11 AAC 97.310 - Reclamation plan

(a) Before a miner starts a mining operation subject to AS 27.19.030, or if an exempt miner wishes to operate under the provisions of AS 27.19.040(d), the miner must submit a proposed reclamation plan. The proposed plan must be correct and complete to the best of the miner's knowledge and be signed and dated by the miner or the miner's designee.

(b) A reclamation plan not submitted on a form provided by the commissioner must include the following:

(1) the name, address, and telephone number of the miner or other person who will serve as agent to receive any notice that is required under this chapter, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all other owners, operators, or leaseholders of the mining operation;

(2) a list of all properties, mining locations, or leases on which the mining operation is to be conducted, including the state or federal casefile number, and the legal description of the land on which the mining operation will be conducted, described by legal subdivision, section, quarter-section, township, range, and meridian;

(3) a map (United States Geological Survey topographic map or the equivalent) at a scale no smaller than 1:63,360 (inch to the mile) showing the general vicinity of the mining operation and the specific property to be worked;

(4) a general description and diagram of the mining operation and the mined area that shows and states the number of acres to be mined during each year covered by the plan and that shows the location corners or property boundaries and their relationship to the reclamation work, the tailings or spoil disposal areas, and the areas otherwise affected by the operation; the information furnished must be reasonably appropriate to the scale and complexity of the mine;

(5) the estimated number of yards or tons of overburden or waste and ore or materials to be mined during each year covered by the plan;

(6) a description of the reclamation measures that will be taken to comply with AS 27.19.020 and 11 AAC 97.200 - 11 AAC 97.250, including the equipment to be used; a time schedule for the reclamation measures; and, if the miner proposes to reclaim the land to an alternate post-mining land use under AS 27.19.030(b) on state, federal, or private land or to an alternate post-mining land intended by the landowner on private land, a statement of that proposed or intended use; the description must include:

(A) measures for topsoil removal, storage, protection, and replacement;

(B) measures for reclamation of tailings impoundments, settling ponds, reservoirs, heaps, open pits and cuts, shafts, adits, tunnels, portals, overburden, waste rock storage areas, and all other affected areas;

(C) measures for stream placement and reclamation at the end of mining; and

(D) a proposal for reclamation or post-mining conversion of access roads leading to the mining operation, airstrips, and other associated facilities;

(7) if on private land, a signed and notarized statement by the landowner that the miner has the landowner's permission to operate throughout the period covered by the proposed reclamation plan; however, this statement is not required if the miner is the landowner, or if the mining operation is on a prior federal mining location and the private landowner received title subject to that location under sec. 22(c) of PL 92-203, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(c)); if the private landowner believes that reclamation to the standard set out in AS 27.19.020 is not feasible because the landowner intends to use the land after mining for a purpose incompatible with natural revegetation, the landowner is encouraged to provide this information as part of the statement; for the purposes of this paragraph, the landowner means the owner of the estate that includes the mineral or material to be mined.

(c) If a mining operation is a public project for which the successful bidder has not yet been determined, the agency responsible for the project, the landowner, or another third party may submit a proposed reclamation plan on behalf of the successful bidder. The proposed plan must be complete except for the miner's name, address, and telephone number. Before the plan approval takes effect, the miner must provide his or her name, address, and telephone number, sign the plan, and satisfy the bond requirement.

Notes

11 AAC 97.310

Eff. 7/30/92, Register 123

Authority: Sec. 2, ch. 92, SLA

1990

AS 27.19.020

AS 27.19.030

AS 27.19.040

AS 27.19.100