Washington Administrative Code › Title 332 - Natural Resources, Board and Department of (See also Title 222) › Chapter 332-14 - Coal leasing rules and regulations › Section 332-14-010 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The following terms are applicable when used in the
				chapter and shall be defined as follows unless the context clearly
				requires otherwise:
(1)
			 "Abandon" means the removal of all drilling and production equipment
			 from the site and the restoration of the surface of the site to
			 standards set forth by the Office of Surface Mining in 30 C.F.R.,
			 Part 947, "Surface Mining and Reclamation Operation Under a Federal
			 Program for the State of Washington" or a federally approved state
			 program.
(2) "Auction"
			 means competitive lease bidding by oral or sealed bids or a
			 combination thereof.
(3)
			 "Blending" means combining two or more grades of coal to achieve
			 desired chemical or combustive properties.
(4) "Coal" means a black or
			 brownish-black solid combustible substance which has been subjected
			 to the natural process of coalification and which falls within the
			 classification of coal by rank for lignite, subbituminous, bituminous
			 or anthracite as defined in the American Society of Testing Material
			 Standards.
(5) "Coal
			 mining lease" means a lease not to exceed twenty years entitling the
			 operator to develop, mine and market a known coal resource on state
			 lands.
(6) "Coal option
			 contract" means a one-year agreement entitling its holder to explore
			 for coal on one section or 640 acres, whichever is larger and to
			 remove up to 250 tons of coal for testing purposes.
(7) "Commingling" means the mixing
			 of coal from the leased premises with coal from land other than the
			 leased premises.
(8)
			 "Department" means the department of natural resources.
(9) "Development" means any work
			 which occurs after exploration and which furthers coal
			 production.
(10)
			 "Exploration" means investigation to determine presence, quantity and
			 quality of coal resources by geologic, geophysical, geochemical or
			 other means.
(11)
			 "Exploration drill hole" means an exploratory drill hole constructed
			 for the purpose of determining depth, thickness, quality and quantity
			 of coal for the identification of underlying rock formations in which
			 the coals occur and the determination of hydrological
			 conditions.
(12) "Gross
			 receipts from mining" means the fair market price per ton according
			 to rank as prepared for market at the first point of sale or
			 commercial use.
(13)
			 "Grout" means a cementing agent which is used for plugging and
			 sealing exploration drill holes.
(14) "Improvements, structures, and
			 development work" means anything considered a fixture in law or the
			 removal of overburden or the diversion of drainage or other work
			 preparatory to removal of coal, placed upon or attached to state
			 lands that has added value to the state's interest therein.
(15) "Logical mining unit" means
			 contiguous lands or lands in reasonable proximity in which the
			 recoverable coal reserves can be developed in an efficient,
			 economical, and orderly manner as a unit with due regard to
			 recoverable coal reserves. A logical mining unit may consist of one
			 or more state leases under the control of a single lessee and may
			 include intervening or adjacent lands in private or public
			 ownership.
(16) "Mine"
			 means any excavation made for production of coal for commercial sale
			 or use.
(17) "Office of
			 surface mining" means United States Department of the Interior,
			 Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement or its
			 successor.
(18) "Plug and
			 abandon" means the placing of permanent plugs in a coal exploration
			 drill-hole in such a way and at such intervals as are necessary to
			 prevent future leakage of either fluid or gases from the drill hole
			 to the surface or from one aquifer to another.
(19) "Production" means the work of
			 extracting and preparing coal in commercial quantities for market or
			 for consumption.
(20)
			 "Reclamation" means rehabilitation of surface-mined areas to those
			 required standards set forth by the Office of Surface Mining in 30
			 C.F.R., Part 947, "Surface Mining and Reclamation Operation Under a
			 Federal Program for the State of Washington" or by a federally
			 approved state program.
(21) "SEPA" means the State
			 Environmental Policy Act,
			 chapter 43.21C RCW.
(22) "State land" means land where
			 all or part of the subsurface coal rights are owned by the state and
			 are managed by the department.
(23) "Surface rights" means the
			 rights to the use of the surface of the property not including
			 subsurface rights.
(24)
			 "Ton" means ton as defined by RCW 79.01.668.
(25) "Treatment" means improving
			 the physical or chemical properties of coal.
(26) "Washing" means the separation
			 of coal from undesired contaminants through use of a fluid
			 medium.
Statutory Authority: RCW 79.01.668. 85-10-040
				  (Order 443), § 332-14-010, filed
				  4/29/85.