Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 11 - Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality › Part 8 - Geology Regulations › Chapter 2 - Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality Regulations Governing Surface Coal Mining › Subchapter 2.5 - Permanent Program Performance Standards › Rule 11-8-2.5-55 - Special Permanent Program Performance Standards Farmland › Section 11-8-2.5-55-5507 - Prime Farmland: Revegetation and Restoration of Soil Productivity

Current through June 25, 2024
(a) Following prime farmland soil
					 replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or
					 other means that effectively controls soil loss by wind and water
					 erosion.
(b) Each person who
					 conducts surface coal mining and reclamation operations on prime farmland shall
					 meet the following revegetation requirements during reclamation:
(1) Prime farmland soil productivity shall be
					 restored in accordance with the following provisions:
(A) Measurement of soil productivity shall be
					 initiated within 10 years after completion of soil replacement.
(B) Soil productivity shall be measured on a
					 representative sample or on all of the mined and reclaimed prime farmland area
					 using the reference crop determined under § 5507(b)(1)(F). A statistically
					 valid sampling technique at a 90-percent or greater statistical confidence
					 level shall be used as approved by the Permit Board in consultation with the
					 U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
(C) The measurement period for determining
					 average annual crop production (yield) shall be a minimum of three crop years
					 prior to release of the operator's performance bond.
(D) The level of management applied during
					 the measurement period shall be the same as the level of management used on
					 nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area.
(E) Restoration of soil productivity shall be
					 considered achieved when the average yield during the measurement period equals
					 or exceeds the average yield of the reference crop established for the same
					 period for nonmined soils of the same or similar texture or slope phase of the
					 soil series in the surrounding area under equivalent management
					 practices.
(F) The reference crop
					 on which restoration of soil productivity is proven shall be selected from the
					 crops most commonly produced on the surrounding prime farmland. Where row crops
					 are the dominant crops grown on prime farmland in the area, the row crop
					 requiring the greatest rooting depth shall be chosen as one of the reference
					 crops.
(G) Reference crop yields
					 for a given crop season are to be determined from:
(i) the current yield records of
					 representative local farms in the surrounding area, with concurrence by the
					 U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service; or
(ii) the average county yields recognized by
					 the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which have been adjusted by the U.S.
					 Natural Resources Conservation Service for local yield variation within the
					 county that is associated with differences between non-mined prime farmland
					 soil and all other soils that produce the reference crop.
(H) Under either procedure in §
					 5507(b)(1)(G), the average reference crop yield may be adjusted, with the
					 concurrence of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, for:
(i) disease, pest and weather-induced
					 seasonal variations; or
(ii)
					 differences in specific management practices where the overall management
					 practices of the crops being compared are equivalent; or
(iii) differences in annual
					 precipitation.