Operator/lessee
(27) Operator/lessee means lessee, licensee, and/or one conducting operations on a Federal lease or license under a written contract or written agreement with the lessee or licensee. (28) Permanent abandonment of exploration operations means the completion of all activities conducted under an approved exploration plan, including plugging of all drill holes, submission of required records, and reclamation of all disturbed surfaces. (29) Permanent abandonment of mining operations means the completion of all development, production, and resource recovery and protection requirements conducted under an approved resource recovery and protection plan, including satisfaction of all Federal rental and royalty requirements. (30) Preparation means any physical or chemical treatment to prepare coal for market. Treatment may include crushing, sizing, drying, mixing, or other processing, and removal of noncoal waste such as bone or other impurities to enhance the quality and therefore the value of the coal. (31) Production means mining of recoverable coal reserves and/or commercial byproducts from a mine using surface, underground, auger, or in situ methods. (32) Recoverable coal reserves means the minable reserve base excluding all coal that will be left, such as in pillars, fenders, and property barriers. (33) Resource recovery and protection includes practices to: recover efficiently the recoverable coal reserves subject to these rules; avoid wasting or loss of coal or other resources; prevent damage to or degradation of coal-bearing or mineral-bearing formations; ensure MER of the Federal coal; and ensure that other resources are protected during exploration, development, and mining, and upon abandonment. (34) Resource recovery and protection plan means a plan showing that the proposed operation meets the requirements of MLA for development, production, resource recovery and protection, diligent development, continued operation, MER, and the rules of this part for the life-of-the-mine. (35) State Director means an employee of the Bureau of Land Management who has been designated as the chief administrative officer of one of the Bureau's 12 administrative areas designated as States. (36) Subsidence means a lowering of surface elevations over an underground mine caused by loss of support and subsequent settling or caving of strata lying above the mine.