Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 12 - COAL MINING REGULATIONS › Subchapter A - GENERAL › Division 1 - GENERAL › Section 12.3 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this Chapter
						(relating to Coal Mining Regulations), shall have the following meanings unless
						the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Acid drainage--Water with a pH of less
					 than 6.0 and in which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity, discharged from
					 an active, inactive or abandoned surface coal mine and reclamation operation or
					 from an area affected by surface coal mining and reclamation
					 operations.
(2) Acid-forming
					 materials--Earth materials that contain sulfide minerals or other materials
					 which, if exposed to air, water, or weathering processes, form acids that may
					 create acid drainage.
(3) Act or
					 State Act--The "Texas Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act" (Texas Natural
					 Resources Code, Chapter 134).
(4)
					 Adjacent area--Land located outside the affected area or permit area, depending
					 on the context in which adjacent area is used, where air, surface or ground
					 water, fish, wildlife, vegetation or other resources protected by the Act may
					 be adversely impacted by surface coal mining and reclamation
					 operations.
(5) Administratively
					 complete application--An application for permit approval or approval for coal
					 exploration where required, which the Commission determines to contain
					 information addressing each application requirement of the regulatory program
					 and to contain all information necessary to initiate processing and public
					 review.
(6) Affected area--Any land
					 or water surface which is used to facilitate, or which is physically altered by
					 surface coal mining and reclamation operations. Affected area includes the
					 disturbed area; any area upon which surface coal mining and reclamation
					 operations are conducted; any adjacent lands the use of which is incidental to
					 surface coal mining and reclamation operations; all areas covered by new or
					 existing roads used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from surface
					 coal mining and reclamation operations; any area covered by surface
					 excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts, entryways,
					 refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks,
					 tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, shipping areas;
					 any areas which contain sited structures, facilities, or other property
					 material on the surface resulting from, or incident to, surface coal mining and
					 reclamation operations; and the area located above underground
					 workings.
(7) Agricultural
					 activities--With respect to alluvial valley floors, the use of any tract of
					 land for the production of animal or vegetable life, where the use is enhanced
					 or facilitated by subirrigation or flood irrigation associated with alluvial
					 valley floors. These uses include, but are not limited to, the pasturing,
					 grazing or watering of livestock, and the cropping, cultivation or harvesting
					 of plants whose production is aided by the availability of water from
					 subirrigation or flood irrigation. Those uses do not include agricultural
					 practices which do not benefit from the availability of water from
					 subirrigation or flood irrigation.
(8) Agricultural use--The use of any tract of
					 land for the production of animal or vegetable life. The uses include, but are
					 not limited to, the pasturing, grazing, and watering of livestock, and the
					 cropping, cultivation, and harvesting of plants.
(9) Airblast--An airborne shock wave
					 resulting from the detonation of explosives and which may or may not be
					 audible.
(10) Alluvial valley
					 floors--The unconsolidated stream-laid deposits holding streams with water
					 availability sufficient for subirrigation or flood irrigation agricultural
					 activities but does not include upland areas which are generally overlain by a
					 thin veneer of colluvial deposits composed chiefly of debris from sheet
					 erosion, deposits formed by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with
					 talus, or other mass-movement accumulations, and windblown deposits.
(11) Anthracite--Coal classified as
					 anthracite in the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard D
					 388-77. Coal classifications are published by the ASTM under the title,
					 "Standard Specification for Classification of Coals by Rank", ASTM D 388-77.
					 This ASTM Standard is on file and available for inspection at the Office of the
					 Surface Mining and Reclamation Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, 1701
					 North Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas.
(12) APA--The "Administrative Procedure Act"
					 (Texas Government Code, Chapter 2001).
(13) Applicant--Any person seeking a permit,
					 permit revision, renewal, and transfer, assignment, or sale of permit rights
					 from the Commission to conduct surface or underground coal mining and
					 reclamation operations pursuant to the Act. With respect to Subchapter G of
					 this chapter (relating to Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations
					 Permits and Coal Exploration Procedures Systems), this term includes a person
					 who seeks to obtain exploration approval or a permit under that subchapter and
					 the regulatory program. With respect to Subchapter M of this chapter (relating
					 to Training), this term includes a person who submits an application to the
					 Commission to request blaster training, examination or certification.
(14) Applicant/Violator System or AVS--An
					 automated information system of applicant, permittee, operator, violation and
					 related data that the Office maintains to assist in implementing the Federal
					 Act.
(15) Application--The
					 documents and other information filed with the Commission under this chapter
					 (relating to Coal Mining Regulations) for the issuance of permits; revisions;
					 renewals; and transfers, assignment, or sale of permit rights for surface coal
					 mining and reclamation operations or, where required, for coal exploration.
					 With respect to Subchapter M of this chapter, this term includes a request
					 submitted to the Commission on a prescribed form, and including any required
					 fee and any applicable supporting evidence or other attachments.
(16) Approximate original contour--That
					 surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined areas so
					 that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access roads, closely
					 resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to mining and
					 blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding terrain,
					 with all highwalls, spoil piles and coal refuse piles eliminated. Permanent
					 water impoundments may be permitted where the Commission has determined that
					 they comply with §134.092(a)(8) of the Act.
(17) Aquifer--A zone, stratum, or group of
					 strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for a
					 specific use.
(18) Arid or semiarid
					 area--In the context of alluvial valley floors, an area west of the 100th
					 meridian west longitude, experiencing water deficits, where water use by native
					 vegetation equals or exceeds that supplied by precipitation. As an example, the
					 Eagle Pass field in Texas is in an arid or semiarid area.
(19) Auger mining--A method of mining coal at
					 a cliff or highwall by drilling holes into an exposed coal seam from the
					 highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the surface.
(20) Best Technology Currently Available
					 (BTCA)--Equipment, devices, systems, methods, or techniques which will:
(A) prevent, to the extent possible,
					 additional contributions of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside
					 the permit area, but in no event result in contributions of suspended solids in
					 excess of requirements set by applicable state or federal laws; and
(B) minimize, to the extent possible,
					 disturbances and adverse impacts on fish, wildlife and related environmental
					 values, and achieve enhancement of those resources where practicable. The term
					 includes equipment, devices, systems, methods, or techniques which are
					 currently available anywhere as determined by the Commission, even if they are
					 not in routine use. The term includes, but is not limited to, construction
					 practices, siting requirements, vegetative selection and planting requirements,
					 animal stocking requirements, scheduling of activities and design of
					 sedimentation ponds in accordance with §§12.330 - 12.403 and 12.500 -
					 12.572 of this title (relating to Permanent Program Performance
					 Standards--Surface Mining Activities, and to Permanent Program Performance
					 Standards--Underground Mining Activities). The Commission shall have the
					 discretion to determine the best technology currently available on a
					 case-by-case basis, as authorized by the Act and this
					 chapter.