Title 30—Mineral Resources--Volume 1
PART 822—SPECIAL PERMANENT PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS—OPERATIONS IN ALLUVIAL VALLEY FLOORS
§ 822.1   Scope.
This part sets forth additional requirements for surface coal mining and reclamation operations on or which affect alluvial valley floors in the arid and semiarid regions of the country.
§ 822.10   Information collection.
The information collection requirements contained in § 822.13 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3507 and assigned clearance number 1029-0049. The information is being collected to meet the requirements of sections 510(b)(5) and 515(b)(10)(F) of the Act which provide the information collection requirements and performance standards for alluvial valley floors. This information will be used to enable the regulatory authority to assess the impact of the proposed operation during the permanent regulatory program. The obligation to respond is mandatory.
§ 822.11   Essential hydrologic functions.
(a) The operator of a surface coal mining and reclamation operation shall minimize disturbances to the hydrologic balance by preserving throughout the mining and reclamation process the essential hydrologic functions of an alluvial valley floor not within the permit area.
(b) The operator of a surface coal mining and reclamation operation shall minimize disturbances to the hydrologic balance within the permit area by reestablishing throughout the mining and reclamation process the essential hydrologic functions of alluvial valley floors.
§ 822.12   Protection of agricultural activities.
(a) Prohibitions. Surface coal mining and reclamation operations shall not: (1) Interrupt, discontinue, or preclude farming on alluvial valley floors; or (2) cause material damage to the quantity or quality of water in surface or underground water systems that supply alluvial valley floors.
(b) Statutory exclusions. The prohibitions of paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply—
(1) Where the premining land use of an alluvial valley floor is undeveloped rangeland which is not significant to farming;
(2) Where farming on the alluvial valley floor that would be affected by the surface coal mining operation is of such small acreage as to be of negligible impact on the farm's agricultural production;
(3) To any surface coal mining and reclamation operation that, in the year preceding August 3, 1977—
(i) Produced coal in commercial quantities and was located within or adjacent to an alluvial valley floor; or
(ii) Obtained specific permit approval by the State regulatory authority to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations within an alluvial valley floor; or
(4) To any land that is the subject of an application for renewal or revision of a permit issued pursuant to the Act which is an extension of the original permit, insofar as: (i) The land was previously identified in a reclamation plan submitted under either part 780 or 784 of this chapter, and (ii) the original permit area was excluded from the protection of paragraph (a) of this section for a reason set forth in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
§ 822.13   Monitoring.
(a) A monitoring system shall be installed, maintained, and operated by the permittee on all alluvial valley floors during surface coal mining and reclamation operations and continued until all bonds are released in accordance with Subchapter J of this chapter. The monitoring system shall provide sufficient information to allow the regulatory authority to determine that—
(1) The essential hydrologic functions of alluvial valley floors are being preserved outside the permit area or reestablished within the permit area throughout the mining and reclamation process in accordance with § 822.11;
(2) Farming on lands protected under § 822.12 is not being interrupted, discontinued, or precluded; and
(3) The operation is not causing material damage to the quantity or quality of water in the surface or underground systems that supply alluvial valley floors protected under § 822.12.
(b) Monitoring shall be conducted at adequate frequencies to indicate long-term trends that could affect compliance with §§ 822.11 and 822.12.
(c) All monitoring data collected and analyses thereof shall routinely be made available to the regulatory authority.