench" means the ledge, shelf, or terrace formed in the contour method of strip

mining;

(15) "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 cabinet determines that they are in

compliance with KRS 350.455;

(16) "Certification" by a qualified registered professional engineer, as required by this

chapter and administrative regulations promulgated hereunder, means a good faith

representation to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, based on adequate

knowledge of the requirements of this chapter and administrative regulations

promulgated hereunder, related experience, best professional judgment, accepted

engineering practices and recognized professional standards, and standard practice

as it relates to direct participation by the registered professional engineer or

supervision of the registered professional engineer's employees or subordinates.

Certification shall not be construed to constitute a warranty or guarantee;

(17) "Reclamation development fund" means only that reconditioning of land affected

by surface mining, which will directly promote and benefit the fund administered

by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority to foster economic

development on surface mining land;

(18) "Reclamation development project" means only that reconditioning of land affected

by surface mining, which will directly promote and benefit an economic

undertaking which constitutes a project under KRS 154.1-010(20);

(19) "Reclamation development plan" means a plan submitted to the cabinet to show

compliance with reclamation standards, and submitted to the Kentucky Economic

Development Finance Authority to seek moneys from the reclamation development

fund for a reclamation development project;

(20) "Permit applicant" or "applicant" means a person applying for a permit;

(21) "Permittee" means a person holding a permit to conduct surface coal mining and

reclamation operations;

(22) "Unanticipated event or condition" as used in KRS 350.085(7) means an event or

condition encountered in a remining operation that was not contemplated by the

applicable surface coal mining and reclamation permit;

(23) "Lands eligible for remining" means those lands that would otherwise be eligible

for expenditures under KRS 350.560(1) or (2);

(24) "Coal combustion by-products" means fly ash, bottom ash, scrubber sludge, and

waste from fluidized bed combustion, produced by the combustion of coal. Coal

combustion by-products do not include boiler slag, or residues of refuse derived

fuels, such as municipal solid waste, tires, and solvents;

(25) "NAD 83" means the North American Datum, 1983 version, in feet units;

(26) "Single Zone Projection" means the Kentucky Single Zone State Plane Coordinate

System of 1983, based on the Lambert Conformal map projection with double

standard parallels on the North American Datum, as established in 10 KAR 5:010;

and

(27) "Long-term treatment" means the use of any active or passive water treatment

necessary to meet water quality effluent standards at the time the cabinet

determines, in accordance with the administrative regulations promulgated by the

cabinet relating to performance bond release, that a permittee has completed

backfilling, regrading, topsoil replacement, and drainage control, including soil

preparation, initial seeding, and mulching, pursuant to the approved reclamation

plan, and that a report for the area has been duly submitted to the cabinet.