(a) When the approved postmining land use is
cropland, or as provided in subsection (c):
(1) The standards for successful revegetation
shall be based upon crop productivity or yield.
(2) The approved standards 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 §
86.151 (relating to period of
liability). 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, the
standards in this paragraph shall be met and a minimum of 400 woody plants per
acre shall be established except:
(i) On
slopes greater than 20 degrees, the minimum number of woody plants shall be 600
per acre.
(ii) When the approved
postmining land use is commercial forest land, the minimum number of woody
plants shall be 450 trees per acre with at least 75% commercial tree
species.
(iii) When the approved
postmining land use is wildlife habitat, the requirements of §
87.151(d)
(relating to revegetation: species) shall apply and the areas approved for the
planting of woody species shall have a stocking equal to or greater than 90% of
the stocking of woody plants of the same life form on the proposed area to be
affected by surface mining activities. The Department will not approve stocking
of less than 400 woody plants per acre.
(3) The percent ground cover of the mined
area shall meet the standards of paragraph (2) for a minimum of the last 2
consecutive years of the 5-year period of responsibility.
(4) For purposes of this section, "herbaceous
species" means grasses, legumes, and nonleguminous forbs; "woody plants" means
woody shrubs, trees and vines; and "ground cover" means the area of ground
covered by the combined aerial parts of vegetation and the litter that is
produced naturally onsite, expressed as a percentage of the total area of
measurement.
(5) Trees and shrubs
counted in determining revegetation success shall be healthy and have been in
place for at least two growing seasons.
(c) When the approved postmining land use is
pastureland, the crop productivity standards of subsection (a) and the ground
cover standards of subsection (b) shall be met.
Notes
The
provisions of this § 87.155 adopted December 19, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 4789,
effective 7/31/1982, 12 Pa.B.
2382; amended July 30, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2473, effective
7/31/1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382;
amended June 25, 1993, effective 6/26/1993, 23 Pa.B. 3075; amended March 13,
2020, effective 3/14/2020, 50
Pa.B. 1508.
The provisions of this § 87.155 amended under
section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. §
691.5); sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface
Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S.
§§
1396.4(a) and
1396.4b); section 3.2 of the
Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P.S. §
30.53b); section 7(b) of The Bituminous Mine
Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (52 P.S. §
1406.7(b)); and section
1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. §
510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
86.172 (relating to criteria for
release of bond); 25 Pa. Code §
87.49 (relating to vegetation
information); 25 Pa. Code §
87.68 (relating to reclamation
information); 25 Pa. Code §
87.100 (relating to topsoil:
nutrients and soil amendments); 25 Pa. Code §
87.104 (relating to stream channel
diversions); 25 Pa. Code §
87.108 (relating to hydrologic
balance: sedimentation ponds); 25 Pa. Code §
87.138 (relating to protection of
fish, wildlife and related environmental values); 25 Pa. Code §
87.151 (relating to revegetation:
species); 25 Pa. Code §
87.153 (relating to revegetation:
mulching); 25 Pa. Code §
87.181 (relating to prime
farmland: revegetation); and 25 Pa. Code §
89.134 (relating to
revegetation).
