Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 405 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET - DEPARTMENT FOR NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 16 - Performance Standards for Surface Mining Activities › Section 405 KAR 16:001 - Definitions for 405 KAR Chapter 16

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS Chapter 350, 7 C.F.R. Part 657,
				30
				C.F.R. Parts 700.5,
				701.5,
				707.5, 730-733, 735,
				761.5,
				762.5,
				773.5,
				800.5,
				843.5, 917c,
				30 U.S.C. Chapter 25,
				1253,
				1255,
				1291
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS 350.028(1),
				(5) and
				350.465(2)
				authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations relating to
				surface and underground coal mining operations. This administrative regulation
				defines terms used in 405 KAR Chapter 16.
Section
			 1. Definitions.
(1) "Acid
			 drainage" means water with a pH of less than six and zero-tenths (6.0) and in
			 which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity, 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 could create acid
			 drainage.
(3) "Acquisition" means
			 purchase, lease, or option of land for the purpose of conducting or allowing
			 through resale, lease, or option, the conduct of surface coal mining and
			 reclamation operations.
(4)
			 "Adjacent area" means land located outside the affected area or permit area,
			 depending on the context in which "adjacent area" is used, where air, surface
			 or groundwater, fish, wildlife, vegetation, or other resources protected by KRS
			 Chapter 350 could be adversely impacted by surface coal mining and reclamation
			 operations.
(5) "Affected area"
			 means any land or water area that is used to facilitate, or is physically
			 altered by, surface coal mining and reclamation operations. The affected area
			 includes:
(a) The disturbed area;
(b) Any area upon which surface coal mining
			 and reclamation operations are conducted;
(c) Any adjacent lands the use of which is
			 incidental to surface coal mining and reclamation operations;
(d) All areas covered by new or existing
			 roads used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface coal
			 mining and reclamation operations, except as established in this
			 definition;
(e) Any area covered by
			 surface excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts,
			 entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm
			 banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, or shipping
			 areas;
(f) Any areas upon which are
			 sited structures, facilities, or other property or material on the surface
			 resulting from, or incident to, surface coal mining and reclamation
			 operations;
(g) The area located
			 above underground workings associated with underground mining
			 activities;
(h) auger mining or in
			 situ mining; and
(i) Every road
			 used for the purposes of access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface
			 coal mining and reclamation operations, unless the road:
1. Was designated as a public road pursuant
			 to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located;
2. Is maintained with public funds and
			 constructed in a manner similar to other public roads of the same
			 classification within the jurisdiction; and
3. There is substantial (more than
			 incidental) public use.
(6) "Applicant" means any person seeking a
			 permit, permit revision, permit amendment, permit renewal, or transfer,
			 assignment, or sale of permit rights from the cabinet to conduct surface coal
			 mining and reclamation operations or approval to conduct coal exploration
			 operations pursuant to KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7 through
			 24.
(7) "Application" means the
			 documents and other information filed with the cabinet seeking issuance of
			 permits; revisions; amendments; renewals; and transfer, assignment, or sale of
			 permit rights for surface coal mining and reclamation operations or, if
			 required, seeking approval for coal exploration.
(8) "Approximate original contour" is defined
			 by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(9) "Aquifer" means a zone, stratum, or group
			 of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for
			 domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other beneficial use.
(10) "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 and
			 includes all other methods of mining in which coal is extracted from beneath
			 the overburden by mechanical devices located at the face of the cliff or
			 highwall and extending laterally into the coal seam, such as extended depth and
			 secondary recovery systems.
(11)
			 "Best technology currently available" means equipment, devices, systems,
			 methods, or techniques that will prevent, to the extent possible, additional
			 contributions of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside the permit
			 area and minimize, to the extent possible, disturbances and adverse impacts on
			 fish, wildlife, and related environmental values, and achieve enhancement of
			 those resources if practicable. The term includes equipment, devices, systems,
			 methods, or techniques that are currently available anywhere as determined by
			 the cabinet, even if they are not in routine use. The term includes
			 construction practices, siting requirements, vegetative selection and planting
			 requirements, animal stocking requirements, scheduling of activities and design
			 of sedimentation ponds in accordance with 405 KAR Chapters 16 and 18. The
			 cabinet determines the best technology currently available as authorized by KRS
			 Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24.
(12) "Blaster" means a person who is directly
			 responsible for surface blasting operations in surface coal mining and
			 reclamation operations or coal exploration operations.
