Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 26 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT › Part 4 - SUBTITLES 19-30 › Subtitle 20 - SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION UNDER FEDERALLY APPROVED PROGRAM › Chapter 26.20.01 - General › Section 26.20.01.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this
				  subtitle, the following terms have the meanings indicated.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Acid drainage" means water with a pH of
				  less than 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 which, if exposed to air, water, or weathering
				  processes, form acids that may create acid drainage.
(3) "Adjacent area" means land located
				  outside the permit area where air, surface or ground water, fish, wildlife,
				  vegetation, or other resources may be adversely impacted by surface coal mining
				  and reclamation operations.
(4)
				  "Affected area" means, with respect to surface mining activities, any land or
				  water which is disturbed during the term of the permit. With respect to
				  underground mining activities, "affected area" means any water or surface land
				  upon or in which those activities are conducted or located, and land or water
				  which is located above underground mine workings.
(5) "Agricultural use" means the use of any
				  tract of land for the production of animal or vegetable life. The uses include,
				  but are not limited to, the pasturing, grazing, and watering of livestock, and
				  the cropping, cultivation, and harvesting of plants.
(6) "Applicant" means a person seeking a
				  permit from the Bureau to conduct prospecting or mining and reclamation
				  operations under the Regulatory Program.
(7) "Application" means the documents and
				  other information filed with the Bureau under the Regulatory Program for the
				  issuance of a prospecting or mining permit.
(8) "Approximate original contour" means that
				  surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the affected area
				  that eliminates all highwalls and spoil piles, 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, with all highwalls, spoil piles,
				  and coal refuse piles eliminated. Permanent water impoundments may be allowed
				  where the Bureau has determined that these impoundments comply with the
				  Regulatory Program.
(9) "Aquifer"
				  means a zone, stratum, or group of strata that can store and transmit water in
				  sufficient quantities for a specific use.
(10) "Backfill" means to place spoil material
				  into an excavated area to a predetermined slope.
(11) "Best technology currently available"
				  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 which will minimize, to the extent possible, disturbances and adverse
				  impacts on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values, and achieve
				  enhancement of those resources where practicable. The term includes equipment,
				  devices, systems, methods, or techniques which are currently available anywhere
				  as determined by the Bureau, even if they are not in routine use. The term
				  includes, but is not limited to, construction practices, siting requirements,
				  vegetative selection and planting requirements, animal stocking requirements,
				  scheduling of activities and design of sedimentation ponds in accordance with
				  the standards of the Regulatory Program. Within the constraints of the
				  Regulatory Program, the Bureau shall have the discretion to determine the best
				  technology currently available on a case-by-case basis.
(12) "Blasting" means detonation of
				  explosives.
(13) "Bureau" means the
				  Maryland Bureau of Mines.
(14)
				  "Coal mine waste" means coal processing waste and underground development
				  waste.
(15) "Coal preparation
				  plant" means a facility where coal is subjected to chemical or physical
				  processing or the cleaning, concentrating, or other processing or preparation.
				  It includes facilities associated with coal preparation activities including,
				  but not limited to the following:
(a) Loading
				  facilities;
(b) Storage and
				  stockpile facilities;
(c)
				  Sheds;
(d) Shops and other
				  buildings;
(e) Water treatment and
				  storage facilities;
(f) Settling
				  basins and impoundments; and
(g)
				  Coal processing and other waste disposal areas.
(16) "Coal processing wastes" means earth
				  materials which are combustible, physically unstable, or acid-forming or
				  toxic-forming, which are wasted or otherwise separated from product coal, and
				  transported from coal processing plants, after physical or chemical processing,
				  cleaning, or concentrating of coal.
(17) "Collateral bond" means an indemnity
				  agreement in a certain sum payable to the Bureau executed by the permittee and
				  which is supported by the deposit with the Bureau of cash, negotiable bonds of
				  the United States, negotiable certificates of deposit, or an irrevocable letter
				  of credit issued by any bank located in and authorized to transact business in
				  Maryland.
(18) "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.
