New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 8 - COAL MINING › Part 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 19.8.1.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Definitions
				beginning with the letter "A"
(1) ACCELERATED
				EROSION - means washing away or blowing away of overburden, spoil, soil or
				topdressing material in excess of normal erosion resulting from changes in the
				vegetative cover or ground conditions.
(2) ACID DRAINAGE - means water with a pH of
				less than 6.0 and in which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity, discharged
				from an active, inactive or abandoned surface coal mining and reclamation
				operations or from an area affected by surface coal mining and reclamation
				operations.
(3) ACID FORMING
				MATERIALS - means earth materials that contain sulfide minerals or other
				materials which, if exposed to air, water, or weathering processes, form acids
				that may create acid drainage.
(4)
				ACID-TEST RATIO - means the relation of quick assets to current
				liabilities.
(5) ACT - is the state
				of New Mexico Surface Mining Act (Sections
				69-25A-1
				et. seq. NMSA 1978)
(6) ADJACENT
				AREA - means land located outside the affected area, permit area, or mine plan
				area, depending on the context in which adjacent area is used where air,
				surface or ground water, fish, wildlife, vegetation or other resources
				protected by the act may be adversely impacted by surface coal mining and
				reclamation operations.
(7)
				AFFECTED AREA - means, with respect to surface coal mining activities, any land
				or water upon or in which those activities are conducted or located. With
				respect to underground coal mining activities, affected area means:
(a) any water or surface land upon or in
				which those activities are conducted or located; and
(b) land or water which is located above
				underground mine workings.
(8) AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES - means with
				respect to alluvial valley floors, the use of any tract of land for the
				production of animal or vegetable life, where the use is enhanced or
				facilitated by subirrigation or flood irrigation associated with alluvial
				valley floors. These uses include, but are not limited to, the pasturing,
				grazing, or watering of livestock, and the cropping, cultivation, or harvesting
				of plants whose production is aided by the availability of water from
				subirrigation or flood irrigation. These uses do not include agricultural
				practices which do not benefit from the availability of water from
				subirrigation or flood irrigation.
(9) AGRICULTURAL USE - means the use of any
				tract of land for the production of animal or vegetable life. The uses include,
				but are not limited to, the pasturing, grazing, and watering of livestock, and
				the cropping, cultivation and harvesting of plants.
(10) ALLUVIAL VALLEY FLOORS - means the
				unconsolidated stream-laid deposits holding streams with water availability
				sufficient for subirrigation or flood irrigation agricultural activities but
				does not include upland areas which are generally overlain by a thin veneer of
				colluvial deposits composed chiefly of debris from sheet erosion, deposits
				formed by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with talus, or other
				mass movement accumulations, and windblown deposits. Ephemeral or dry streams
				incapable of supporting agricultural activities by natural means, and without
				artificial means, are not alluvial valley floors.
(11) ANTHRACITE - means coal classified as
				anthracite in ASTM standard D 388-77. Coal classifications are published by the
				American society of testing and materials under the title, "standard
				specification for classification of coals by rank", ASTM D 388-77, on pages 220
				through 224. Table 1 which classifies the coals by rank is presented on page
				223. This publication is hereby incorporated by reference as it exists on the
				date of adoption of 19.8 NMAC Parts 1-35.
(12) APPLICANT - means any person seeking a
				permit from the director to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation
				operations or coal exploration pursuant to the act and 19.8 NMAC Parts
				1-35.
(13) APPLICATION - means the
				documents and other information filed with the director under the act and 19.8
				NMAC Parts 1-35 for the issuance of exploration approval or a permit as the
				context requires.
(14)
				APPLICANT/VIOLATOR SYSTEM or AVS - means the computer system maintained by OSM
				to identify ownership or control links involving permit applicants, permittees,
				and persons cited in violation notices.
(15) APPROXIMATE ORIGINAL CONTOUR - means the
				surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined areas so
				that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access roads, closely
				resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to mining and
				blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding terrain
				with all spoil piles and refuse piles eliminated. Highwalls will also be
				eliminated except as provided for in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of
				19.8.20.2055 NMAC. Permanent water impoundments may be permitted where the
				director has determined that they comply with 19.8.20.2017, 2024, and 2075
				NMAC.
(16) AQUIFER - means a zone,
				stratum or group of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient
				quantities for a specific use.
(17)
				ARID AND SEMIARID AREA - includes, in the context of alluvial valley floors,
				all coal fields in the state.
(18)
				ASPECTION - means the variability of blooming, fruiting, foliation and
				defoliation of vegetation during the various seasons of the year.
(19) AUGER MINING - means a method of mining
				coal at a cliff or highwall by drilling holes into an exposed coal seam from
				the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the
				surface.
(20) AUGMENTED SEEDING -
				means seeding in excess of the normal husbandry practices approved in the
				director's
coal mine reclamation program vegetation standards
,
				or reseeding with fertilization or irrigation, or reseeding in response to
				unsuccessful revegetation in terms of adequate germination or establishment or
				permanence.