25 Pa. Code § 77.618 - Standards for successful revegetation

(a) When the approved postmining land use is cropland:

(1) The standards for successful revegetation shall be based upon crop productivity or yield.

(2) The approved standard shall be the average yields per acre for the crop and soil type as specified in the Soil Surveys of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

(3) The productivity or yield of the mined area shall be equal to or greater than the approved standard for the last two consecutive growing seasons of the 5-year responsibility period established in § 77.615 (relating to species). Productivity or yield shall be considered equal if production or yield is at least 90% of the approved standard.

(b) When the approved postmining land use is other than cropland:

(1) The standards for successful revegetation shall be determined by ground cover.

(2) The approved standard shall be the percent ground cover of the vegetation which exists on the proposed area to be affected by surface mining activities. The Department will not approve less than a minimum of 70% ground cover of permanent plant species with not more than 1% of the area having less than 30% ground cover with no single or contiguous area having less than 30% ground cover exceeding 3,000 square feet. When woody species are planted in mixture with herbaceous species, these standards shall be met and a minimum of 400 woody plants per acre shall be established unless alternate plans are approved or required by the Department. On slopes greater than 20 degrees, the minimum number of woody plants shall be 600 per acre.

(3) The percent of ground cover of the mined area shall meet the standards of paragraph (2) to qualify for Reclamation Stage I and Reclamation Stage II approval.

(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term --herbaceous species-- means grasses, legumes and nonlegum-inous forbs. The term --woody plants-- means woody shrubs, trees and vines.

Notes

25 Pa. Code § 77.618

The provisions of this § 77.618 adopted March 16, 1990, effective 3/17/1990, 20 Pa.B. 1643. Amended by Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol 53, No. 33. August 19, 2023, effective 8/19/2023

This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 77.408 (relating to vegetation information); 25 Pa. Code § 77.456 (relating to reclamation information); 25 Pa. Code § 77.515 (relating to nutrients and soil amendments); 25 Pa. Code § 77.615 (relating to species); and 25 Pa. Code § 77.617 (relating to mulching).