(19) "Committee"
				  means the Land Reclamation Committee, as established by Environment Article, §
											15-204, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland.
(20) "Compaction" means
				  increasing the density of a material by reducing the voids between the
				  particles and is generally accomplished by controlled placement and mechanical
				  effort such as from repeated application of wheel, track, or roller loads from
				  heavy equipment.
(21) "Complete
				  application" means an application for a prospecting or mining permit which
				  contains all information required under the Regulatory Program.
(22) "Cross drain" means a ditch constructed
				  to carry away excessive drainage from a main collection point.
(23) "Cumulative impact area" means the area,
				  including the permit area, within which impacts resulting from the proposed
				  operation may interact with the impacts of anticipated mining on surface and
				  ground water systems. Anticipated mining shall include, at a minimum, the
				  entire projected lives through bond releases of:
(a) The proposed operation;
(b) Existing operations;
(c) Operations for which a permit application
				  has been submitted to the Bureau; and
(d) Operations required to meet diligent
				  development requirements for leased federal coal for which there is actual mine
				  development information available.
(24) "Cut" means excavation to remove
				  overburden in a single progressive line.
(25) "Director" means the Director of the
				  Maryland Bureau of Mines or his duly authorized representative.
(26) "Disturbed area" means an area from
				  which vegetation, topsoil, or overburden is removed or land occupied by topsoil
				  stockpiles, spoil piles, the open-pit, access or haul roads, haulageways,
				  storage areas, shop areas, processing and shipping areas, drainage or sediment
				  control structures, coal processing wastes, underground development waste, or
				  non-coal waste. The area shall be considered disturbed until reclamation is
				  complete and all performance bonds for the area are released.
(27) "Diversion" means a channel, embankment,
				  or other manmade structure constructed to divert water from one area to
				  another.
(28) "Downslope" means the
				  land surface between the projected outcrop of the lowest coal seam being mined
				  and a valley floor.
(29)
				  "Embankment" means an artificial deposit of material that is raised above the
				  natural surface of the land and used to contain, divert, or store water,
				  support roads, or railways, or for other similar purposes.
(30) "Ephemeral stream" means a stream which
				  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 which has a channel
				  bottom that is always above the local water table.
(31) "Excess spoil" means spoil material
				  disposed of in a location other than the mined-out area. In nonsteep slope
				  areas, spoil material used to achieve the approximate original contour by
				  blending the spoil on the mined-out area with the surrounding terrain is not
				  considered excess spoil.
(32)
				  "Existing structure" means a structure or facility used in connection with, or
				  to facilitate, mining and reclamation operations for which construction began
				  before approval of the Regulatory Program.
(33) "Explosive" means any chemical compound,
				  mixture, or device, the primary purpose of which is to function by explosion,
				  that is, with substantially instantaneous release of gas and heat, unless the
				  compound, mixture, or device is otherwise specifically classified by the
				  Interstate Commerce Commission.
(34) "Face of coal" means the exposed
				  vertical cross section of the natural coal seam or deposit being mined and
				  generally forming the base of the highwall left by excavating operations in
				  surface mining.
(35) "Fill bench"
				  means that portion of a bench formed by spoil or overburden which has been
				  deposited over the original slope.
(36) "Fugitive dust" means that particulate
				  matter not emitted from a duct or stack which becomes airborne due to the
				  forces of wind or surface coal mining and reclamation operations or both.
				  During surface coal mining and reclamation operations, it may include emissions
				  from haul roads; wind erosion of exposed surfaces, storage piles, and spoil
				  piles; reclamation operations; and other activities in which material is either
				  removed, stored, transported, or redistributed.
(37) "General area" means, with respect to
				  hydrology, the topographic and ground water basin surrounding a permit area
				  which is of sufficient size, including aerial extent and depth, to include one
				  or more watersheds containing perennial streams and ground water zones and to
				  allow assessment of the probable cumulative impacts on the quality and quantity
				  of surface and ground water systems in the basins.
(38) "Ground water" means subsurface water
				  that fills available openings in rock or soil materials to the extent that they
				  are considered water saturated.
