Ohio Administrative Code › Title 1501:13 - Division of Mineral Resources Management - Coal › Chapter 1501:13-4 - Permits › Section 1501:13-4-12 - Requirements for permits for special categories of mining

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) Scope. This
			 rule establishes the minimum requirements for permits for certain categories of
			 coal mining and reclamation operations. These requirements are in addition to
			 the general permit requirements contained in Chapter 1501:13-4 of the
			 Administrative Code. All of the provisions of Chapter 1501:13-4 of the
			 Administrative Code apply to such operations, unless otherwise specifically
			 provided in this rule.
(B)
			 Experimental mining practices.
(1)
			 "Experimental practices," as used in this rule, means the use of alternative
			 coal mining and reclamation operation practices for experimental or research
			 purposes. Experimental practices need not comply with specific environmental
			 protection performance standards of these rules, if approved pursuant to
			 paragraph (B) of this rule.
(2) No
			 person shall engage in or maintain any experimental practice, unless that
			 practice is first approved in a permit by the chief and the director of the
			 office of surface mining.
(3) Each
			 person who desires to conduct an experimental practice shall submit a permit
			 application for the approval of the chief and the director of the office of
			 surface mining. The permit application shall contain descriptions, maps, plans,
			 and data which show:
(a) The nature of the
			 experimental practice, including a description of the performance standards for
			 which variances are requested, the duration of the experimental practice, and
			 the special monitoring which will be conducted;
(b) How use of the experimental practice:
(i) Encourages advances in mining and
			 reclamation technology; or
(ii)
			 Allows a postmining land use for industrial, commercial, residential, or public
			 use (including recreational facilities), on an experimental basis, when the
			 results are not otherwise attainable under Chapter 1513. of the Revised Code
			 and rules adopted thereunder;
(c) That the mining and reclamation
			 operations proposed for using an experimental practice are not larger nor more
			 numerous than necessary to determine the effectiveness and economic feasibility
			 of the experimental practice;
(d)
			 That the experimental practice:
(i) Is
			 potentially more, or at least as, environmentally protective during and after
			 the proposed mining and reclamation operations as those practices otherwise
			 required under division 1501:13 of the Administrative Code; and
(ii) Will not reduce the protection afforded
			 public health and safety below that provided by the requirements of division
			 1501:13 of the Administrative Code; and
(e) That the applicant will conduct special
			 monitoring with respect to the experimental practice during and after the
			 operations involved. The monitoring program shall:
(i) Ensure the collection, analysis and
			 reporting of sufficient and reliable data to enable the chief and the director
			 of the office of surface mining to make adequate comparisons with other coal
			 mining and reclamation operations employing similar experimental practices;
			 and
(ii) Include requirements
			 designed to identify, as soon as possible, potential risks to the environment
			 and public health and safety from the use of the experimental
			 practice.
(4)
			 Each application shall set forth the environmental protection performance
			 standards of division 1501:13 of the Administrative Code which will be
			 implemented in the event the objective of the experimental practice is a
			 failure.
(5) All experimental
			 practices for which variances are sought shall be specifically identified
			 through newspaper advertisements by the applicant and the written notifications
			 by the chief required in sections
			 1513.07
			 and
			 1513.071
			 of the Revised Code.
(6) No permit
			 authorizing an experimental practice shall be issued, unless the chief first
			 finds, in writing, upon the basis of both a complete application filed in
			 accordance with the requirements of paragraph (B) of this rule and the
			 concurrence of the director of the office of surface mining that:
(a) The experimental practice meets all of
			 the requirements of paragraph (B) (3) of this rule;
(b) The experimental practice has been
			 specifically approved, in writing, by the director of the office of surface
			 mining based on the director's findings that all of the requirements of
			 paragraph (B)(3) of this rule will be met;
(c) The experimental practice is based on a
			 clearly defined set of objectives which can reasonably be expected to be
			 achieved; and
(d) The permit
			 contains conditions which specifically:
(i)
			 Limit the experimental practice authorized to that granted by the chief and the
			 director of the office of surface mining;
(ii) Impose enforceable alternative
			 environmental protection requirements; and
(iii) Require the person to conduct the
			 periodic monitoring, recording and reporting program set forth in the
			 application, with such additional requirements as the chief or the director of
			 the office of surface mining may require.
(7) Each permit which authorizes the use of
			 an experimental practice shall be reviewed in its entirety by the chief at a
			 frequency set forth in the approved permit but no less frequently than every
			 two and one-half years. After review, the chief may require such reasonable
			 revision or modification of the permit provisions necessary to ensure that the
			 operations involved are conducted to protect fully the environment and public
			 health and safety. Copies of the decision of the chief shall be provided to the
			 permittee and be subject to review as provided by section
			 1513.13
			 of the Revised Code.