(13) "Bond pool" or "Kentucky Bond Pool"
			 means the voluntary alternative bonding program established at
			 KRS 350.700 through
			 350.755.
(14) "Cabinet" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(15) "C.F.R." means Code of Federal
			 Regulations.
(16) "Coal" means
			 combustible carbonaceous rock, classified as anthracite, bituminous,
			 subbituminous, or lignite by ASTM Standard D 388-77.
(17) "Coal exploration" means the field
			 gathering of:
(a) 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) Environmental data to establish the
			 conditions of an area before beginning surface coal mining and reclamation
			 operations pursuant to the requirements of 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 if the
			 activity could cause any disturbance of the land surface or any appreciable
			 effect upon land, air, water, or other environmental resources.
(18) "Coal mine waste" means coal
			 processing waste and underground development waste.
(19) "Coal processing waste" means materials
			 that are separated from the product coal during the cleaning, concentrating, or
			 other processing or preparation of coal.
(20) "Collateral bond" means an indemnity
			 agreement in a sum certain payable to the cabinet executed by the permittee and
			 that which is supported by the deposit with the cabinet of cash, negotiable
			 certificates of deposit, or an irrevocable letter of credit of any bank
			 organized and authorized to transact business in the United States.
(21) "Combustible material" means organic
			 material that is capable of burning, either by fire or through oxidation,
			 accompanied by the evolution of heat and a significant temperature
			 rise.
(22) "Compaction" means
			 increasing the density of a material by reducing the voids between the
			 particles by mechanical effort.
(23) "Cropland" means land used for the
			 production of adapted crops for harvest, alone or in a rotation with grasses
			 and legumes, and includes row crops, small grain crops, hay crops, nursery
			 crops, orchard crops, and other similar specialty crops.
(24) "Cumulative impact area" means the area,
			 including the permit area, within which impacts resulting from the proposed
			 operation could interact with the impacts of all anticipated mining on surface
			 and groundwater systems. Anticipated mining includes, at a minimum, the entire
			 projected lives through bond release of:
(a)
			 The proposed operation;
(b) All
			 existing operations;
(c) Any
			 operation for which a permit application has been submitted to the cabinet;
			 and
(d) All operations required to
			 meet diligent development requirements for leased federal coal for which there
			 is actual mine development information available.
(25) "Day" means calendar day unless
			 otherwise specified to be a working day.
(26) "dB" means decibels.
(27) "Department" means the Department for
			 Natural Resources.
(28) "Developed
			 water resources land" means land used for storing water for beneficial uses
			 such as stockponds, irrigation, fire protection, flood control, and water
			 supply.
(29) "Disturbed area" means
			 an area where vegetation, topsoil, or overburden is removed or upon which
			 topsoil, spoil, coal processing waste, underground development waste, or
			 noncoal waste is placed by surface coal mining operations. Those areas are
			 classified as "disturbed" until reclamation is complete and the performance
			 bond or other assurance of performance required by 405 KAR Chapter 10 is
			 released.
(30) "Diversion" means a
			 channel, embankment, or other manmade structure constructed to divert water
			 from one (1) area to another.
(31)
			 "Downslope" means the land surface below the projected outcrop of the lowest
			 coalbed being mined along each highwall.
(32) "Durable rock" means rock that:
(a) Does not slake in water;
(b) Is not reasonably expected to degrade to
			 a size or condition that will block, cause failure of, impair, or restrict the
			 effectiveness of the internal drainage system; and
(c) Has been demonstrated to have a slake
			 durability index value of ninety (90) or greater as determined by:
1. The Method of Determination of Slake
			 Durability Index (Kentucky Method 64-513-79); or
2. A test method that yields an equivalent
			 measure of durability based upon correlation of results with Kentucky Method
			 64-513-79.
(33) "Embankment" means a manmade deposit of
			 material that is raised above the natural surface of the land and used to
			 contain, divert, or store water; to support roads or railways; or for other
			 similar purposes.
(34) "Ephemeral
			 stream" means a stream that flows only in direct response to precipitation in
			 the immediate watershed or in response to the melting of a cover of snow and
			 ice, and that has a channel bottom that is always above the local water
			 table.
(35) "Excess spoil":
(a) Means spoil disposed of in a location
			 other than the coal extraction area; and
(b) Does not mean spoil material used to
			 achieve the approximate original contour.