(39) "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 where side slopes
				  of the existing hollow measured at the steepest point are greater than 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 10 degrees In fills less than
				  250,000 cubic yards of material, associated with contour mining, the top
				  surface of the fill will be at the elevation of the coal seam. In all other
				  head-of-hollow fills, the top surface of the fill, when completed, is at
				  approximately the same elevation as the adjacent ridge line, and no significant
				  area of natural drainage occurs above the fill draining into the fill
				  area.
(40) "Highwall" means the
				  vertical wall consisting of the exposed coal seam and overlying strata during
				  or after excavating operations.
(41) "Historically used for croplands" means:
(a) Lands that have been used for cropland
				  for any 5 years or more out of the 10 years immediately preceding the
				  acquisition, including purchase, lease, or option, of the land, for the purpose
				  of conducting or allowing through resale, lease, or option the conduct of
				  surface coal mining and reclamation operations;
(b) Lands that the Bureau determines, on the
				  basis of additional cropland history of the surrounding lands and the lands
				  under consideration, that the permit area is clearly cropland but falls outside
				  the specific 5-years-in-10 criterion, in which case the regulations for prime
				  farmland may be applied to include more years of cropland history only to
				  increase the prime farmland acreage to be preserved; or
(c) Lands that would likely have been used as
				  cropland for any 5 out of the last 10 years immediately preceding the
				  acquisition but for the same fact of ownership or control of the land unrelated
				  to the productivity of the land.
(42) "Hydrology" appears in this subtitle
				  under the following terms and meanings:
(a)
				  "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 relationships among precipitation, runoff, evaporation,
				  and changes in ground and surface water storage.
(b) "Hydrologic regime" means the entire
				  state of water movement in a given area. It is a function of the climate and
				  includes the phenomena by which water first occurs as atmospheric water vapor,
				  passes into a liquid or solid form, falls as precipitation, moves along or into
				  the ground surface, and returns to the atmosphere as vapor by means of
				  evaporation and transpiration.
(c)
				  "Probable cumulative impact" means the expected total qualitative and
				  quantitative direct and indirect effects of mining and reclamation activities
				  on the hydrologic regime.
(d)
				  "Probable hydrologic consequence" means the projected result of proposed
				  surface coal mining and reclamation operations which may reasonably be expected
				  to change the quantity or quality of the surface and ground water; the surface
				  or ground water flow, timing, and pattern; the stream channel conditions; and
				  the aquatic habitat on the permit area and other affected areas.
(43) "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 the Regulatory
				  Program, 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.
(44) "Impounding structure" means a dam,
				  embankment, or other structure used to impound water, slurry, or other liquid
				  or semi-liquid material.
(45)
				  "Impoundment" means a closed basin naturally formed or artificially built,
				  which is dammed or excavated for the retention of water, sediment, or
				  waste.
(46) "In situ processes"
				  means activities conducted, on the surface or underground, in connection with
				  in-place distillation retorting, leaching, or other chemical or physical
				  processing of coal. The term includes, but is not limited to, in situ
				  gasification, in situ leaching, slurry mining, and fluid recovery
				  mining.
(47) "Intermittent stream"
				  means:
(a) A stream or reach of a stream that
				  drains a watershed of at least 1 square mile; 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 ground water discharge.
(48) "Irreparable damage to the environment"
				  means any damage to the environment that cannot be corrected by actions of the
				  applicant.
(49) "Lands eligible for
				  remining" means any land that would otherwise be eligible for expenditures
				  under Environment Article, Title 15, Subtitle 11, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland.
(50) "Land use" means
				  specific uses or management-related activities, rather than the vegetation or
				  cover of the land. Land uses may be identified in combination when joint or
				  seasonal uses occur.
(51) "Low
				  wall" means the side of the fill bench facing the highwall.
