405 KAR 24:001 - Definitions for 405 KAR Chapter 24
RELATES TO: KRS Chapter 350, 30 C.F.R. Parts 700.5, 701.5, 707.5, 730-733, 735, 761.5, 762.5, 773.5, 800.5, 843.5, 917, 30 U.S.C. 1253, 1255, 1291
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 350 in pertinent part requires the cabinet to promulgate rules and administrative regulations pertaining to surface coal mining and reclamation operations under the permanent regulatory program. This administrative regulation provides for the defining of certain essential terms used in 405 KAR Chapter 24.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Affected area" means any land or water
area which is used to facilitate, or is physically altered by, surface coal
mining and reclamation operations. The affected area includes the disturbed
area; any area upon which surface coal mining and reclamation operations are
conducted; any adjacent lands the use of which is incidental to surface coal
mining and reclamation operations; all areas covered by new or existing roads
used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from, surface coal mining and
reclamation operations, except as provided in this definition; any area covered
by surface excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation shafts,
entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm
banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, shipping
areas; any areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property
or material on the surface resulting from, or incident to, surface coal mining
and reclamation operations; and the area located above underground workings
associated with underground mining activities, auger mining, or in situ mining.
The affected area shall include every road used for the purposes of access to,
or for hauling coal to or from, surface coal mining and reclamation operations,
unless the road:
(a) Was designated as a
public road pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is
located;
(b) Is maintained with
public funds, and constructed in a manner similar to other public roads of the
same classification within the jurisdiction; and
(c) There is substantial (more than
incidental) public use.
(2) "Applicant" means any person(s) seeking a
permit, permit revision, permit amendment, permit renewal, or transfer,
assignment, or sale of permit rights from the cabinet to conduct surface coal
mining and reclamation operations or approval to conduct coal exploration
operations pursuant to KRS Chapter 350 and all applicable administrative
regulations.
(3) "Application"
means the documents and other information filed with the cabinet seeking
issuance of permits; revisions; amendments; renewals; and transfer, assignment
or sale of permit rights for surface coal mining and reclamation operations or,
if required, seeking approval for coal exploration.
(4) "Aquifer" means a zone, stratum, or group
of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for
domestic, agricultural, industrial, or other beneficial use.
(5) "Area", as used in 405 KAR Chapter 24,
means a geographic unit in which the criteria alleged in the petition pursuant
to
405 KAR
24:020, Sections 3 and 4 and
405
KAR 24:030, Section 8 occur throughout and form a
significant feature.
(6) "Auger
mining" means a method of mining coal at a cliff or highwall by drilling holes
into an exposed coal seam from the highwall and transporting the coal along an
auger bit to the surface and shall also include all other methods of mining in
which coal is extracted from beneath the overburden by mechanical devices
located at the face of the cliff or highwall and extending laterally into the
coal seam, such as extended depth, secondary recovery systems.
(7) "Cabinet" is defined in
KRS
350.010.
(8) "Cemetery" means any area where human
bodies are interred.
(9) "C.F.R."
means Code of Federal Regulations.
(10) "Coal" means combustible carbonaceous
rock, classified as anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, or lignite by ASTM
Standard D 388-77.
(11) "Coal
exploration" means the field gathering of:
(a)
Surface or subsurface geologic, physical, or chemical data by mapping,
trenching, drilling, geophysical, or other techniques necessary to determine
the quality and quantity of overburden and coal of an area; or
(b) Environmental data to establish the
conditions of an area before beginning surface coal mining and reclamation
operations under the requirements of 405 KAR Chapters 7 through 24 if the
activity may cause any disturbance of the land surface or may cause any
appreciable effect upon land, air, water, or other environmental
resources.
(12) "Coal
mine waste" means coal processing waste and underground development
waste.
(13) "Coal processing waste"
means materials which are separated from the product coal during the cleaning,
concentrating, or other processing or preparation of coal.
(14) "Community or institutional building"
means any structure, other than a public building or an occupied dwelling,
which is used primarily for meetings, gatherings, or functions of local civic
organizations or other community groups; functions as an educational, cultural,
historic, religious, scientific, correctional, mental health, or physical
health care facility; or is used for public services, including, but not
limited to, water supply, power generation, or sewage treatment.
(15) "Complete and accurate application"
means an application for permit approval, or approval for coal exploration if
required, which the cabinet determines to contain all information required
under, and necessary to comply with, KRS Chapter 350 and 405 KAR Chapters 7
through 24, in order to make decisions concerning its administrative and
technical acceptability and whether a permit or exploration approval may be
issued.
(16) "Day" means calendar
day unless otherwise specified to be a working day.
(17) "Disturbed area" means an area where
vegetation, topsoil, or overburden is removed or upon which topsoil, spoil,
coal processing waste, underground development waste, or noncoal waste is
placed by surface coal mining operations. Those areas are classified as
"disturbed" until reclamation is complete and the performance bond or other
assurance of performance required by 405 KAR Chapter 10 is released.