(36) "Fish and wildlife land use", as used in
			 405 KAR
			 16:210 and in similar situations when referring to a
			 premining or postmining land use, means land dedicated wholly or partially to
			 the production, protection, or management of fish or wildlife. Areas considered
			 as having the fish and wildlife land use are typically characterized by a
			 diversity of habitats in which use by wildlife is the dominant characteristic,
			 whether actively managed or not.
(37) "Forest land" means land used or managed
			 for the long term production of wood, wood fiber, or wood derived
			 products.
(38) "Fugitive dust"
			 means that particulate matter that becomes airborne due to wind erosion from
			 exposed surfaces.
(39) "Ground
			 cover" means the area of ground covered by the combined aerial parts of
			 vegetation and litter produced and distributed naturally and seasonally on
			 site, expressed as a percentage of the total area of measurement.
(40) "Groundwater" means subsurface water
			 that fills available openings in rock or soil materials to the extent that they
			 are considered water saturated.
(41) "Growing season" means the period during
			 a one (1) year cycle, from the last killing frost in the spring to the first
			 killing frost in the fall, in which climatic conditions are favorable for plant
			 growth. In Kentucky, this period normally extends from mid-April to
			 mid-October.
(42) "Head-of-hollow
			 fill" means a fill structure consisting of any material, other than coal
			 processing waste and organic material, placed in the uppermost reaches of a
			 hollow near the approximate elevation of the ridgeline, where there is no
			 significant natural drainage area above the fill, and where the side slopes of
			 the existing hollow measured at the steepest point are greater than twenty (20)
			 degrees or the average slope of the profile of the hollow from the toe of the
			 fill to the top of the fill is greater than ten (10) degrees.
(43) "Higher or better uses" means postmining
			 land uses that have a higher economic value or nonmonetary benefit to the
			 landowner or the community than the premining land uses.
(44) "Highwall" means the face of exposed
			 overburden and coal in an open cut of a surface mining activity or for entry to
			 underground mining activities.
(45)
			 "Highwall remnant" means that portion of highwall that remains after
			 backfilling and grading of a remining permit area.
(46) "Historically used for cropland" means
			 land that:
(a) Has been used for cropland for
			 any of five (5) years or more of the ten (10) years immediately preceding the:
1. Application; or
2. Acquisition of the land for the purpose of
			 conducting a surface coal mining and reclamation operation;
(b) Would likely have been used
			 for cropland for any five (5) of the ten (10) years immediately preceding the
			 acquisition or application, but for some fact of ownership or control of the
			 land unrelated to the productivity of the land; or
(c) Falls outside the five (5) of ten (10)
			 years criteria, but the cabinet determines is clearly cropland on the basis of
			 additional cropland history of:
1. Surrounding
			 land; and
2. The land under
			 consideration.
(47) "Hydrologic balance" means the
			 relationship between the quality and quantity of water inflow to, water outflow
			 from, and water storage in a hydrologic unit such as a drainage basin, aquifer,
			 soil zone, lake, or reservoir. It encompasses the dynamic relationship between
			 precipitation, runoff, evaporation, and changes in ground and surface water
			 storage.
(48) "Hz" means
			 hertz.
(49) "Imminent danger to the
			 health and safety of the public" means the existence of any condition or
			 practice, or any violation of a permit or other requirements of KRS Chapter
			 350, in a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, which could reasonably
			 be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit
			 area before the condition, practice, or violation can be abated. A reasonable
			 expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational
			 person, subjected to the same condition or practice giving rise to the peril,
			 would avoid exposure to the danger during the time necessary for
			 abatement.
(50) "Impounding
			 structure" means a dam, embankment, or other structure used to impound water,
			 slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid material.
(51) "Impoundment" means a water, sediment,
			 slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid holding structure or depression, either
			 naturally formed or artificially built.
(52) "Industrial/commercial lands" means
			 lands used for:
(a) Extraction or
			 transformation of materials for fabrication of products, wholesaling of
			 products, or long-term storage of products, and heavy and light manufacturing
			 facilities; or
(b) Retail or trade
			 of goods or services, including hotels, motels, stores, restaurants, and other
			 commercial establishments.
(53) "In situ process" means:
(a) In situ gasification;
(b) In situ leaching;
(c) Slurry mining;
(d) Solution mining;
(e) Borehole mining;
(f) Fluid recovery mining; or
(g) Another activity conducted on the surface
			 or underground in connection with:
1. In-place
			 distillation;
2.