(51-1) "Material damage", in the context of COMAR
					 26.20.02.15 a and .16,
					 26.20.13.07 a, .09, and .10, and
					 26.20.14.13 a, means:
(a) Any functional impairment of surface
				  lands, features, structures, or facilities;
(b) Any physical change that:
(i) Has a significant adverse impact on the
				  affected land's capability to support current or reasonably foreseeable uses;
				  or
(ii) Causes significant loss in
				  production or income; or
(c) Any significant change in the condition,
				  appearance, or utility of any structure or facility from its presubsidence
				  condition.
(52) "Mining"
				  appears in this subtitle under the following terms and meanings (the terms
				  open-pit, surface, and strip mining are used interchangeably in these
				  regulations):
(a) "Auger mining" means a
				  method of mining coal at a highwall by drilling holes into an exposed coal seam
				  from the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the
				  surface.
(b) "Deep mining" means
				  removal of the mineral being mined without the disturbance of the surface, as
				  distinguished from surface mining.
(c) "Open-pit mining" means the mining or
				  recovery of coal by removing the material which overlies the coal seam in its
				  natural condition.
(d) "Surface
				  coal mining operations" means:
(i) Activities
				  conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine or
				  surface operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine.
				  These activities include excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal,
				  including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, mountaintop removal,
				  box cut, open-pit, and area mining, the uses of explosives and blasting, and in
				  situ distillation or retorting, leaching or other chemical or physical
				  processing, and the cleaning, concentrating, or other processing or
				  preparation, loading of coal at or near the minesite, including extraction of
				  coal from coal refuse piles; and
(ii) Areas upon which these activities occur
				  or where those activities disturb the natural land surface. These areas shall
				  also include any adjacent land the use of which is incidental to any of these
				  activities, all lands affected by the construction of new roads or the
				  improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to the site of those
				  activities and for haulage and excavation, workings, impoundments, dams,
				  ventilation shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden
				  piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailing, holes or depressions, repair areas,
				  storage areas, processing areas, shipping areas, and other areas upon which are
				  situated structures, facilities, or other property or material on the surface,
				  resulting from or incident to those activities.
(e) "Surface coal mining and reclamation
				  operations" means surface coal mining operations and all activities necessary
				  or incidental to the reclamation of these operations.
(f) "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 mining or by recovery of coal from a deposit that
				  is not in its original geologic location.
(g) "Underground mining activities" means a
				  combination of:
(i) Surface operations
				  incident to underground extraction of coal or in situ processing, such as
				  construction use, maintenance, and reclamation of roads, above-ground repair
				  areas, storage areas, shipping areas, areas upon which are situated support
				  facilities including hoist and ventilating ducts, areas used for the disposal
				  and storage of waste, and areas on which materials incident to underground
				  mining operations are placed; and
(ii) Underground operations such as
				  underground construction, operations and reclamation of shafts, adits,
				  underground support facilities, in situ processing, and underground mining,
				  hauling, storage, and blasting.
(53) "Moist bulk density" means the weight of
				  soil (oven dry) per unit volume. Volume is measured when the soil is at field
				  moisture capacity (1/3 bar moisture tension). Weight is determined after drying
				  the soil at 105°C.
(54)
				  "Monitoring" means the collection of environmental data by either continuous or
				  periodic sampling methods.
(55)
				  "Mulch" means vegetation residues or other suitable materials that aid in soil
				  stabilization and soil moisture conservation, thus providing microclimatic
				  conditions suitable for germination and growth.
(56) "Natural drainway" means any watercourse
				  or channel which carries water to the tributaries and rivers of the watershed.
				  Streams classified as perennial or intermittent streams by the U.S. Geological
				  Survey shall be considered as natural drainways.
(57) "Noxious plants" means species that have
				  been included on the official list of noxious plants for Maryland.
(58) "Open-acre" means the disturbed area,
				  excluding any area which has not been cleared and grubbed and any area which
				  has been satisfactorily backfilled, regraded, topsoiled, seeded, and mulched
				  (or reclaimed to an alternate postmining land use) in accordance with an
				  approved reclamation plan, and which will not be redisturbed.
(59) "Open-acre limit" means the number of
				  acres approved to be bonded as openacres and for which a bond is posted before
				  the issuance of a permit.
