New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 8 - COAL MINING › Part 36 - NEW MEXICO COAL SURFACE MINING REGULATIONS [CSMC 1979-1] › Section 19.8.36.27 - GENERAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS: TOPSOIL HANDLING (715.16)

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
To prevent topsoil from being contaminated by spoil or waste
				  materials, the permittee shall remove the topsoil as a separate operation from
				  areas to be disturbed. Topsoil shall be immediately redistributed according to
				  the requirements of Paragraph (b) [now Subsection B of 19.8.36.27 NMAC] of this
				  section on areas graded to the approved postmining configuration. The topsoil
				  shall be segregated, stockpiled and protected from wind and water erosion and
				  from contaminants which lessen its capability to support vegetation if
				  sufficient graded areas are not immediately available for
				  redistribution.
A. Topsoil removal.
				All topsoil to be salvaged shall be removed before any drilling for blasting,
				mining or other surface disturbance.
(1) All
				topsoil shall be removed unless use of alternative materials is approved by the
				regulatory authority in accordance with Subparagraph (4) [now Paragraph 4 of
				Subsection A of 19.8.36.27 NMAC]. Where the removal of topsoil results in
				erosion that may cause air or water pollution, the regulatory authority shall
				limit the size of the area from which topsoil may be removed at any one time
				and specify methods of treatment to control erosion of exposed
				overburden.
(2) All of the A
				horizon of the topsoil as identified by soil surveys shall be removed according
				to Paragraph (a) [now Subsection A of 19.8.36.27 NMAC] and then replaced on
				disturbed areas as the surface soil layers. Where the A horizon is less than
				six inches, a six-inch layer that includes the A horizon and the unconsolidated
				material immediately below the A horizon (or all unconsolidated material if the
				total available is less than six inches) shall be removed and the mixture
				segregated and replaced as the surface soil layer.
(3) Where necessary to obtain soil
				productivity consistent with postmining land use, the regulatory authority may
				require that the B horizon or portions of the C horizon or other underlying
				layers demonstrated to have comparable quality for root development be
				segregated and replaced as subsoil.
(4) Slected overburden materials may be used
				instead of, or as a supplement to, topsoil where the resulting soil medium is
				equal to or more suitable for vegetation, and if all the following requirements
				are met:
(a) The permittee demonstrates that
				the selected overburden materials or an overburden-topsoil mixture is more
				suitable for restoring land capability and productivity by the results of
				chemical and physical analyses. These analyses shall include determinations of
				pH, percent organic material, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, texture class
				and water-holding capacity, and such other analyses as required by the
				regulatory authority. The regulatory authority also may require that results of
				field-site trials or greenhouse tests be used to demonstrate the feasibility of
				using such overburden materials.
(b) The chemical and physical analyses and
				the results of field-site trails and greenhouse tests are accompanied by a
				certification from a qualified soil scientist or agronomist.
(c) The alternative material is removed,
				segregated and replaced in conformance with this Section.