New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 8 - COAL MINING › Part 10 - REQUIREMENTS FOR PERMITS FOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF MINING › Section 19.8.10.1004 - PRIME FARMLANDS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
				Application contents for prime farmlands. If land within the proposed permit
				area is identified as prime farmland under 19.8.8.814 NMAC, the applicant shall
				submit a plan for the mining and restoration of the land. Each plan shall
				contain, at a minimum:
(1) a soil survey of
				at least order 2 of the permit area according to the standards of the national
				cooperative soil survey and in accordance with the procedures set forth in U.S.
				department of agriculture handbooks 436 (soil taxonomy, 1975) and 18 (soil
				survey manual, 1951); the soil survey shall include a description of soil
				mapping units and a representative soil profile as determined by the U.S.
				natural resources conservation service, including, but not limited to,
				soil-horizon depths, pH, and the range of soil densities for each prime
				farmland soil unit within the permit area; other representative soil profile
				descriptions from the locality, prepared according to the standards of the
				national cooperative soil survey, may be used if their use is approved by the
				state conservationist, U.S. natural resources conservation service; the
				director may request the operator to provide information on other physical and
				chemical soil properties as needed to make a determination that the operator
				has the technological capability to restore the prime farmland within the
				permit area to the soil-reconstruction standards of 19.8.24 NMAC;
(2) the location of areas to be used for the
				separate stockpiling of the soil and plans for soil stabilization before
				redistribution;
(3) if applicable,
				documentation, such as agricultural school studies or other scientific data
				from comparable areas, that supports the use of other suitable material,
				instead of the A, B, or C soil horizon, to obtain on the restored area
				equivalent or higher levels of yield as non-mined prime farmlands in the
				surrounding area under equivalent levels of management;
(4) plans for seeding or cropping the final
				graded disturbed land and the conservation practices to be used to adequately
				control erosion and sedimentation and restoration of an adequate soil moisture
				regime, during the period from completion of regrading until release of the
				performance bond or equivalent guarantee under 19.8.14 NMAC; proper adjustments
				for seasons must be proposed so that final graded land is not exposed to
				erosion during seasons when vegetation or conservation practices cannot be
				established due to weather conditions;
(5) available agricultural school studies or
				other scientific data for areas with comparable soils, climate, and management
				(including water management) that demonstrate that the proposed method of
				reclamation will achieve, within a reasonable time, equivalent or higher levels
				of yield after mining as existed before mining;
(6) current estimated yields under a proper
				level of management for each soil map unit from the USDA for each crop to be
				used in determining success of revegetation (19.8.24.2404 NMAC);
(7) in all cases, soil productivity for prime
				farmlands shall be returned to equivalent levels of yield as non-mined land of
				the same soil type in the surrounding area under equivalent management
				practices as determined from the soil survey performed pursuant to Paragraph
				(1) of Subsection A of 19.8.10.1004 NMAC.