Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 26 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT › Part 4 - SUBTITLES 19-30 › Subtitle 21 - MINING › Chapter 26.21.01 - Surface Mining › Section 26.21.01.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this chapter,
				  the following terms have the meanings indicated.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Act" means Environment Article, §§
											15-801 -15-834, Annotated
				  Code of Maryland.
(2) "Angle of
				  repose" means the maximum angle of slope (measured from a horizontal plane) at
				  which loose cohesionless material will come to rest on a pile of similar
				  material.
(3) "Applicant" means
				  that person making application to the Department under the Act for a license or
				  a permit and who is responsible for fulfilling the requirements of the Act, all
				  license and permit conditions, and regulations adopted under the Act.
(4) "Backfill" means earth overburden, mine
				  waste, or imported material used to replace material removed during
				  mining.
(5) "Bench" means a flat
				  surface from which a pit or quarry is worked.
(6) "Critical gradient" means the maximum
				  stable inclination of an unsupported slope.
(7) "Cut slope or face" means a bank or slope
				  that is created by removing material below the existing ground
				  surface.
(8) "Department" means the
				  Department of the Environment.
(9)
				  "Diversion" means a channel, embankment, or other man-made structure
				  constructed for the purpose of redirecting water from one area to another,
				  including interceptor swales, perimeter dikes, and earth dikes.
(10) "Erosion" means the process by which the
				  land surface is worn away by the action of water, wind, ice, or
				  gravity.
(11) "Excavation" means
				  the extraction or removal of minerals so as to make them suitable for sale,
				  exchange, commercial, or industrial use.
(12) "Fill slope" means a bank or slope that
				  has been created by the placing of material on top of the existing ground
				  surface.
(13) "Final grade" means
				  the finished elevation of any excavated surface disturbance before replacement
				  of topsoil.
(14) "Grading" means to
				  bring an existing surface to a designed form by cutting, filling, or smoothing
				  operations.
(15) "Ground water"
				  means subsurface water that fills available openings in rock or soil material
				  such that they may be considered water saturated.
(16) Haul Road.
(a) "Haul road" means a road that is
				  constructed or used in surface mining and reclamation operations, including one
				  used by vehicles leading to transfer, processing, or storage areas.
(b) "Haul road" does not mean a road
				  maintained with public funds.
(17) "Highwall" means a site of a pit or
				  quarry adjacent to unmined land.
(18) "Impoundment" means a closed basin
				  naturally formed or man-made for the retention of water, sediment, or
				  waste.
(19) "License" means the
				  annual written certification from the Department that the licensee is
				  authorized to conduct surface mining activities in the State.
(20) "Mined lands" means the surface or
				  subsurface of an area in which surface mining operations will be, are being, or
				  have been conducted. Mined lands include:
(a)
				  Private ways and roads used for mining appurtenant to any surface mining
				  area;
(b) Land
				  excavations;
(c) Workings;
				  and
(d) Overburden.
(21) "Mine waste" means the
				  residual soil, rock, mineral, liquid, vegetation, equipment, machines, tools,
				  or other materials or property directly resulting from, used in, or displaced
				  by, surface mining operations.
(22)
				  "Peak particle velocity" means the maximum velocity of a particle (rate of
				  movement of the ground) in inches per second as measured by the three mutually
				  perpendicular components of motion in the ground immediately adjacent to a
				  structure of concern.
(23) "Permit"
				  means the written authorization to mine a particular site, including all
				  conditions, maps, plans, and other supporting documents made a part of the
				  permit that the Department issues to a permittee under the Act.
(24) "Processing plant" means any equipment,
				  buildings, structures, or appurtenances used to process non-coal minerals,
				  including crushers, shakers, screens, washers, conveyor belts, settling ponds,
				  and stockpiles of processed materials, and the land upon which these are
				  located.
(25) "Sediment" means
				  soils or other surficial materials transported or deposited by the action of
				  wind, water, ice, or gravity as a product of erosion, or by artificial
				  means.
(26) "Sediment pond" means
				  any natural or artificial structure or depression used to remove sediment from
				  water and store sediment, including, for example, sediment basins and
				  traps.
(27) "Setback" means the
				  distance from a property line, road, or other limiting feature, to an
				  excavation or to the toe of a fill which serves to protect property, a road, or
				  other features.
(28)
				  "Stabilization" means methods used to control movement of soil, spoil piles, or
				  areas of disturbed earth and includes any combination of the following:
(a) Increasing bearing capacity;
(b) Draining;
(c) Revegetating;
(d) Mulching;
(e) Liming; and
(f) Fertilizing.
(29) "Subsoil" means the part of the soil
				  profile below the topsoil and is sometimes called overburden.
(30) "Surface water" means water either
				  flowing or standing on the surface of the earth.
(31) "Topsoil" means the upper part of the
				  soil profile that is rich in humus, also known as the A horizon.