Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 17.24 - RECLAMATION › Subchapter 17.24.9 - Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act: Underground Coal and Uranium Mining › Rule 17.24.903 - GENERAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) In
				addition to all appropriate requirements of subchapters 4 through 8, and 10
				through 13, except ARM
				17.24.519 and as provided in ARM
				17.24.905, the following
				requirements apply to underground mining operations:
(a) Each prospecting hole, other drill hole
				or borehole, shaft, well, or other exposed underground opening must be cased,
				lined, or otherwise managed as approved by the department to prevent acid or
				other toxic drainage from entering ground and surface waters, to minimize
				disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to ensure the safety of
				people, livestock, fish and wildlife, and machinery in the mine plan and
				adjacent area, and the safety and integrity of underground mines in the area,
				present and future. Each prospecting hole, drill hole, borehole, or well that
				is uncovered or exposed by mining operations must be permanently sealed, in
				compliance with ARM
				17.24.1005, unless approved for
				water monitoring or otherwise managed in a manner approved by the department.
				Use of a drilled hole or monitoring well as a water well must meet the
				provisions of ARM
				17.24.647. This rule does not
				apply to holes drilled and used for blasting in the area affected by surface
				operations.
(b) Each mine entry,
				open to the surface, that is temporarily inactive, but has a further projected
				useful service under the approved permit application, must be protected by
				barricades or other covering devices, fenced, and posted with signs to prevent
				access into the entry and to identify the hazardous nature of the opening.
				These devices must be periodically inspected and maintained in good operating
				condition by the operator.
(c) Each
				prospecting hole, other drill hole or borehole, shaft, well, and other exposed
				underground opening that has been identified in the approved permit application
				for use to return underground development waste, coal processing waste, water
				to underground workings, or to be used to monitor ground water conditions, must
				be temporarily sealed until actual use.
(d) When no longer needed for monitoring or
				other use approved by the department and upon a finding of no adverse
				environmental or health and safety effects, each shaft, drift, adit, tunnel,
				prospecting hole, entry way or other opening to the surface from underground
				must be capped, sealed, backfilled, or otherwise properly managed, as required
				by the department in accordance with (1)(a), (g), (h), and (i). Permanent
				closure measures must be designed to prevent access to the mine workings by
				people, livestock, fish, wildlife, and machinery and to keep acid or other
				toxic drainage from entering ground or surface waters.
(e) In addition to the measures identified in
				ARM 17.24.631 through
				17.24.646, the following practices
				are acceptable for minimizing water pollution in underground mines:
(i) designing mines to prevent gravity
				drainage of acid waters;
(ii)
				sealing;
(iii) controlling
				subsidence; and
(iv) preventing
				acid mine drainage;
(f)
				In addition to the requirements of ARM
				17.24.633(1), any
				discharge of water from underground workings to surface waters that does not
				meet the effluent limitations of ARM
				17.24.633 must also be passed
				through a sedimentation pond, a series of sedimentation ponds, or a treatment
				facility before leaving the permit area.
(g) In addition to the requirements of ARM
				17.24.633(2),
				sedimentation ponds and treatment facilities that receive discharges from
				underground workings must be maintained until the discharge continuously meets
				the effluent limitations of ARM
				17.24.633 without treatment or
				until the discharge has permanently ceased.
(h) Surface entries and accesses to
				underground workings, including adits and slopes, must be located, designed,
				constructed, and utilized to prevent or control gravity discharge of water from
				the mine.
(i) Gravity discharge of
				water from an underground mine, other than a drift mine in an acid-producing or
				iron-producing coal seam, may be allowed by the department, if it is
				demonstrated that:
(i)
(A) the discharge, without treatment,
				satisfies the water effluent limitations of ARM
				17.24.633 and all applicable state
				and federal water quality standards; and
(B) any changes in the prevailing hydrologic
				balance are minimal and the approved postmining land uses will not be adversely
				affected; or,
(ii)
(A) the discharge is conveyed to a treatment
				facility in the permit area in accordance with ARM
				17.24.633 through
				17.24.640;
(B) all water from the underground mine
				discharged from the treatment facility meets the effluent limitations of ARM
				17.24.633 and all other applicable
				state and federal statutes and regulations; and
(C) consistent maintenance of the treatment
				facility will occur throughout the anticipated period of gravity
				discharge;
(j)
				For a drift mine located in acid-producing or iron-producing coal seams,
				surface entries and accesses must be located in such a manner as to prevent any
				gravity discharge from the mine.