TN Code § 59-8-407 (2021)
2021 Tennessee Code|Title 59 - Mines and Mining|Chapter 8 - Strip and Open Pit Mines|Part 4 - Coal Surface Mining Act of 1987|§ 59-8-407. Mining and Reclamation Plans

  Each permit application shall include a mining and reclamation plan which shall contain such information as the commissioner, by regulation, requires as necessary to demonstrate that reclamation required by this part can be accomplished.    The mining and reclamation plan may be changed with the commissioner's approval at any time upon application of the operator, to take account of changes in conditions or to correct any previous oversight. The commissioner may also order a change in the reclamation plan for the same reasons.   Any revision which proposes significant alteration to the mining or reclamation plan shall be subject to the same notice and public hearing requirements as an application for a permit. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations specifying what constitutes such significant alteration.      The plans shall be kept current and shall be carried out concurrently with the surface mining operation.   Any backfilling, grading, shaping, topsoiling, and cover crop sowing, if necessary, shall be completed within ninety (90) days after completion of the removal of the coal from a particular pit, area, or acre as identified in the mining and reclamation plan.   All of the site preparation and revegetative work shall be carried out within such time as permitted by the commissioner's regulations, which shall not be more than the first seeding or planting season after conclusion of the backfilling, grading and reshaping.   Any waiver from the above schedule must be in writing from the commissioner.   Each operator shall file a completion report within thirty (30) days after initial seeding and annually thereafter, showing those portions of the affected area for which reclamation, in accordance with the approved plan has been completed until final bond release.   The commissioner shall inspect such areas and shall notify the operator whether the reclamation is accepted as being in accordance with the approved plan, or whether there are deficiencies which must be corrected.     In addition to the requirements specified in subsection (a), the mining and reclamation plan submitted by the operator in connection with the operator's application for a permit shall include a detailed topographic map, prepared by a registered engineer, or a registered land surveyor, on a United States geological survey map, or aerial photograph, or equivalent, as may be approved by the commissioner, and on such scale as the commissioner shall require by regulation showing:  The area of land affected, the location of the stream or streams or any standing body of water into which the area drains, the location of drainways and the planned siltation traps and other drainage controls and the location of haul or other access roads to be prepared or used by the operator in the mining operation;   The location of any buildings, cemeteries, public highways, railroad tracks, gas and oil wells, publicly owned lands, officially designated scenic areas, utility lines, underground mines, transmission lines or pipe lines within the affected area or within five hundred feet (500') thereof;   The approximate location of the cuts or excavations to be made in the surface and the estimated location and height of spoil banks, and the total number of acres involved in the area of land affected; and   The date the map was prepared, together with a certification as to its accuracy by the person responsible for its preparation.      The surface mining application will be accompanied by a detailed mining plan showing:  The depth and character of overburden;   The thickness of the coal being mined;   Method of mining;   Mine waste disposal areas;   The manner, timing and distance for backfilling, grading work;   Final mine waste disposal areas and final shape of stable slope; and   A reclamation plan for haul roads that are to be left, which proposals shall meet the provisions of this section and all rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto by the commissioner.     The application shall assure that all reshaping will be completed within such time as permitted by the commissioner's regulations, which shall not be more than three (3) months after completion of the removal of the coal being mined.