Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 405 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET - DEPARTMENT FOR NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 7 - General Provisions › Section 405 KAR 7:060 - Experimental practices mining

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				350.020,
				350.028,
				350.465
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 350 in
				pertinent part requires the cabinet to promulgate rules and administrative
				regulations pertaining to surface coal mining and reclamation operations that
				are no more stringent than SMCRA. This administrative regulation governs the
				granting and approval of experimental mining practices that encourage advances
				in mining, reclamation, and postmining land use practices.
Section 1. General. Experimental practices
			 provide a variance from the environmental protection performance standards of
			 KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 16 through 20 for experimental or research
			 purposes to encourage advances in mining and reclamation practices or to allow
			 certain alternative postmining land uses. Experimental practices may be
			 undertaken if they are approved by the cabinet and the Director of OSM and if
			 their terms and conditions are incorporated into a permit, a permit amendment,
			 or a permit revision issued in accordance with
			 405 KAR
			 8:010.
Section
			 2. Approval Procedures.
(1)
			 Required approval. No person shall engage in or maintain any experimental
			 practice unless that practice is first approved in a permit by the cabinet and
			 the Director of OSM.
(2)
			 Application requirements. Each permit application submitted pursuant to this
			 administrative regulation shall contain appropriate descriptions, data, maps,
			 and plans which identify:
(a) The nature of
			 the experimental practice, including a description of the performance standards
			 for which variances are requested, the duration of the experimental practice,
			 and any special monitoring which will be conducted.
(b) How use of the experimental practice:
1. Encourages advances in mining and
			 reclamation technology; or
2.
			 Allows a postmining land use for industrial, commercial, residential, or public
			 (including recreational facilities) use on an experimental basis, when the
			 results are not otherwise attainable under the administrative regulations of
			 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24.
(c) That the experimental practice:
1. Is potentially more, or at least as,
			 environmentally protective during and after the proposed mining and reclamation
			 operations as would otherwise be required by standards promulgated under 405
			 KAR Chapters 16 through 20; and
2.
			 Will not reduce the protection afforded public health and safety below that
			 provided by the requirements of 405 KAR Chapters 16 through 20.
(d) That the applicant will
			 conduct monitoring of the effects of the experimental practice. The monitoring
			 program shall ensure the collection, analysis, and reporting of sufficient,
			 reliable data to enable the cabinet and the Director of OSM to:
1. Evaluate the effectiveness of the
			 experimental practice; and
2.
			 Identify, as soon as possible, potential risks to the environment and public
			 health and safety which may be caused by the experimental practice during and
			 after mining.
(e) To the
			 extent possible as can be foreseen prior to the actual conductance of the
			 experimental practice, the procedures and measures which will be implemented to
			 comply with the performance standards of KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters
			 16 through 20, or, if such compliance is not possible, to provide a level of
			 protection equivalent to or in excess of that provided for by the performance
			 standards of KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 16 through 20, if the
			 experimental practice should fail to be as environmentally protective or as
			 protective of the health or safety of the public as provided for by the
			 performance standards of KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 16 through
			 20.
(3) Public notice.
			 All experimental practices for which variances are sought shall be specifically
			 identified through the newspaper advertisements by the applicant and the
			 written notifications by the cabinet required under
			 405 KAR
			 8:010, Section 8.
(4) Criteria for approval. No permit
			 authorizing an experimental practice shall be issued unless the cabinet finds,
			 in writing upon the basis of both a complete application filed in accordance
			 with the requirements of this administrative regulation and 405 KAR Chapter 8,
			 and the concurrence of the Director of OSM, that:
(a) The experimental practice encourages
			 advances in mining and reclamation technology or allows a postmining land use
			 for industrial, commercial, residential, or public (including recreational
			 facilities) use on an experimental basis;
(b) The experimental practice is potentially
			 more, or at least as, environmentally protective during and after mining
			 operations as would otherwise be required under 405 KAR Chapters 16 through
			 20;
(c) The mining operations
			 approved for a particular land use or other purpose are not larger or more
			 numerous than necessary to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of the
			 experimental practice; and
(d) The
			 experimental practice does not reduce the protection afforded public health and
			 safety below that provided by standards promulgated under 405 KAR Chapters 16
			 through 20.
(5)
			 Revisions. Revisions to an experimental practice shall be processed and
			 approved in accordance with
			 405 KAR
			 8:010, Section 20. Any revisions which propose
			 significant alterations in the experimental practice shall be deemed major
			 revisions and subject to the approval of the Director of OSM. Revisions that do
			 not propose significant alterations in the experimental practice shall be
			 deemed minor revisions and shall not require the approval of the Director of
			 OSM.
(6) Prime farmland.
			 Experimental practices granting variances from the special environmental
			 performance standards applicable to prime farmland shall be approved only after
			 consultation with SCS.
(7)
			 Alternative postmining land uses. Experimental practices granting variances
			 from the requirements of KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR for alternative postmining
			 land uses shall not be approved by the cabinet, unless the attainment of the
			 alternative postmining land uses would not otherwise be practicable or feasible
			 without the approval of the experimental practice.