Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Chapter 130 - COAL SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION REGULATIONS › Part 823 - Special Permanent Program Performance Standards-Operations on Prime Farmland › Section 4VAC25-130-823.15 - Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
(a) Following prime farmland soil
				  replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or
				  other means that effectively controls soil loss by wind and water
				  erosion.
(b) Prime farmland soil
				  productivity shall be restored in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) Measurement of soil productivity shall be
				  initiated within 10 years after completion of soil replacement.
(2) Soil productivity shall be measured on a
				  representative sample or on all of the mined and reclaimed prime farmland area
				  using the reference crop determined under Paragraph (b)(6) of this section. A
				  statistically valid sampling technique at a 90-percent or greater statistical
				  confidence level shall be used as approved by the division in consultation with
				  the U. S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
(3) The measurement period for determining
				  average annual crop production (yield) shall be a minimum of three crop years
				  prior to release of the permittee's performance bond.
(4) The level of management applied during
				  the measurement period shall be the same as the level of management used on
				  nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area.
(5) Restoration of soil productivity shall be
				  considered achieved when the average yield during the measurement period equals
				  or exceeds the average yield of the reference crop established for the same
				  period for nonmined soils of the same or similar texture or slope phase of the
				  soil series in the surrounding area under equivalent management
				  practices.
(6) The reference crop
				  on which restoration of soil productivity is proven shall 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 shall be chosen as one of the reference
				  crops.
(7) Reference crop yields
				  for a given crop season are to be determined from--
(i) The current yield records of
				  representative local farms in the surrounding area, with concurrence by the
				  U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service; or
(ii) The average county yields recognized by
				  the U. S. Department of Agriculture, which have been adjusted by the U. S.
				  Natural Resources Conservation Service for local yield variation within the
				  county that is associated with differences between nonmined prime farmland soil
				  and all other soils that produce the reference crop.
(8) Under either procedure in Paragraph
				  (b)(7) of this section, the average reference crop yield may be adjusted, with
				  the concurrence of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, for--
(i) Disease, pest, and weather-induced
				  seasonal variations; or
(ii)
				  Differences in specific management practices where the overall management
				  practices of the crops being compared are equivalent.