Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Chapter 130 - COAL SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION REGULATIONS › Part 780 - Surface Mining Permit Applications-Minimum Requirements for Reclamation and Operation Plan › Section 4VAC25-130-780.21 - Hydrologic information

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
(a)
				  Sampling and analysis methodology. All water-quality analyses performed to meet
				  the requirements of this section shall be conducted according to the
				  methodology in the current edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of
				  Water and Wastewater," which is incorporated by reference, or the methodology
				  in 40 CFR 136 and 434. Water quality sampling performed to meet the
				  requirements of this section shall be conducted according to either methodology
				  listed above when feasible.
(b)
				  Baseline information. The application shall include the following baseline
				  hydrologic information, and any additional information required by the
				  division.
(1) Ground-water information. The
				  location and ownership for the permit and adjacent areas of existing wells,
				  springs, and other ground-water resources, seasonal quality and quantity of
				  ground-water, and usage. Water quality descriptions shall include, at a
				  minimum, total dissolved solids or specific conductance corrected to 25° C,
				  pH, total iron, and total manganese. Ground-water quantity descriptions shall
				  include, at a minimum, approximate rates of discharge or usage and elevation of
				  the water in the coal seam, and each water-bearing stratum above and
				  potentially impacted stratum below the coal seam.
(2) Surface-water information. The name,
				  location, ownership, and description of all surface-water bodies such as
				  streams, lakes, and impoundments, the location of any discharge into any
				  surface-water body in the proposed permit and adjacent areas, and information
				  on surface-water quality and quantity sufficient to demonstrate seasonal
				  variation and water usage. Water quality descriptions shall include, at a
				  minimum, baseline information on total suspended solids, total dissolved solids
				  or specific conductance corrected to 25° C, pH, total iron, and total
				  manganese. Baseline acidity and alkalinity information shall be provided if
				  there is a potential for acid drainage from the proposed mining operation.
				  Water quantity descriptions shall include, at a minimum, baseline information
				  on seasonal flow rates.
(3)
				  Supplemental information. If the determination of the probable hydrologic
				  consequences (PHC) required by Paragraph (f) of this section indicates that
				  adverse impacts on or off the proposed permit area may occur to the hydrologic
				  balance, or that acid-forming or toxic-forming material is present that may
				  result in the contamination of ground-water or surface-water supplies, then
				  information supplemental to that required under Paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of
				  this section shall be provided to evaluate such probable hydrologic
				  consequences and to plan remedial and reclamation activities. Such supplemental
				  information may be based upon drilling, aquifer tests, hydrogeologic analysis
				  of the water-bearing strata, flood flows, or analysis of other water quality or
				  quantity characteristics.