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 17.24.901 - GENERAL APPLICATION AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) In addition to appropriate material
				required under subchapter 3, any plan for underground mining must include the
				following:
(a) a detailed description, with
				appropriate drawings, of permanent entry seals and down-slope barriers designed
				to ensure stability under anticipated hydraulic heads developed while promoting
				mine inundation after mine closure for the proposed mine plan area;
(b) descriptions, including appropriate maps
				and cross-section drawings, of the proposed disposal methods and sites for
				placing waste and excess spoil generated at surface areas affected by surface
				operations and facilities. Each plan must describe the
				geotechnical-investigation, design, construction, operation, maintenance and
				removal, if appropriate, of the structures and be prepared according to ARM
				17.24.313,
				17.24.320,
				17.24.505,
				17.24.510, and
				17.24.520;
(c)
(i) a
				complete subsidence control plan for the proposed operation which must include:
(A) a map of the proposed underground
				workings;
(B) the proposed
				technique of coal extraction, such as longwall, room and pillar, hydraulic
				mining, or other methods;
(C) a
				description of the sequence and timing for the development of the underground
				workings;
(D) a description of the
				physical and geological conditions, such as depth of cover, seam thickness, and
				lithology of overlying strata, affecting the subsidence potential;
(E) an analysis of the amount and lateral
				extent of planned or controlled subsidence anticipated, using acceptable
				geotechnical practices, including specific methods proposed for the control of
				subsidence;
(F) a survey, including
				a map at 1":400' scale or larger as determined by the department and a
				narrative, which shows the location and type of all structures, renewable
				resource lands, and domestic water supplies within the permit area and adjacent
				areas, and whether subsidence, if it should occur, could cause material damage
				or diminish the reasonably foreseeable use of such structures or lands, or
				could contaminate, diminish, or interrupt such domestic water supplies;
				and
(G) of the structures and
				domestic water supplies identified in (1)(c)(i)(F) (the structure survey
				requirements of ARM
				17.24.911(4) 
				notwithstanding), a survey of the condition of all non-commercial buildings or
				occupied residential dwellings and structures related thereto, and a
				determination, in accordance with ARM
				17.24.304(1)(e) and
				(1)(f), of the quality and quantity of all
				domestic water supplies.
(I) The applicant
				must submit copies of the results of this survey and determination to the
				surface owner of the land where the above structures and domestic water
				supplies are found, as well as to the department.
(II) If the applicant cannot make this survey
				and determination because the surface owner will not allow access, the
				applicant must notify the surface owner, in writing, of the effect that denial
				of access will have on the rebuttable presumption of causation of subsidence as
				stated in ARM
				17.24.911(8)(b).
				This notification must be documented in the application;
(ii) If the plan shows that no
				such structures or renewable resource lands, or domestic water supplies exist,
				or that no such material damage or diminution of the reasonably foreseeable use
				of such structures or lands, and no contamination, diminution, or interruption
				of such water supplies would occur as a result of mine subsidence, and if the
				department agrees with such conclusion, no further information must be provided
				in the application under this section;
(iii) In the event the survey shows such
				structures, renewable resource lands, or water supplies exist, and that
				subsidence could cause material damage or diminution of value or foreseeable
				use of the land or contamination, diminution, or interruption of such water
				supplies, or if the department determines that such damage or diminution or
				contamination, diminution, or interruption could occur, the application must
				include the following information:
(A) a
				detailed description of the measures to be taken to prevent subsidence and
				subsidence-related damage, including:
(I) the
				anticipated effects of planned subsidence, if any, and a map of the proposed
				underground mine workings which shows the location and extent of the areas in
				which planned-subsidence mining methods will be used and that identifies all
				areas where the measures in (1)(e)(i)(C) will be taken to prevent
				subsidence-related damage;
(II)
				measures, if any, to be taken in the mine to prevent subsidence including, but
				not limited to, such measures as backstowing or backfilling of voids, leaving
				support pillars of coal, and areas in which no coal removal is planned,
				including a description of the overlying area to be protected by leaving coal
				in place;
(III) measures to be
				taken on the surface to prevent material damage or diminution of the value or
				the reasonably foreseeable use of structures or the surface, including such
				measures as reinforcement of sensitive structures or features, installation of
				footers designed to reduce damage caused by movement, change of location of
				pipelines, utility lines, or other features, relocation of movable improvements
				to sites outside the angle-of-draw, and monitoring to determine the
				commencement and degree of subsidence so that other appropriate measures can be
				taken to prevent material damage in accordance with ARM 17.24.911. For areas
				where planned subsidence is proposed, written consent or request by the owners
				of non-commercial buildings and occupied residential dwellings and structures
				related thereto that material damage prevention measures should not or need not
				be taken may be provided in lieu of a description of prevention measures to be
				taken;
(B) a detailed
				description of the measures to be taken to mitigate the effects of any material
				damage or diminution of value or foreseeable use of lands that may occur,
				including one or more of the following:
(I)
				restoration or rehabilitation of structures and features, including approximate
				land-surface contours, to premining condition;
(II) replacement of structures and water
				sources adversely affected by subsidence;
(III) purchase of structures prior to mining
				and restoration of the land after subsidence to a condition capable of
				supporting and suitable for the structures and foreseeable land uses;
				and
(IV) purchase of non-cancelable
				insurance policies payable to surface owner in the full amount of the possible
				material damage or other comparable measures;
(C) a detailed description of measures to be
				taken to determine the degree of material damage or diminution of value or
				foreseeable use of the surface, including such measures as:
(I) the results of presubsidence surveys of
				all structures and surface features that might be materially damaged by
				subsidence;
(II) monitoring
				proposed to measure deformations near specified structures or features or
				otherwise as appropriate for the operation;
(D) any other information that the department
				deems necessary to demonstrate compliance with ARM 17.24.911;
(d) location of each
				water and subsidence monitoring point;
(e) location of each facility that will
				remain on the proposed permit area as a permanent feature, after the completion
				of underground mining operations;
(f) a description of the design, operation
				and maintenance of any proposed processing waste disposal facility, including
				flow diagrams and any other necessary drawings and maps, for the approval of
				the department and the mine safety and health administration;
(g) a description of the source and quality
				of waste to be stowed, area to be backfilled, percent of the mine void to be
				filled, method of constructing underground retaining walls, influence of the
				backfilling operation on the active underground mine operations, surface area
				to be supported by the backfill, and the anticipated occurrence of surface
				effects following backfilling, including:
(i)
				a description of the source of the hydraulic transport mediums, method of
				dewatering the placed backfill, retention of water underground, treatment of
				water if released to the surface; and
(ii) a description of each permanent
				monitoring well to be located in the backfilled area, the stratum underlying
				the mined coal, and gradient from the backfilled area.
(h) a complete description, where applicable,
				of any hydraulic mining or transport system for coal, including:
(i) the source of the hydraulic
				medium;
(ii) methods for dewatering
				the coal;
(iii) methods for control
				or containment of water underground; and
(iv) treatment of water to be released at the
				surface, if any.