North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 69 - Public Service Commission › Article 69-05.2 - Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations › Chapter 69-05.2-26 - Performance Standards - Prime Farmland › Section 69-05.2-26-05 - Performance standards - Prime farmland - Revegetation and restoration of productivity

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
The following revegetation requirements must be met for
				  areas being returned to prime farmland after mining:
1. Following soil replacement, the operator
				shall establish a vegetative cover capable of stabilizing the soil surface. All
				revegetation must comply with the plan approved by the commission and be
				carried out in a manner that encourages prompt vegetative cover and recovery of
				productive capacity. The timing and mulching provisions of sections
				69-05.2-22-04 and
				69-05.2-22-05 must be met.
2. Measurement of success in prime
				farmland revegetation will be determined in accordance with section
				69-05.2-22-07.
3. Prime farmland productivity must be
				restored in accordance with the following:
a.
				Measurement of productivity must be initiated within ten years after completion
				of soil replacement.
b.
				Productivity must be measured on a representative sample or on all of the mined
				and reclaimed prime farmland area using the crop determined under subdivision
				f. The permittee shall use a statistically valid sampling technique approved by
				the commission. Approved techniques are found in the commission's Standards for
				Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended Procedures for Pre- and
				Postmining Vegetation Assessments.
c. The measurement period for determining
				average annual crop production is specified in subdivision c of subsection 3 of
				section 69-05.2-22-07.
d. The level of management applied during the
				measurement period must be the same as that used on nonmined prime farmland in
				the surrounding area.
e.
				Restoration of prime farmland productivity will be considered achieved when the
				average yield equals or exceeds that of the crop established on nonmined prime
				farmland soils in the surrounding areas. The soil series, texture, and slope of
				the nonmined prime farmlands must be the same or similar to the prime farmlands
				that were mined and management practices must be equivalent.
f. The crop on which restoration of
				productivity is proven must 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 must be used as one of the crops.
g. Crop yields for the same or similar
				nonmined prime farmland soils during a given crop season must be determined by
				methods contained in Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and
				Recommended Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessment or other
				methods approved by the commission and the office of surface mining reclamation
				and enforcement.
h. If a reclaimed
				tract contains a mixture of prime and nonprime farmlands, the commission may
				approve a single yield standard for the entire tract as allowed under
				subdivision l of subsection 4 of section
				69-05.2-22-07.