(18) "Federal lands" means any lands,
including mineral interests, owned by the United States, without regard to how
the United States acquired ownership of the lands or which agency manages the
lands. It does not include Indian lands.
(19) "Fragile lands" means areas containing
natural, ecologic, scientific, or aesthetic resources that could be
significantly damaged by surface coal mining operations. Examples of fragile
lands include uncommon geologic formations, paleontological sites, national
natural landmarks, valuable habitats for fish or wildlife, areas where mining
may result in flooding, critical habitats for endangered or threatened species
of animals or plants, wetlands, environmental corridors containing a
concentration of ecologic and aesthetic features, state-designated nature
preserves and wild rivers, and areas of recreational value due to high
environmental quality.
(20)
"Groundwater" means subsurface water that fills available openings in rock or
soil materials to the extent that they are considered water
saturated.
(21) "Growing season"
means the period during a one (1) year cycle, from the last killing frost in
the spring to the first killing frost in the fall, in which climatic conditions
are favorable for plant growth. In Kentucky, this period normally extends from
mid-April to mid-October.
(22)
"Highwall" means the face of exposed overburden and coal in an open cut of a
surface mining activity or for entry to underground mining
activities.
(23) "Historic lands"
means areas containing historic, cultural, or scientific resources. Examples of
historic lands include properties listed on or eligible for listing on a state
or national register of historic places, national historic landmarks,
archaeological sites, properties having religious or cultural significance to
native Americans or religious groups, and properties for which historic
designation is pending.
(24)
"Impoundment" means a closed basin, naturally formed or artificially built,
which is dammed or excavated for the retention of water, sediment, or
waste.
(25) "In situ processes"
means activities conducted on the surface or underground in connection with
in-place distillation, retorting, leaching, or other chemical or physical
processing of coal. The term includes, but is not limited to, in situ
gasification, in situ leaching, slurry mining, solution mining, borehole
mining, and fluid recovery mining.
(26) "KAR" means Kentucky administrative
regulations.
(27) "KRS" means
Kentucky Revised Statutes.
(28)
"Natural hazard lands" means geographic areas in which natural conditions exist
that pose or, as a result of surface coal mining operations, may pose a threat
to the health, safety, or welfare of people, property, or the environment,
including, but not limited to, areas subject to landslides, cave-ins,
subsidence, substantial erosion, unstable geology, or frequent
flooding.
(29) "Occupied dwelling"
means any building that is currently being used on a regular or temporary basis
for human habitation.
(30)
"Operations" is defined in
KRS
350.010.
(31) "Operator" is defined in
KRS
350.010.
(32) "Overburden" is defined in
KRS
350.010.
(33) "Permit" means written approval issued
by the cabinet to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation
operations.
(34) "Person" is
defined in
KRS
350.010.
(35) "Person having an interest which is or
may be adversely affected" or "person with a valid legal interest" shall
include any person:
(a) Who uses any resource
of economic, recreational, aesthetic, or environmental value that may be
adversely affected by coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation
operations, or by any related action of the cabinet; or
(b) Whose property is or may be adversely
affected by coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations,
or by any related action of the cabinet.
(36) "Petitioner" means a person who submits
a petition under 405 KAR Chapter 24 to designate a specific area as unsuitable
for all or certain types of surface coal mining and reclamation operations, or
who submits a petition under 405 KAR Chapter 24 to terminate such a
designation.
(37) "Public building"
means any structure that is owned or leased, and principally used by a
governmental agency for public business or meetings.
(38) "Publicly-owned park" means a public
park that is owned by a federal, state, or local governmental entity.
(39) "Public park" means an area dedicated or
designated by any federal, state, or local agency primarily for public
recreational use, despite whether the use is limited to certain times or days.
It includes any land leased, reserved, or held open to the public because of
that use.
(40) "Public road" means
any publicly owned thoroughfare for the passage of vehicles.
(41) "RAM" means Reclamation Advisory
Memorandum.
(42) "Reclamation" is
defined in
KRS
350.010.
(43) "Renewable resource lands" means
geographic areas which contribute significantly to the long-range productivity
of water supplies or of food or fiber products, these lands to include aquifers
and aquifer recharge areas.
(44)
"Road" means a surface right-of-way for purposes of travel by land vehicles
used in coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations. A
road consists of the entire area within the right-of-way, including the
roadbed, shoulders, parking and side area, approaches, structures, ditches,
surface, and contiguous appendages necessary for the total structure. The term
includes access and haul roads constructed, used, reconstructed, improved, or
maintained for use in coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation
operations, including use by coal hauling vehicles leading to transfer,
processing, or storage areas. The term does not include pioneer or construction
roadways used for part of the road construction procedure and promptly replaced
by a road pursuant to 405 KAR Chapters 16 and 18 located in the identical
right-of-way as the pioneer or construction roadway. The term also excludes any
roadway within the immediate mining pit area.
(45) "Secretary" is defined in
KRS
350.010.
