Illinois Administrative Code › Title 8 - AGRICULTURE AND ANIMALS › Part 700 - FARMLAND PRESERVATION ACT › Appendix H - Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals' Agricultural Land Preservation Policy Statement

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
In response to the Farmland Preservation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat.
				1985, ch. 5, par. 1301 et seq.), signed into law by Governor Thompson on August
				19, 1982, the Department of Mines and Minerals hereby submits its Agricultural
				Land Preservation Policy.
POLICY
It is the Department's policy, in executing all of its
				functions, to protect and restore prime farmland and high capability land to
				the extent practicable.
DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS IMPACTING FARMLAND
Unlike many other state agencies, the Department does not
				acquire land, nor does it construct roads or buildings. The Department issues
				permits to drill wells (oil, gas and water) and to mine minerals, both coal and
				aggregate.
The oil, gas and water activities affect a minimal amount of
				farmland. The greatest effect from such activities are brine spills from
				pipeline breaks leading to saltwater disposal wells and saline runoff from
				other unauthorized sources. The Department issues approximately 2000 permits a
				year in connection with oil and gas production and water injection or brine
				disposal activities. The present policy is to phase-out all unlined surface
				evaporation pits which will reduce the amount of farmland being utilized for
				this purpose. The Department is committed to enforcement of this policy through
				62 Ill. Adm. Code 240: Subpart I (Rule IX of the Oil and Gas Rules). Further,
				62 Ill. Adm. Code
				240.1170
				requires that after proper plugging and abandonment, the area shall be cleared
				of all refuse material, burnt waste oil, drain and fill all excavations, remove
				concrete bases, machinery and material, and level the surface within 6 months
				and the area restored as nearly as possible to the condition encountered prior
				to when operations commenced.
With respect to aggregate mines, it is virtually impossible to
				protect agricultural land completely because all that remains after mining is a
				pit, which usually fills with water. In such a case, there is an inevitable
				trade-off between agricultural land, if it is involved, and sand and gravel
				needed for construction and maintenance of roads and buildings. It would be
				difficult to issue permits only to sites not containing farmland, since sand
				and gravel deposits do not necessarily occur in economically recoverable
				quantities only under nonagricultural surface lands.
The Department's activities with respect to surface coal mining
				have long taken into account preservation of agricultural land. Stringent
				cropland reclamation requirements, such as Rule 1104 (now 62 Ill. Adm. Code
				1825.12
				), have been imposed in 1976.
These requirements were the precursors to the prime farmland
				reclamation requirements in the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation
				Act of 1977 (Federal Act) (
				30 U.S.C.
				1201 et seq.).
Pursuant to Section 503 of the Federal Act, Illinois sought and
				gained approval from the Secretary of the United States Department of the
				Interior on June 1, 1982, of a state administered program granting Illinois
				exclusive jurisdiction over surface coal mining operations in Illinois.
Implementation of this permanent program has resulted in the
				two-tiered system for restoration of cropland affected by surface mining
				activities in Illinois.
The prime farmland provisions of the program address
				reclamation of soils meeting the definition of prime farmland set forth by the
				Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (
				7 C.F.R.
				657.5(1987) ). While these
				soils must meet the federal definition of prime farmland, these soils are
				generally Class I and II soils as defined by U.S. Soil Conservation Service,
				Handbook 210, "Land Capability Classification" (1973, U.S. Department of
				Agriculture, Washington, D.C.). The prime farmland permitting and performance
				standard requirements (62 Ill. Adm. Code
				1785.17 and 1823)
				are all geared toward ensuring mined prime farmland soils are as productive
				after mining as they were prior to mining. Post-mining productivity of
				reclaimed prime farmland soils is determined pursuant to the Agricultural Land
				Productivity Formula (A.L.P.F.) (62 Ill. Adm. Code 1816. Appendix A) developed
				by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The post-mining land use of prime
				farmland soils must be cropland. Incorporations by reference in this Appendix
				do not include any later amendments or editions.
The second tier of the program includes soils exempted from the
				prime farmland requirements and all other soils capable of row-crop production.
				These are all soils included in Handbook 210, Classes I through III, and those
				Class IV soils with slopes of five (5%) percent or less. These soils are
				treated as high capability soils and must meet the permitting and performance
				standards for such soils. The program requirements for these soils are designed
				to ensure prime farmland soils grandfathered after July, 1982, are as equally
				productive after mining as before mining and the remaining high capability
				soils are ninety (90%) percent as productive after mining. The A.L.P.F. is also
				utilized to determine post-mining productivity of these soils.
For prime farmland soils, the A.L.P.F. requires equivalent
				post-mining productivity be demonstrated a minimum of three (3) crop years. One
				(1) year of the three (3) years must be at least year five (5) of the minimum
				five (5) year revegetation responsibility period. Also, corn must have been the
				successful crop grown for at least one (1) year.
The A.L.P.F. requires high capability soils achieve ninety
				(90%) percent productivity post-mining for a minimum of two (2) crop years. One
				(1) year of the two (2) years must be at least year five (5) of the five (5)
				year minimum revegetation responsibility period. Corn must be grown
				successfully one (1) year. The productivity standard for prime farmland
				grandfathered after July, 1982, is one hundred (100%) percent. High capability
				soils reclaimed to hayland or pasture must meet the above requirements but in
				tons per acre rather than bushels per acre.
In addition to requiring restoration of cropland affected by
				surface mining activities, the State's mining program also requires restoration
				of cropland affected by subsidence of underground coal mine workings. Cropland
				affected by subsidence must be restored to the same capability to produce crops
				that existed before subsidence occurred. Generally, subsidence damage to
				cropland is limited to interruption of internal or surface drainage that in
				most cases is restorable by reestablishment of drainage tile or surface
				structures.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture has reviewed permit
				applications, commenting upon foreseeable agricultural impacts, since 1978, and
				will be doing so in the future on a continuing basis, in accordance with an
				Interagency Agreement.
Although many acres of prime farmland and high capability soils
				are affected by surface coal mining operations, the effect is only temporary,
				unlike the effects of road building, airport and other industrial construction,
				and urbanization in general. In fact, many acres of mined land are now
				producing rowcrops, wheat and corn being the most successful crop to date. Many
				more acres have been returned to pastureland, which also constitutes an
				agricultural use of land.
It would be impossible to wholly eliminate the effect of coal
				mining on agricultural lands in Illinois because prime farmland and high
				capability soils occur over most of the state in varying quantities. However,
				the Department's coal reclamation regulations, in addition to the involvement
				of the Illinois Department of Agriculture in the review of permit applications,
				probably represents the most recognition and protection of agricultural land
				afforded by any state agency in Illinois, next to the Department of Agriculture
				itself.
CONCLUSION
The Department presently has regulations which provide for
				protection and restoration of agricultural lands, and is committed to the
				spirit and letter of those regulations. To date, we have had a good working
				relationship with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, and we anticipate
				that this cooperation will continue.
(June 1987; revised)