			 Retorting;
3. Leaching;
			 or
4. Chemical or physical
			 processing of coal.
(54) "Intermittent stream" means:
(a) A stream or reach of stream that drains a
			 watershed of one (1) square mile or more but does not flow continuously during
			 the calendar year; or
(b) A stream
			 or reach of a stream that is below the local water table for at least some part
			 of the year, and obtains its flow from both surface runoff and groundwater
			 discharge.
(55) "KAR"
			 means Kentucky administrative regulations.
(56) "KPDES" means Kentucky Pollutant
			 Discharge Elimination System.
(57)
			 "KRS" means Kentucky Revised Statutes.
(58) "Land use" means specific functions,
			 uses, or management-related activities of an area, and could be identified in
			 combination if joint or seasonal uses occur and could include land used for
			 support facilities that are an integral part of the use. In some instances, a
			 specific use can be identified without active management.
(59) "Modified highwall" means either:
(a) The highwall resulting from remining
			 where the preexisting highwall face is removed; or
(b) The highwall resulting from remining
			 where the preexisting highwall is vertically enlarged.
(60) "Monitoring" means the collection of
			 environmental data by either continuous or periodic sampling methods.
(61) "MRP" means mining and reclamation
			 plan.
(62) "MSHA" means Mine Safety
			 and Health Administration.
(63)
			 "Mulch" means vegetation residues or other materials that aid in soil
			 stabilization and soil moisture conservation, thus providing microclimatic
			 conditions suitable for germination and growth.
(64) "Notice of noncompliance and order for
			 remedial measures" means a written document and order prepared by an authorized
			 representative of the cabinet that sets forth with specificity the violations
			 of KRS Chapter 350, 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, or permit conditions that
			 the authorized representative of the cabinet determines to have occurred based
			 upon inspection, and the necessary remedial actions, if any, and the time
			 schedule for completion thereof, which the authorized representative deems
			 necessary and appropriate to correct the violations.
(65) "Operations" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(66) "Operator" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(67) "Order for cessation and immediate
			 compliance" means a written document and order issued by an authorized
			 representative of the cabinet when:
(a) A
			 person to whom a notice of noncompliance and order for remedial measures was
			 issued has failed, as determined by a cabinet inspection, to comply with the
			 terms of the notice of noncompliance and order for remedial measures within the
			 time limits set therein, or as subsequently extended; or
(b) The authorized representative finds, on
			 the basis of a cabinet inspection, any condition or practice or any violation
			 of KRS Chapter 350, 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, or any condition of a permit
			 or exploration approval that:
1. Creates an
			 imminent danger to the health or safety of the public; or
2. Is causing or can reasonably be expected
			 to cause significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water
			 resources.
(68) "OSM" means Office of Surface Mining
			 Reclamation and Enforcement, United States Department of the
			 Interior.
(69) "Other treatment
			 facilities" means any chemical treatments, such as flocculation or
			 neutralization, or mechanical structures, such as clarifiers or precipitators,
			 that have a point source discharge and are utilized:
(a) To prevent additional contributions of
			 dissolved or suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area;
			 or
(b) To comply with
			 405 KAR
			 16:070.
(70) "Outslope" means the face of the spoil
			 or embankment sloping downward from the highest elevation to the toe.
(71) "Overburden" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(72) "Pastureland" means land used primarily
			 for the long-term production of adapted, domesticated forage plants to be
			 grazed by livestock or occasionally cut and cured for livestock feed.
(73) "Perennial stream":
(a) Means a stream or that part of a stream
			 that flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a result of
			 groundwater discharge or surface runoff; and
(b) Does not mean "intermittent stream" or
			 "ephemeral stream."
(74)
			 "Performance bond" means a surety bond, a collateral bond, or a combination
			 thereof, or bonds filed pursuant to the provisions of the Kentucky Bond Pool
			 Program (405 KAR
			 10:200,
			 KRS
			 350.595, and
			 KRS 350.700 through
			 350.755), by which a
			 permittee assures faithful performance of all the requirements of KRS Chapter
			 350, 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24, and the requirements of the permit and
			 reclamation plan.
(75) "Permanent
			 diversion" means a diversion remaining after surface coal mining and
			 reclamation operations are completed that has been approved for retention by
			 the cabinet and other appropriate Kentucky and federal agencies.
(76) "Permit" means written approval issued
			 by the cabinet to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation
			 operations.
