Florida Administrative Code › 62 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 62C - Division of Resource Management › Chapter 62C-39 - RECLAMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR SOLID RESOURCES OTHER THAN PHOSPHATE, LIMESTONE, HEAVY MINERALS, AND FULLER'S EARTH › Section 62C-39.008 - Reclamation Standards

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
The Department is authorized to inspect all mines subject to
				  this rule to determine compliance with rule requirements and to determine if
				  reclamation has been properly completed thereby allowing the release of the
				  operator from further obligations. The following standards shall apply to all
				  areas disturbed by mining operations in new mines and all new surface areas
				  disturbed after January 1, 1989, at existing mines.
(1) Completion Dates for Reclamation
				Activities. All reclamation activities shall, to the extent possible, be
				coordinated with resource extraction and in any event shall be initiated at the
				earliest practicable time.
(a) Contouring
				shall be initiated and completed no later than one year after the calendar year
				in which mining operations cease for any given area. The Department shall waive
				this requirement for any reasonable length of time when a waiver is necessary
				to prevent the unacceptable contamination of the resource being
				extracted.
(b) Revegetation
				activities shall be initiated as soon as practical and completed no later than
				one year after the calendar year in which the final contours are established in
				an area unless revegetation activities will interfere with mining
				operations.
(c) Reclamation
				activities through revegetation shall be completed within three years of the
				cessation of mining operations at the mine.
(d) If mining operations temporarily cease at
				a mine for more than 12 months, the operator shall comply with one of the
				following options:
1. The requirements of
				subsections (4) through (7), below, shall begin immediately and be completed at
				a rate of at least 1, 000 feet of shoreline or dry pit wall per three-month
				period, or
2. The operator shall
				post a bond or other surety in an amount reasonably related to the cost of
				completing reclamation and for the period of time the initiation of reclamation
				will be delayed, both of which shall be acceptable to the Department,
				or
3. The operator shall begin
				reclaiming an equivalent amount of nonmandatory land at the rate specified in
				subparagraph 1., above. Compliance with the above requirements shall be tolled
				by the length of time that a temporary cessation results from attempts to
				obtain necessary permits for operations. The Department shall waive the
				commencement of the above requirements for any length of time not to exceed a
				maximum of one year upon a showing of good cause by the
				operator.
(e) If mining
				operations cease, for whatever reason, for more than two years at a mine, then
				all of the requirements of this section shall be met. This period shall be
				extended for a maximum of five years when the cessation of mining is caused by
				governmental action during the review of environmental permit applications.
				However, the Department shall direct the operator to complete those reclamation
				activities necessary to protect the public health and safety.
(f) The requirements of paragraphs (d) and
				(e), above, shall be suspended upon the resumption of
				mining.