(46) "Slurry mining" means the hydraulic
breakdown of subsurface coal with drill-hole equipment, and the eduction of the
resulting slurry to the surface for processing.
(47) "SMCRA" means Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 ( PL 95-87), as amended.
(48) "Soil horizons" means contrasting layers
of soil parallel or nearly parallel to the land surface. Soil horizons are
differentiated on the basis of field characteristics and laboratory data. The
four (4) master soil horizons are:
(a) "A
horizon." The uppermost mineral layer, often called the surface soil. It is the
part of the soil in which organic matter is most abundant, and leaching of
soluble or suspended particles is typically the greatest.
(b) "E horizon." The layer commonly near the
surface below an A horizon and above a B horizon. An E horizon is most commonly
differentiated from an overlying A horizon by lighter color and generally has
measurably less organic matter than the A horizon. An E horizon is most
commonly differentiated from an underlying B horizon in the same sequum by
color of higher value or lower chroma, by coarser texture, or by a combination
of these properties.
(c) "B
horizon." The layer that typically is immediately beneath the E horizon and
often called the subsoil. This middle layer commonly contains more clay, iron,
or aluminum than the A, E, or C horizons.
(d) "C horizon." The deepest layer of soil
profile. It consists of loose material or weathered rock that is relatively
unaffected by biologic activity.
(49) "Spoil" means overburden and other
materials, excluding topsoil, coal mine waste, and mined coal, that are
excavated during surface coal mining and reclamation operations.
(50)
(a)
"Substantial legal and financial commitments" means significant investments,
that have been made on the basis of a long-term coal contract, consisting of
actual expenditures of substantial monies or execution of valid and binding
contracts involving substantial monies for such things as power plants;
railroads; coal handling, preparation, extraction, and storage facilities; and
other capital-intensive activities such as:
1.
Improvement or modification of coal lands within, for access to, or in support
of surface coal mining and reclamation operations in the petitioned
area;
2. Acquisition of capital
equipment for use in, for access to, or for use in support of surface coal
mining and reclamation operations in the petitioned area; and
3. Exploration, mapping, surveying, and
geological work, as well as expenditures of engineering and legal fees,
associated with the acquisition of the property or preparation of an
application to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations in the
petitioned area.
(b) The
costs of acquiring the coal in place or the right to mine such coal are not
sufficient to constitute a substantial legal and financial commitment in the
absence of other investments as described in paragraph (a) of this
subsection.
(51)
"Surface coal mining and reclamation operations" is defined in
KRS
350.010.
(52) "Surface coal mining operations" is
defined in
KRS
350.010.
(53) "Topsoil" means the A and E soil horizon
layers of the four (4) master soil horizons.
(54) "Transfer, assignment, or sale of permit
rights" means a change in ownership or other effective control over the right
to conduct surface coal mining operations under a permit issued by the
cabinet.
(55) "Underground
development waste" means waste coal, shale, claystone, siltstone, sandstone,
limestone, or similar materials that are extracted from underground workings in
connection with underground mining activities.
(56) "Underground mining activities" means a
combination of:
(a) Surface operations
incident to underground extraction of coal or in situ processing, including
construction, use, maintenance, and reclamation of roads, aboveground repair
areas, storage areas, processing areas, and shipping areas; areas upon which
are sited support facilities including hoist and ventilating ducts; areas
utilized for the disposal and storage of waste; and areas on which materials
incident to underground mining operations are placed; and
(b) Underground operations such as
underground construction, operation, and reclamation of shafts, adits,
underground support facilities; in situ processing; and underground mining,
hauling, storage, and blasting.
(57) "Valid existing rights" means:
(a) Except for haul roads, property rights in
existence on August 3, 1977, that were created by a legally binding conveyance,
lease, contract or other instrument which authorizes the applicant to produce
coal and the person proposing to conduct a surface coal mining operation on the
lands either:
1. Had been validly issued or
had made a good faith effort to obtain, on or before August 3, 1977, all state
and federal permits necessary to conduct surface coal mining operations on
those lands, application for the permits being deemed to constitute good faith
efforts to obtain the permits; or
2. Can demonstrate to the cabinet that the
coal is both needed for, and immediately adjacent to, an ongoing surface coal
mining operation for which all permits were obtained prior to August 3,
1977.
(b) For haul
roads:
1. A recorded right-of-way, recorded
easement, or a permit for coal haul road recorded as of August 3, 1977;
or
2. Any other road in existence
as of August 3, 1977.
(c) Valid existing rights does not mean the
mere expectation of a right to conduct surface coal mining operations or the
right to conduct underground coal mining.
(58) "Wetland" means land that has a
predominance of hydric soils and that is inundated or saturated by surface or
groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under
normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
(a) "Hydric soil" means soil that, in its
undrained condition, is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during a
growing season to develop an anaerobic condition that supports the growth and
regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation.
(b) "Hydrophytic vegetation" means a plant
growing in:
1. Water; or
2. A substrate that is at least periodically
deficient in oxygen during a growing season as a result of excessive water
content.
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