(77) "Permit area"
			 means the area of land, indicated on the approved map submitted by the
			 permittee with an application, required to be covered by the permittee's
			 performance bond pursuant to 405 KAR Chapter 10 and that shall include the area
			 of land upon which the permittee proposes to conduct surface coal mining and
			 reclamation operations pursuant to the permit, including all disturbed areas.
			 Areas adequately bonded under another valid permit, pursuant to 405 KAR Chapter
			 10, could be excluded from the permit area.
(78) "Permittee" means an operator or a
			 person holding or required by KRS Chapter 350 or 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24
			 to hold a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations
			 during the permit term and until all reclamation obligations required by KRS
			 Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 are satisfied.
(79) "Person" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(80) "Precipitation event" means a quantity
			 of water resulting from drizzle, rain, snowmelt, sleet, or hail in a specified
			 period of time.
(81) "Previously
			 mined area" means land that was affected by coal mining operations conducted
			 prior to August 3, 1977, that has not been reclaimed to the standards of this
			 title.
(82) "Prime farmland" means
			 those lands that are defined by the Secretary of Agriculture in 7 C.F.R. 657
			 and that have been "historically used for cropland" as that phrase is defined
			 in this administrative regulation.
(83) "Probable hydrologic consequences" means
			 the projected results of proposed surface coal mining and reclamation
			 operations which may reasonably be expected to change the quantity or quality
			 of the surface and groundwater; the surface or groundwater flow, timing, and
			 pattern; and the stream channel conditions on the permit area, shadow area, and
			 adjacent areas.
(84) "Public
			 building" means any structure that is owned or leased, and principally used by
			 a governmental agency for public business or meetings.
(85) "Public road" means any publicly owned
			 thoroughfare for the passage of vehicles.
(86) "RAM" means Reclamation Advisory
			 Memorandum.
(87) "Reasonably
			 available spoil" means spoil and suitable coal mine waste material generated by
			 the remining operation and other spoil or suitable coal mine waste material
			 located in the permit area that is accessible and available for use and that
			 when rehandled will not cause a hazard to public safety or significant damage
			 to the environment. For this purpose, the permit area includes all spoil of
			 this nature located in the immediate vicinity of the mining
			 operation.
(88) "Recharge capacity"
			 means the ability of the soils and underlying materials to allow precipitation
			 and runoff to infiltrate and reach the zone of saturation.
(89) "Reclamation" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(90) "Recreation land" means land used for
			 public or private leisure-time use, including developed recreation facilities
			 such as parks, camps, and amusement areas, as well as areas for less intensive
			 uses such as hiking, canoeing, and other undeveloped recreational
			 uses.
(91) "Reference area" means a
			 land unit maintained under appropriate management for the purpose of measuring
			 vegetative ground cover, productivity, and plant species diversity that are
			 produced naturally or by crop production methods approved by the
			 cabinet.
(92) "Refuse pile" means a
			 surface deposit of coal mine waste that is not retained by an impounding
			 structure and does not impound water, slurry, or other liquid or semiliquid
			 material.
(93) "Remining" means
			 conducting surface coal mining and reclamation operations that affect
			 previously mined areas.
(94)
			 "Residential land" means tracts employed for single and multiple-family
			 housing, mobile home parks, and other residential lodgings.
(95) "Road":
(a) Means a surface right-of-way for purposes
			 of travel by land vehicles used in coal exploration or surface coal mining and
			 reclamation operations. A road consists of the entire area within the
			 right-of-way, including the roadbed, shoulders, parking and side area,
			 approaches, structures, ditches, surface, and contiguous appendages necessary
			 for the total structure. The term includes access and haul roads constructed,
			 used, reconstructed, improved, or maintained for use in coal exploration or
			 surface coal mining and reclamation operations, including use by coal hauling
			 vehicles leading to transfer, processing, or storage areas; and
(b) Does not mean pioneer or construction
			 roadways used for part of the road construction procedure and promptly replaced
			 by a road pursuant to 405 KAR Chapters 16 and 18 located in the identical
			 right-of-way as the pioneer or construction roadway. The term also excludes any
			 roadway within the immediate mining pit area.
(96) "Safety factor" means the ratio of the
			 available shear strength to the developed shear stress, or the ratio of the sum
			 of the resisting forces to the sum of the loading or driving forces, as
			 determined by accepted engineering practices.
(97) "SCS" means Soil Conservation
			 Service.
