Illinois Administrative Code › Title 62 - MINING › Part 1817 - PERMANENT PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS - UNDERGROUND MINING OPERATIONS › Section 1817.41 - Hydrologic Balance Protection

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 General.
All Underground mining and reclamation activities shall be
				conducted to minimize disturbance of the hydrologic balance within the permit
				and adjacent areas, to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance
				outside the permit area such as diminution of recharge capacity, and to support
				approved post-mining land uses in accordance with the terms and conditions of
				the approved permit and the performance standards of this Part. The Department
				shall require additional preventative, remedial, or monitoring measures to
				assure that material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area
				is prevented if the current approved plan is not sufficient to assure this
				protection. Mining and reclamation practices that minimize water pollution and
				changes in flow shall be used in preference to water treatment.
b) Ground water protection. In
			 order to protect the hydrologic balance, underground mining activities shall be
			 conducted according to the plan approved under 62 Ill. Adm. Code
			 1784.14(g).
			 Ground water quality shall be protected by handling earth materials and runoff
			 in a manner that minimizes acidic, toxic, or other harmful infiltration to
			 ground water systems and by managing excavations and other disturbances to
			 prevent or control the discharge of pollutants into the ground water.
c) Ground water monitoring.
1) Ground water monitoring shall be conducted
			 according to the ground water monitoring plan approved under 62 Ill. Adm. Code
			 1784.14(h).
			 If unanticipated conditions develop, or if an approved operation or reclamation
			 plan is modified or revised, such that the current monitoring program would not
			 detect possible adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance, then the Department
			 shall require additional monitoring including, but not limited to, increased
			 monitoring frequency, additional monitoring wells, or change in the number of
			 parameters being monitored, when it is determined that the proposed, or
			 approved, monitoring plan is not adequate to detect adverse impacts to the
			 hydrologic balance.
2) Ground water
			 monitoring data shall be submitted every three months to the Department or more
			 frequently if necessary to detect possible adverse impacts to the hydrologic
			 balance as prescribed by the Department. Ground water monitoring reports shall
			 be submitted by the first day of the second month following the reporting
			 period, unless the Department specifies an alternative reporting schedule.
			 Monitoring reports shall include analytical results from each sample taken
			 during the reporting period. When the analysis of any ground water sample
			 indicates noncompliance with the permit conditions, then the permittee shall
			 promptly notify the Department and immediately take the actions provided for in
			 62 Ill. Adm. Code
			 1773.17(e)
			 and
			 1784.14(g).
3) Ground water monitoring shall proceed
			 through mining and continue during reclamation until bond release. Consistent
			 with the procedures of 62 Ill. Adm. Code
			 1774.13, the
			 Department may modify the monitoring requirements when such changes do not
			 diminish the ability to detect adverse impacts to the hydrologic balance,
			 including the parameters covered and the sampling frequencies, if the permittee
			 demonstrates, using the monitoring data obtained under this subsection that:
A) The operation has minimized disturbance to
			 the prevailing hydrologic balance in the permit and adjacent areas and
			 prevented material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area;
			 water quality and quantity are suitable to support approved post-mining land
			 uses; or
B) Monitoring is no longer
			 necessary to achieve the purposes set forth in the monitoring plan approved
			 under 62 Ill. Adm. Code
			 1784.14(h).
4) Equipment, structures, and
			 other devices used in conjunction with monitoring the quality and quantity of
			 ground water onsite and offsite shall be properly installed, maintained, and
			 operated and shall be removed by the permittee when no longer needed, except as
			 provided for under subsection (g).