Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Division 40 - Missouri Mining Commission › Chapter 7 - Bond and Insurance Requirements for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations › Section 10 CSR 40-7.021 - Duration and Release of

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Reclamation Liability
PURPOSE: This rule sets forth requirements for the
				  duration and release of reclamation liability pursuant to sections
				  444.810,
				  444.830,
				  444.855,
				  444.875 and 444.950,RSMo.
(1)
				Period of Liability.
(A) Liability applicable
				to a permit shall continue until all reclamation, restoration and abatement
				work required of the permittee under the regulatory program and the provisions
				of the permit and reclamation plan have been completed and the permit
				terminated by release of the permittee from any further liability in accordance
				with this rule.
(B) Duration of
				Phase III Liability.
1. The period of Phase
				III liability shall begin when Phase II liability is released.
2. The permittee, on areas under Phase III
				liability or the five (5)-year responsibility period, may use normal husbandry
				practices including mowing; application of pesticides; application of soil
				amendments equal to or less than that recommended by the high management yield
				goals of the United States Soil Conservation Service, United States Department
				of Agriculture (USDA); subsoiling which occurs less than two feet (2') below
				the surface and which does not remove the vegetation from the surface; burning;
				overseeding to maintain the approved composition of the stand; tree planting
				and tree pruning. These practices shall not cause the Phase III liability
				period or the five (5)-year responsibility period to be extended if the
				permittee can demonstrate that-1) discontinuance of these measures after the
				liability period expires will not reduce the probability of permanent
				revegetation success, 2) the practices are normal husbandry practices within
				the region on unmined lands having land uses similar to the approved postmining
				land use of the area and 3) the practices are necessary to prevent
				exploitation, destruction or neglect of the resource and to maintain the
				prescribed level of use or productivity. Repair of rills and gullies shall not
				cause the Phase III liability period to be extended when rills and gullies
				develop after the initiation of the Phase III liability period and when that
				repair is restricted to the filling, grading and reseeding of the eroded
				portion of the area.
3. A portion
				of the permit area that requires augmentation may be separated from the
				original area upon approval by the commission or director. The period of Phase
				III liability shall commence anew on the area requiring augmentation when the
				augmentation is completed. The period of liability for the area which did not
				require augmentation shall continue in effect without extension.
(C) A regulatory authority may
				terminate its jurisdiction under the regulatory program over the reclaimed site
				of a completed surface coal mining and reclamation operation or increment, when
				the regulatory authority determines in writing that under the-
1. Initial program all requirements imposed
				under 10 CSR 40-2, 10 CSR 40-3, 10 CSR 40-4 and 10 CSR 40-8 have been
				successfully completed; or
2.
				Permanent program all requirements imposed under the applicable regulatory
				program have been successfully completed or, where a performance bond was
				required, the regulatory authority has made a final decision in accordance with
				this chapter to release the performance bond fully.
(D) Following a termination under subsection
				(1)(C) of this rule, the regulatory authority shall reassert jurisdiction under
				the regulatory program over a site if it is demonstrated that the bond release
				or written determination referred to in subsection (1)(C) of this rule was
				based upon fraud, collusion or misrepresentation of a material fact.