(98) "Sedimentation pond"
			 means a primary sediment control structure:
(a) Designed, constructed, or maintained
			 pursuant to
			 405 KAR
			 16:090 or
			 405 KAR
			 18:090;
(b) That could include a barrier, dam, or
			 excavated depression to:
1. Slow water runoff;
			 and
2. Allow suspended solids to
			 settle out; and
(c) That
			 does not include secondary sedimentation control structures, such as a straw
			 dike, riprap, check dam, mulch, dugout, or other measure that reduces overland
			 flow velocity, reduces runoff volume, or trap sediment, to the extent that the
			 secondary sedimentation structure drains into a sedimentation pond.
(99) "Shadow area" means the
			 surface area overlying underground mine works and surface areas associated with
			 auger and in situ mining.
(100)
			 "Significant, imminent environmental harm" means an adverse impact on land,
			 air, or water resources including plant and animal life as further defined in
			 this subsection.
(a) An environmental harm is
			 imminent, if a condition, practice, or violation exists that:
1. Is causing environmental harm;
			 or
2. Could reasonably be expected
			 to cause environmental harm at any time before the end of the reasonable
			 abatement time that would be set by the cabinet's authorized agents pursuant to
			 the provisions of KRS Chapter 350.
(b) An environmental harm is significant if
			 that harm is appreciable and not immediately reparable.
(101) "Slope" means average inclination of a
			 surface, measured from the horizontal, generally expressed as the ratio of a
			 unit of vertical distance to a given number of units of horizontal distance
			 (such as 1v:5h). It can also be expressed as a percent or in degrees.
(102) "Slurry mining" means the hydraulic
			 breakdown of subsurface coal with drill-hole equipment and the eduction of the
			 resulting slurry to the surface for processing.
(103) "SMCRA" means Surface Mining Control
			 and Reclamation Act, 30 U.S.C. Chapter 25.
(104) "Soil horizons" means contrasting
			 layers of soil parallel or nearly parallel to the land surface. Soil horizons
			 are differentiated on the basis of field characteristics and laboratory data.
			 The four (4) master soil horizons are:
(a) "A
			 horizon." The uppermost mineral layer, often called the surface soil. It is the
			 part of the soil in which organic matter is most abundant, and leaching of
			 soluble or suspended particles is typically the greatest;
(b) "E horizon." The layer commonly near the
			 surface below an A horizon and above a B horizon. An E horizon is most commonly
			 differentiated from an overlying A horizon by lighter color and generally has
			 measurably less organic matter than the A horizon. An E horizon is most
			 commonly differentiated from an underlying B horizon in the same sequum by
			 color of higher value or lower chroma, by coarser texture, or by a combination
			 of these properties;
(c) "B
			 horizon." The layer that typically is immediately beneath the E horizon and
			 often called the subsoil. This middle layer commonly contains more clay, iron,
			 or aluminum than the A, E, or C horizons; and
(d) "C horizon." The deepest layer of soil
			 profile. It consists of loose material or weathered rock that is relatively
			 unaffected by biologic activity.
(105) "Spoil" means overburden and other
			 materials, excluding topsoil, coal mine waste, and mined coal, that are
			 excavated during surface coal mining and reclamation operations.
(106) "Stabilize" means to control movement
			 of soil, spoil piles, or areas of disturbed earth by modifying the geometry of
			 the mass, or by otherwise modifying physical or chemical properties, such as by
			 providing a protective surface coating.
(107) "Steep slope" means any slope of more
			 than twenty (20) degrees.
(108)
			 "Surety bond" means an indemnity agreement in a sum certain, payable to the
			 cabinet and executed by the permittee, which is supported by the performance
			 guarantee of a corporation licensed to do business as a surety in the
			 Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(109)
			 "Surface blasting operations":
(a) Means the
			 on-site storage, transportation, and use of explosives in association with:
1. A coal exploration operation;
2. Surface mining activities; or
3. A surface disturbance of underground
			 mining activities; and
(b) Includes:
1. Design of an individual blast;
2. Implementation of a blast
			 design;
3. Initiation of a
			 blast;
4. Monitoring of an airblast
			 and ground vibration; and
5. Use of
			 access control, warning and all-clear signals, and similar protective
			 measures.
(110) "Surface coal mining and reclamation
			 operations" is defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(111) "Surface coal mining operations" is
			 defined by
			 KRS
			 350.010.
