Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 12 - COAL MINING REGULATIONS › Subchapter K - PERMANENT PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS › Division 3 - PERMANENT PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS - UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES › Section 12.505 - Topsoil: Removal

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Timing. Topsoil
					 shall be removed from areas to be affected by surface operations or major
					 structures, after vegetative cover that would interfere with the use of the
					 topsoil is cleared from portions of those areas that will be disturbed, but
					 before any drilling for blasting, mining, or other surface disturbance of
					 surface lands.
(b) Materials to be
					 removed. Topsoil shall be removed in a separate layer from the areas to be
					 disturbed, unless use of substitute or supplemental materials is approved by
					 the Commission in accordance with subsection (e) of this section. If use of
					 substitute or supplemental materials is approved, all materials to be
					 redistributed shall be removed.
(c)
					 Material to be removed in thin topsoil situations. If the topsoil is less than
					 6 inches, a 6-inch layer that includes the A horizon and the unconsolidated
					 materials immediately below the A horizon or the A horizon and all
					 unconsolidated material if the total available is less than 6 inches, shall be
					 removed and the mixture segregated and redistributed as the surface soil layer,
					 unless topsoil substitutes are approved by the Commission pursuant to
					 subsection (e) of this section.
(d)
					 Subsoil segregation. The B horizon and portions of the C horizon, or other
					 underlying layers demonstrated to have qualities for comparable root
					 development, shall be segregated and replaced as subsoil, if the Commission
					 determines that either of these is necessary or desirable to ensure soil
					 productivity consistent with the approved postmining land use.
(e) Topsoil substitutes and supplements.
(1) Selected overburden materials may be
					 substituted for, or used as a supplement to, topsoil, if the Commission
					 determines that the resulting soil medium is equal to or more suitable for
					 sustaining the vegetation than is the available topsoil and the substitute
					 material is the best available to support the vegetation. This determination
					 shall be based on the results of chemical and physical analysis of overburden
					 and topsoil. These analyses shall include determinations of pH, net acidity or
					 alkalinity, phosphorus, potassium, texture class, and other analyses as
					 required by the Commission. The Commission may also require that results of
					 field-site trials or greenhouse tests be used to demonstrate the feasibility of
					 using these overburden materials.
(2) Results of analyses, trials, and tests
					 shall be submitted to the Commission. Certification of trials and tests shall
					 be made by a laboratory approved by the Commission stating that:
(A) the proposed substitute material is equal
					 to or more suitable for sustaining the vegetation than is the available
					 topsoil;
(B) the substitute
					 material is the best available material to support the vegetation;
					 and
(C) the trials and tests were
					 conducted using standard testing procedures.
(3) Substituted or supplemental material
					 shall be removed, segregated, and replaced in compliance with the requirements
					 for topsoil under this section.