(60)
				  "Outslope" means the face of the spoil or embankment sloping downward from the
				  highest elevation to the lower limit of the disturbed land.
(61) "Overburden" means material of any
				  nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a coal deposit, excluding
				  topsoil.
(62) "Owned or controlled"
				  and "owns or controls" means any one or a combination of the relationships
				  specified in §B(62)(a) and (b) of this regulation. These relationships:
(a) Constitute ownership or control:
(i) By being a permittee of a surface coal
				  mining operation,
(ii) Based on
				  instruments of ownership or voting securities, by owning of record in excess of
				  50 percent of an entity, or
(iii)
				  By having any other relationship which gives one person authority directly or
				  indirectly to determine the manner in which an applicant, an operator, or other
				  entity conducts surface coal mining operations;
(b) Are presumed to constitute ownership or
				  control unless a person can demonstrate that the person subject to the
				  presumption does not have the authority, directly or indirectly, to determine
				  the manner in which the relevant surface coal mining operation is conducted:
(i) By being an officer or director of an
				  entity,
(ii) By being the operator
				  of a surface coal mining operation,
(iii) By having the ability to commit the
				  financial or real property assets or working resources of an entity,
(iv) By being a general partner in a
				  partnership,
(v) Based on the
				  instruments of ownership or the voting securities of a corporate entity, by
				  owning of record 10 through 50 percent of the entity,
(vi) By owning or controlling coal to be
				  mined by another person under a lease, sublease, or other contract and having
				  the right to receive the coal after mining, or
(vii) By owning or controlling coal to be
				  mined by another person under a lease, sublease, or other contract and having
				  authority to determine the manner in which that person or another person
				  conducts a surface coal mining operation.
(63) "Perennial stream" means a stream or
				  part of a stream that flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a
				  result of ground water discharge or surface runoff.
(64) "Performance bond" means a surety bond,
				  collateral bond, or a combination of these, by which a permittee assures
				  faithful performance of all the requirements of the permit and reclamation
				  plan.
(65) "Permanent diversion"
				  means a diversion remaining after surface coal mining and reclamation
				  operations are completed.
(66)
				  "Permanent impoundment" means an impoundment which is approved by the Bureau
				  and, if required, by other State and federal agencies for retention as part of
				  the postmining land use.
(67)
				  "Permit" means a permit issued by the Bureau to conduct prospecting or mining
				  and reclamation operations.
(68)
				  "Permit area" means the area of land and water within the boundaries of the
				  permit which are designated on the permit application maps approved by the
				  Bureau. This area shall include, at a minimum, all areas which are proposed to
				  be affected by the surface coal mining and reclamation operations during the
				  term of the permit.
(69)
				  "Permittee" means a person holding or required to hold a permit to conduct
				  surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the Bureau.
(70) "Person" means an individual,
				  partnership, association, society, joint venture, joint stock company, firm,
				  company, corporation, cooperative or other business organization and any
				  agency, unit, or instrumentality of federal, State, or local government
				  including any publicly owned utility or publicly owned corporation of federal,
				  State, or local government.
(71)
				  "Person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected or person with
				  a valid legal interest" means any person:
(a)
				  Who uses any resource of economic, recreational, esthetic, or environmental
				  value that may be adversely affected by coal prospecting or surface coal mining
				  and reclamation operations or any related action of the Bureau; or
(b) Whose property is or may be adversely
				  affected by coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations
				  or any related action of the Bureau.
(72) "Precipitation event" means a quantity
				  of water resulting from drizzle, rain, snow, sleet, or hail in a limited period
				  of time. It may be expressed in terms of recurrence interval. As used in these
				  regulations, precipitation event also includes that quantity of water emanating
				  from snow cover as snowmelt in a limited period of time.
(72-1) "Previously mined area" means land affected by
					 surface coal mining operations prior to August 3, 1977, that has not been
					 reclaimed to the standards of this subtitle.
(73) "Prime farmland" means those lands which
				  are defined by the Secretary of United States Department of Agriculture in 7
				  CFR 657 and which have historically been used for cropland.
