Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 460 - Department of Mines › Chapter 20 - The Permanent Regulations Governing the Coal Reclamation Act of 1979 › Subchapter 51 - Special Permanent Program Performance Standards: Mountaintop Removal › Section 460:20-51-3 - Mountaintop removal: performance standards

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
(a) Under an approved regulatory program,
				surface coal mining activities may be conducted under a variance from the
				requirement of these Regulations for restoring affected areas to their
				approximate original contour, if:
(1) The
				Department grants the variance under a permit, in accordance with Section
				460:20-33-4;
(2) The activities involve the mining of an
				entire coal seam running through the upper fraction of a mountain, ridge, or
				hill, by removing all of the overburden and creating a level plateau or gently
				rolling contour with no highwalls remaining;
(3) An industrial, commercial, agricultural,
				residential or public facility (including recreation facilities) use is
				proposed and approved for the affected land;
(4) The alternative land use requirements of
				Sections
				460:20-43-51(a)
				-(c) are met;
(5) All applicable
				requirements of these Regulations and the regulatory program, other than the
				requirement to restore affected areas to their approximate original contour,
				are met:
(6) An outcrop barrier of
				sufficient width, consisting of the toe of the lowest coal seam, and its
				associated overburden, are retained to prevent slides and erosion, except that
				the Department may permit an exemption to the retention of the coal barrier
				requirement if the following conditions are satisfied:
(A) The proposed mine site was mined prior to
				May 3, 1978, and the toe of the lowest seam has been removed; or
(B) A coal barrier adjacent to a
				head-of-hollow fill may be removed after the elevation of a head-of-hollow fill
				attains the elevation of the coal barrier if the head-of-hollow fill provides
				the stability otherwise ensured by the retention of a coal barrier;
(7) The final graded slopes on the
				mined area are less than 1v:5h, so as to create a level plateau or gently
				rolling configuration, and the outslopes of the plateau do not exceed 1v:2h
				except where engineering data substantiates, and the Department finds, in
				writing, and includes in the permit under Section
				460:20-33-4
				of these Regulations, that a minimum static safety factor of 1.5 will be
				attained;
(8) The resulting level
				or gently rolling contour is graded to drain inward from the outslope, except
				at specified points where it drains over the outslope in stable and protected
				channels. The drainage shall not be through or over a valley or head-of-hollow
				fill.
(9) Natural watercourses
				below the lowest coal seam mined are not damaged;
(10) All waste and acid-forming or
				toxic-forming materials, including the strata immediately below the coal seam,
				are covered with non-toxic spoil to prevent pollution and achieve the approved
				postmining land use; and
(11) Spoil
				is placed on the mountaintop bench as necessary to achieve the postmining land
				use approved under Paragraphs (a) (3) and (a) (4) of this Section. All excess
				spoil material not retained on the mountaintop shall be placed in accordance
				with Sections
				460:20-43-8,
				460:20-43-10 and
				460:20-43-24
				through
				460:20-43-27
				of this Chapter.