Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article I - Land Resources › Chapter 90 - COAL REFUSE DISPOSAL › Subchapter D - PERFORMANCE STANDARD FOR COAL REFUSE DISPOSAL › Section 90.108 - Hydrologic balance: sedimentation ponds

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) Surface drainage from the disturbed area,
						including disturbed areas that have been graded, seeded, or planted, shall be
						passed through a sedimentation pond or a series of sedimentation ponds before
						leaving the permit area. The Department may waive the required use of
						sedimentation ponds when the person who conducts coal refuse disposal
						activities demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department that sediment
						ponds are not necessary to meet the effluent limitations under §
												90.102 (relating to hydrologic
						balance: water quality standards, effluent limitations and best management
						practices).
(b) Sedimentation ponds
						shall be constructed in accordance with this section and §§
												90.111 and
						90.112 (relating to hydrologic
						balance: impoundments; and hydrologic balance: dams, ponds, embankments, and
						impoundments-design, construction and maintenance), in appropriate locations
						before any disturbance of the area to be drained into the pond. The ponds shall
						be located as near as possible to the area to be disturbed and out of perennial
						and intermittent streams. Ponds may be located in intermittent streams provided
						the requirements of Chapter 105 (relating to dam safety and waterway
						management) are met.
(c)
						Sedimentation ponds may not be removed until the disturbed area has been
						stabilized and revegetated and the Department approves the removal of the
						ponds. The ponds may not be removed sooner than 2 years after the last
						augmented seeding, unless the Department finds that the disturbed area has been
						sufficiently revegetated and stabilized.
(d) At a minimum, sedimentation ponds shall
						meet the requirements of Chapter 102 (relating to erosion and sediment
						control).
(e) The water storage
						resulting from inflow shall be removed by a nonclogging dewatering device
						approved by the Department. The dewatering device may not be located at a lower
						elevation than the maximum elevation of the sediment storage volume. The device
						shall have a discharge rate to achieve and maintain the required detention
						time.
(f) The ponds shall be
						designed, constructed and maintained to prevent short circuiting.
(g) The design, construction and maintenance
						of a sediment pond in accordance with this section does not relieve the person
						who conducts coal refuse disposal activities of the responsibility for
						complying with the applicable treatment requirements and effluent limitations
						established under § 90.102.
(h) There may be no discharge through the
						emergency spillway during the passage of the runoff resulting from the 10-year,
						24-hour precipitation events or lesser events through the sedimentation
						pond.
(i) The elevation of the
						crest of the emergency spillway shall be a minimum of 1.0 foot above the crest
						of the principal spillway.
(j) When
						the sedimentation pond is to be removed, the affected land shall be regraded
						and revegetated in accordance with §
												90.151-90.157, 90.159 and
						90.160.
The provisions of this §
														90.108 amended under the Surface
							 Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P. S.
							 §§
															1396.1-1396.19a); The Clean
							 Streams Law (35 P. S. §§
															691.1-691.1001); and section 1920-A of The
							 Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §
															510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
														90.39 (relating to ponds,
							 impoundments, banks, dams, embankments, piles and fills); and 25 Pa. Code
							 §
														90.113 (relating to hydrologic
							 balance: coal processing waste dams and
							 embankments).