(74) "Principal shareholder" means any person
				  who is the record or beneficial owner of 10 percent or more of any class of
				  voting stock.
(74-1) "Professional engineer" means an individual licensed
					 by the State Board for Professional Engineers to practice engineering in
					 Maryland.
(75) "Property to
				  be mined" means both the surface and mineral estates on and underneath lands
				  which are within the permit area.
(76) "Prospecting" means the gathering of
				  subsurface geologic, physical, or chemical data by trenching, drilling,
				  geophysical, or other techniques to determine the quantity or quality of the
				  overburden and coal of an area.
(77) "Reclamation" means those actions taken
				  to restore mined land as required by the Regulatory Program to a postmining
				  land use approved by the Bureau.
(78) "Recurrence interval" means the interval
				  of time in which a precipitation event is expected to occur once on the
				  average. For example, the 10-year, 24-hour precipitation event would be that
				  24-hour precipitation event expected to occur on the average once in 10
				  years.
(79) "Reference area" means
				  a land unit maintained under appropriate management for the purpose of
				  measuring vegetation ground cover, productivity, and plant species diversity
				  that are produced naturally or by crop production methods approved by the
				  Bureau. Reference areas shall be representative of geology, soil, slope, and
				  vegetation in the permit area.
(80)
				  "Regulatory Program" means the Maryland program for control of mining and
				  reclamation operations, as approved by the Secretary of the U. S. Department of
				  Interior, including all laws, rules, and regulations enacted and adopted that
				  apply to mining and reclamation operations. Interim Regulatory Program means
				  the Maryland Program for control of mining and reclamation operations before
				  approval of the Regulatory Program.
(81) "Renewable resource lands" means
				  aquifers and areas for the recharge of aquifers and other underground waters,
				  areas for agricultural or silvicultural production of food and fiber, and
				  grazing lands.
(81-1) Replacement of Water Supply.
(a) "Replacement of water supply" means, with
				  respect to water supplies contaminated, diminished, or interrupted by coal
				  mining operations, provision of water supply on both a temporary and permanent
				  basis equivalent to premining quantity and quality.
(b) "Replacement of water supply" includes:
(i) Provision of an equivalent water delivery
				  system; and
(ii) Payment of
				  operation and maintenance cost in excess of customary and reasonable delivery
				  costs for premining water supplies.
(82) "Road" means a surface right-of-way for
				  purposes of travel by land vehicles used in prospecting 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 areas,
				  approaches, structures, ditches, and surface. The term includes access and haul
				  roads constructed, used, reconstructed, improved, or maintained for use in
				  prospecting or surface coal mining and reclamation operations, including use by
				  coal hauling vehicles leading to and from transfer, processing, or storage
				  areas. The term does not include ramps and routes of travel within the
				  immediate mining area or within spoil or coal mine waste disposal
				  areas.
(83) "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.
(84) Sedimentation Pond.
(a) "Sedimentation pond" means an impoundment
				  used as a primary sediment control structure designed, constructed, and
				  maintained in accordance with the Regulatory Program and including but not
				  limited to a barrier, dam, or excavated depression which slows down water
				  runoff to allow sediment to settle out.
(b) "Sedimentation pond" does not include
				  secondary sedimentation control structures such as straw dikes, riprap, check
				  dams, mulches, and other measures that reduce overland flow velocity, reduce
				  runoff volume, or trap sediment to the extent that these secondary
				  sedimentation structures drain to a sedimentation pond.
(85) "Significant imminent environmental harm
				  to land, air, or water resources" means the following:
(a) An environmental harm is an adverse
				  impact on land, air, or water resources, which resources include but are not
				  limited to plant and animal life;
(b) An environmental harm is imminent if a
				  condition, practice, or violation exists which is causing this harm, or may
				  reasonably be expected to cause this harm at any time before the end of the
				  reasonable abatement time that would be set under a notice of violation issued
				  by the Bureau;
(c) An environmental
				  harm is significant if that harm is appreciable and not immediately
				  reparable.
