Florida Administrative Code › 62 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 62C - Division of Resource Management › Chapter 62C-16 - BUREAU OF MINE RECLAMATION - MANDATORY PHOSPHATE MINE RECLAMATION › Section 62C-16.0021 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and
				  terms shall have the definitions and meanings ascribed to them in this
				  section:
(1) "Annual Mining and
				Reclamation Report" means a report, including maps and aerial photographs,
				submitted for each mine, which describes and delineates mining operations,
				reclamation and restoration activities undertaken in the previous calendar
				year. The report shall also include an estimate of proposed mining, reclamation
				and restoration activities that the operator intends to carry out during the
				current year.
(2) "Applicant" shall
				mean the person or agent authorized by the operator to make application to the
				bureau pursuant to this rule.
(3)
				"Calendar year" shall mean January 1st through December 31st.
(4) "Bureau" shall mean the Department Bureau
				of Mine Reclamation, 2051 East Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL
				32310-3760.
(5) "Conceptual
				reclamation plan" or "conceptual plan" shall mean a graphic and written
				description of general activities to be undertaken across the whole mine to
				comply with the reclamation standards contained in this chapter.
(6) "Department" shall mean the Department of
				Environmental Protection.
(7)
				"Disturbance" shall mean those activities in which an operator engages to
				modify the land surface to conduct mining operations within a reclamation
				parcel.
(8) "Indigenous species"
				shall mean species native to the region of Florida in which the reclamation and
				restoration activities are to be undertaken.
(9) "Mine" shall mean an area of land on
				which mining operations have been conducted, are being conducted, or are
				planned to be conducted, as the term is commonly used in the trade.
(10) "Mining" or "Mining Operations" shall
				mean those physical activities other than prospecting and site preparation,
				which are necessary for extraction, waste disposal, storage, or dam maintenance
				prior to abandonment.
(11) "New
				mine" shall mean a mine for which the operator first became obligated to pay a
				severance tax for the extraction of phosphate rock therefrom after July 1,
				1975.
(12) "Operator" shall mean
				the person engaged, or seeking to be engaged, in the extraction of phosphate
				rock or any other person who is obligated to reclaim mined lands pursuant to
				Section  211.32(1), F.S.
				For the purposes of Rule
				 62C-16.0075, F.A.C., relating to
				financial responsibility, "operator" includes a parent, its subsidiary, or
				division.
(13) "Overburden" shall
				mean all soil and rock removed to gain access to the phosphate in the process
				of extraction and shall mean such soil or rock before or after its
				removal.
(14) "Prior to Mining or
				Mining Operations" shall mean the condition of the mine area at the time of its
				initial inclusion in a conceptual plan submittal.
(15) "Reclamation" shall mean the reshaping
				of lands in a manner which meets the reclamation standards, including
				revegetation, contained in this chapter.
(16) "Reclamation parcel" shall mean a
				division within the mine boundary based on surface hydrology, unless another
				basis of division is otherwise approved by the Department, and identified in
				the conceptual reclamation plan. Previously approved reclamation programs and
				logical reclamation units shall constitute reclamation parcels.
(17) "Restoration" shall mean the
				recontouring and revegetation of lands in a manner, consistent with the
				criteria and standards established under this chapter, which will maintain or
				improve the water quality and function of the biological systems present at the
				site prior to mining or mining operations. In requiring restoration of an area,
				the Department must recognize technological limitations and economic
				considerations. For example, restoration shall be considered accomplished when
				immature trees are used; mature trees are not required to be replanted in areas
				where mature trees were removed to allow for mining.
(18) "Revegetation" shall mean, in reclaimed
				areas, a cover of vegetation consistent with the standards established pursuant
				to this chapter and consistent with the land form created and the future land
				uses. In restored areas, it means a cover of vegetation that is designed to
				return the restored area to a condition that maintains or improves the function
				of the biological system present at the site prior to mining or mining
				operations.
(19) "Secretary" shall
				mean the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.
(20) "Site Preparation" shall mean those
				physical activities involving clearing or modification of the land surface
				conducted before initiating mining or mining operations, excluding prospecting,
				or agricultural practices or agricultural activities that are not initiated to
				directly serve future mining operations.
(21) "Temporary land use" shall mean any use
				of lands under reclamation or restoration after contouring is complete, but
				before release, that is necessary for the mining operation or other reclamation
				or restoration activities within the mine.
(22) "Waste" shall mean all earth materials,
				exclusive of the phosphate being mined for sale, removed from the acres mined
				and requiring some means of disposal. This shall only include wastes generated
				by mining or benefaction of the phosphate.
(23) "Wetlands" shall be defined as in
				Section  373.019(22),
				F.S.; and their occurrence and limits shall be determined in accordance with
				the methodology contained in Chapter 62-340, F.A.C.
Rulemaking Authority
					 378.205 FS. Law Implemented
					 211.32,
					 373.019,
					 373.421,
					 378.203
					 FS.
New 10-6-80, Formerly 16C-16.021, Amended 2-22-87, Formerly
					 16C-16.0021, Amended 5-28-06.