Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 11 - SURFACE MINING AND RECLAMATION DIVISION › Subchapter C - SUBSTANTIVE RULES - URANIUM EXPLORATION AND SURFACE MINING › Division 2 - DEFINITIONS › Section 11.82 - Regulatory Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this
						subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
						indicates otherwise.
(1) Access
					 roads--All roads located within the permit area and under the control of the
					 operator of the surface mining operation.
(2) Act--The Texas Uranium Exploration,
					 Surface Mining, and Reclamation Act, Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 131,
					 et seq.
(3) Administrative
					 Procedure Act; APA--Texas Government Code, Chapter 2001.
(4) Applicant--A person who is applying for a
					 new permit or an amendment to or a renewal or transfer of a current
					 permit.
(5) Contiguous
					 area--Includes all areas touching upon the boundaries of the land affected by
					 the surface mining operation which the operator proposes to surface mine
					 notwithstanding areas separated by terrain features such as streams, roads, gas
					 lines, and power transmission lines.
(6) Director--The director of the Surface
					 Mining and Reclamation Division or the director's delegate.
(7) Division--The Surface Mining and
					 Reclamation Division of the Commission or its director or employees.
(8) Drilling completion--The time at which
					 total drilling depth has been reached and the exploration borehole has been
					 logged.
(9) Examiner--The person
					 appointed by the Commission to conduct hearings.
(10) Exploration borehole--An uncased hole
					 created with a drill, auger, or other boring tool for exploring strata in
					 search of uranium deposits.
(11)
					 Exploration reclamation--The process of restoring an area affected by
					 activities conducted under a uranium exploration permit to its original or
					 other substantially beneficial condition.
(12) Highwall--The vertical or nearly
					 vertical wall of exposed strata adjacent to the site of a mineral deposit which
					 results from surface mining excavation.
(13) Permit--A surface mining permit, as
					 defined in this section, or a uranium exploration permit, as defined in this
					 section.
(14) Rules--The
					 regulations promulgated by the commission pursuant to the authority of the
					 Texas Uranium Exploration, Surface Mining, and Reclamation Act.
(15) Terracing--Grading where the steepest
					 contour of the highwall shall not be at a greater angle from the horizontal
					 than that set by the commission in approving a specific reclamation plan
					 calling for terracing with the table portion of the restored area flat and a
					 flat terrace without depressions to hold water and with adequate provision for
					 drainage, unless otherwise approved by the commission.
(16) Uranium exploration permit--The written
					 certification by the Commission that the named entity may conduct the uranium
					 exploration activities described in the certification during the term of the
					 permit and in the manner and subject to the conditions established in the
					 certification. A uranium exploration permit does not include:
(A) a uranium surface mining permit issued by
					 the Commission pursuant to this chapter; or
(B) a permit issued by the Texas Commission
					 on Environmental Quality pursuant to Texas Water Code, §
												RSA 27.011
					 and §
												RSA
					 27.0513.