Alaska Administrative Code › Title 11 - Natural Resources › Part 6 - Lands › Chapter 90 - Surface Coal Mining › Article 17 › 11 AAC 90.911 - Definitions

Current through May 31, 2024
Unless the context indicates otherwise, in AS 27.21 and
					 this chapter,
(1) "acid drainage"
				  means water with a pH which may cause or contribute to violation of the Alaska
				  water quality laws and regulations discharged from an active, inactive, or
				  abandoned surface coal mine and reclamation operation or from an area affected
				  by surface coal mining and reclamation operations;
(2) "acid-forming materials" means earth
				  materials that contain sulfide minerals or other materials which, if exposed to
				  air, water, or weathering processes, form acids that may create acid
				  drainage;
(3) "Act" means the
				  Alaska Surface Coal Mining Control and Reclamation Act (AS 27.21);
(4) "adjacent area" means land located
				  outside the affected area or permit area, depending on the context, where air,
				  water, fish, wildlife, vegetation or other resources may be adversely impacted
				  by surface coal mining and reclamation operations;
(5) "affected area" means any land or water
				  upon or in which mining activities are conducted or located, including land or
				  water which is located above underground mine workings;
(6) "affected person" as used in 11 AAC
				  90.751 - 11 AAC 90.759 means any person subject to the provisions of
				  AS
				  27.21.050;
(7) "agricultural activities" means, with
				  respect to alluvial valley floors, the use of any tract of land for the
				  production of domestic animal or vegetable life, where the use is enhanced or
				  facilitated by subirrigation or flood irrigation associated with alluvial
				  valley floors; including pasturing, grazing and watering livestock, and
				  cropping, cultivating or harvesting plants whose production is aided by the
				  availability of water from subirrigation or flood irrigation; but not including
				  agricultural practices which do not benefit from the availability of water from
				  subirrigation or flood irrigation;
(8) "agricultural use" means the use of any
				  tract of land for the production of domestic animal or vegetable life including
				  pasturing, grazing, and watering livestock and cropping, cultivating, and
				  harvesting plants;
(9) "aircraft
				  runways" means areas cleared, graded, surfaced, or otherwise modified from the
				  natural condition to facilitate the landing, storage, and servicing of fixed
				  wing and rotary aircraft;
(10)
				  "Alaska state program" means the program submitted to the Secretary under
				  section 503(a) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
				  1977;
(11) "approximate original
				  contour" means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading
				  of the mined area so that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access
				  roads, closely resembles the general surface configuration of the land before
				  mining and blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding
				  terrain in accordance with the performance standards of this chapter;
(12) "aquifer" means a zone, stratum, or
				  group of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for
				  a specific use;
(13) "arid and
				  semiarid area" means, in the context of alluvial valley floors, an area
				  experiencing water deficits where water use by native vegetation equals or
				  exceeds that supplied by precipitation;
(14) "auger mining" means a method of mining
				  coal at a cliff or highwall by drilling holes into an exposed coal seam from
				  the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the
				  surface;
(15) "best technology
				  currently available" or "BTCA" means equipment, devices, systems, methods, or
				  techniques which will prevent, to the extent possible, additional contributions
				  of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside the permit area, but not
				  result in contributions of suspended solids in excess of requirements set by
				  applicable state or federal laws and regulations, and minimize, to the extent
				  possible, disturbances and adverse impacts on fish, wildlife, and related
				  environmental values, and achieve enhancement of those resources where
				  practical; "BTCA" includes equipment, devices, systems, methods, or techniques
				  which are currently available anywhere as determined by the commissioner, even
				  if they are not in routine use; BTCA" includes construction practices, siting
				  requirements, vegetative selection and planting requirements, animal stocking
				  requirements, scheduling of activities, and design of sedimentation ponds in
				  accordance with 11 AAC 90.301 - 11 AAC 90.501; the commissioner will, in his or
				  her discretion, determine the "best technology currently available" on a
				  case-by-case basis;
(16) "cemetery"
				  means any area of land where human bodies are interred;
(17) "coal exploration" means
(A) the field gathering of surface or
				  subsurface geologic, physical, or chemical data by mapping, trenching,
				  drilling, geophysical, or other techniques necessary to determine the quality
				  and quantity of overburden and coal of an area; or
(B) the gathering of environmental data to
				  establish the conditions of an area before beginning surface coal mining and
				  reclamation operations under the requirements of this
				  chapter;