(86) "Slope"
				  means average inclination of a surface, measured from the horizontal, expressed
				  in percents, degrees, or as the ratio of a given number of units of horizontal
				  distance to a unit of vertical distance (for example, 5:1).
(87) Soil Horizons.
(a) "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.
(b) The four master soil
				  horizons are:
(i) "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.
(ii) "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.
(iii) "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 "E" or "C"
				  horizons.
(iv) "C" horizon-the
				  deepest layer of soil profile. It consists of loose material or weathered rock
				  that is relatively unaffected by biologic activity.
(88) "Soil survey" means a field
				  and other investigation, resulting in a map showing the geographic distribution
				  of different kinds of soils and an accompanying report that describes,
				  classifies, and interprets these soils for use.
(89) "Spoil" means overburden that has been
				  removed during surface coal mining operations.
(90) "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.
(91) "Steep slope" means a slope of more than
				  20 degrees.
(92) "Substantially
				  disturb" means, for purposes of prospecting, to impact significantly upon land,
				  air, or water resources by such activities as blasting, mechanical excavation,
				  drilling or altering coal or water exploratory holes or wells, construction of
				  roads and other access routes, and the placement of structures, excavated
				  earth, or other debris on the surface land.
(93) "Successor in interest" means any person
				  who succeeds to rights granted under a permit, by transfer, assignment, or sale
				  of those rights.
(94) "Surety bond"
				  means an indemnity agreement in a certain sum payable to the Bureau, executed
				  by the permittee, which is supported by the performance guarantee of a
				  corporation licensed to do business as a surety in the State.
(95) "Suspended solids or nonfilterable
				  residue, expressed as milligrams per liter" means organic or inorganic
				  materials carried by a standard glass fiber filter in the procedure outlined by
				  the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations for waste water and analyses
				  ( 40 CFR 136 ).
(96) "Temporary
				  diversion" means a diversion of a stream or overland flow which is used during
				  coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations and not
				  approved by the Bureau to remain after reclamation as part of the approved
				  postmining land use.
(97)
				  "Temporary impoundment" means an impoundment used during surface coal mining
				  and reclamation operations, but not approved by the Bureau to remain as part of
				  the approved postmining land use.
(98) "Topsoil" means the "A" horizon and "E"
				  horizon as defined in §B(87) of this regulation.
(99) "Toxic mine drainage" means water that
				  is discharged from active or abandoned mines or other areas affected by
				  prospecting or surface coal mining and reclamation operations, which contains a
				  substance that through chemical action or physical effects is likely to kill,
				  injure, or impair biota commonly present in the area that might be exposed to
				  it.
(100) "Toxic-forming materials"
				  means earth materials or wastes which, if acted upon by air, water, weathering,
				  or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical or physical
				  conditions in soils or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of
				  water.
(101) "Transfer, assignment,
				  or sale of rights" means a change in ownership or other effective control over
				  the right to conduct prospecting or mining operations under a permit issued by
				  the Bureau.
(102) "Underground
				  development wastes" means waste rock mixtures of coal, shale, claystone,
				  siltstone, sandstone, limestone, or related materials that are excavated,
				  moved, and disposed of during development and preparation of areas incident to
				  underground mining activities.
(103) "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 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
				  10 degrees.
(104) "Violation
				  notice" means any written notification from a governmental entity of a
				  violation of law, regulation, permit condition, whether by letter, memorandum,
				  legal or administrative pleading, or other written communication.
(105) "Waste" means earth materials, which
				  are combustible, physically unstable, or acid-forming or toxic-forming, wasted
				  or otherwise separated from product coal, and are slurried or otherwise
				  transported from coal-processing facilities or preparation plants after
				  physical or chemical processing, cleaning or concentration of coal.
(106) "Water table" means the upper surface
				  of a zone of saturation, where the body of ground water is not confined by an
				  overlying impermeable zone.
(107)
				  "Willful violation" means an act or omission which violates the State or
				  federal laws or regulations, or individual permit conditions, committed by a
				  person who intends the result which actually occurs.