(112) "Surface mining activities" means those
			 surface coal mining and reclamation operations incident to the extraction of
			 coal from the earth by removing the materials over a coal seam before
			 recovering the coal, by auger coal mining, by extraction of coal from coal
			 refuse piles, or by recovery of coal from slurry ponds.
(113) "Suspended solids" or nonfilterable
			 residue, expressed as milligrams per liter, means organic or inorganic
			 materials carried or held in suspension in water that are retained by a
			 standard glass fiber filter in the procedure outlined by the U.S. EPA's
			 regulations for waste water and analyses (40 C.F.R. 136) .
(114) "Temporary diversion" means a diversion
			 of a stream or overland flow that is used during coal exploration or surface
			 coal mining and reclamation operations and not approved by the cabinet to
			 remain after reclamation as part of the approved postmining land use.
(115) "Ton" means 2000 pounds avoirdupois
			 (.90718 metric ton).
(116)
			 "Topsoil" means the A and E soil horizon layers of the four (4) master soil
			 horizons.
(117) "Toxic-forming
			 materials" means earth materials or wastes that, if acted upon by air, water,
			 weathering, or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical
			 conditions in soils or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of
			 water.
(118) "Toxic mine drainage"
			 means water that is discharged from active or abandoned mines or other areas
			 affected by coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations,
			 which contains a substance that through chemical action is likely to kill,
			 injure, or impair biota commonly present in the area that might be exposed to
			 it.
(119) "Transfer, assignment, or
			 sale of permit rights" means a change in ownership or other effective control
			 over the right to conduct surface coal mining operations under a permit issued
			 by the cabinet.
(120) "TRM" means
			 Technical Reclamation Memorandum.
(121) "Underground development waste" means
			 waste coal, shale, claystone, siltstone, sandstone, limestone, or similar
			 materials that are extracted from underground workings in connection with
			 underground mining activities.
(122) "Underground mining activities" means a
			 combination of:
(a) Surface operations
			 incident to underground extraction of coal or in situ processing, including
			 construction, use, maintenance, and reclamation of roads, aboveground repair
			 areas, storage areas, processing areas, and shipping areas; areas upon which
			 are sited support facilities including hoist and ventilating ducts; areas
			 utilized for the disposal and storage of waste; and areas on which materials
			 incident to underground mining operations are placed; and
(b) Underground operations such as
			 underground construction, operation, and reclamation of shafts, adits,
			 underground support facilities; in situ processing; and underground mining,
			 hauling, storage, and blasting.
(123) "Undeveloped land or no current use or
			 land management" means land that is undeveloped or, if previously developed,
			 land that has been allowed to return naturally to an undeveloped state or has
			 been allowed to return to forest through natural succession.
(124) "U.S. EPA" means United States
			 Environmental Protection Agency.
(125) "Valley fill" means a fill structure
			 consisting of any material other than coal waste and organic material that is
			 placed in a valley where side slopes of the existing valley measured at the
			 steepest point are greater than twenty (20) degrees or the average slope of the
			 profile of the valley from the toe of the fill to the top of the fill is
			 greater than ten (10) degrees.
(126) "Valuable environmental resources"
			 means:
(a) Listed or proposed endangered or
			 threatened species of plants or animals or their critical habitats listed by
			 the Secretary of the Interior under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
			 amended (16
			 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), or those species
			 or habitats protected by similar state statutes; and
(b) Habitats of unusually high value for fish
			 and wildlife, as determined by the cabinet in consultation with state and
			 federal agencies with responsibilities for fish and wildlife.
(127) "Water table" means the
			 upper surface of a zone of saturation, where the body of groundwater is not
			 confined by an overlying impermeable zone.
(128) "Water transmitting zone" means a body
			 of consolidated or unconsolidated rocks that, due to their greater primary or
			 secondary permeability relative to the surrounding rocks, can reasonably be
			 considered to function as a single hydraulic medium for the flow of
			 groundwater.
(129) "Wetland" means
			 land that has a predominance of hydric soils and that is inundated or saturated
			 by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support,
			 and that under normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of hydrophytic
			 vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
(a) "Hydric soil" means soil that, in its
			 undrained condition, is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during a
			 growing season to develop an anaerobic condition that supports the growth and
			 regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation.
(b) "Hydrophytic vegetation" means a plant
			 growing in:
1. Water; or
2. A substrate that is at least periodically
			 deficient in oxygen during a growing season as a result of excessive water
			 content.