§ 824.11 - Mountaintop removal: Performance standards.

§ 824.11 What special performance standards apply to mountaintop removal mining operations?

(a) Applicability. This section applies to all operations for which the regulatory authority has approved a permit under § 785.14 of this chapter.

(b) Performance standards.

(1) You, the permittee, must comply with all applicable requirements of this subchapter and the regulatory program, other than the approximate original contour restoration requirements of § 816.102(a)(1) of this chapter and the thick overburden requirements of § 816.105 of this chapter.

(2)

(i) You must retain an outcrop barrier

Mountaintop removal: Performance standards.

(a) Under an approved regulatory program, surface coal mining activities may be conducted under a variance from the requirement of this subchapter for restoring affected areas to their approximate original contour, if -

(1) The regulatory authority grants the variance under a permit, in accordance with 30 CFR 785.14;

(2) The activities involve the mining of an entire coal seam running through the upper fraction of a mountain, ridge, or hill, by removing all of the overburden and creating a level plateau or gently rolling contour with no highwalls remaining;

(3) An industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential, or public facility (including recreational facilities) use is proposed and approved for the affected land;

(4) The alternative land use requirements of § 816.133(a) through (c) of this chapter are met;

(5) All applicable requirements of this subchapter and the regulatory program, other than the requirement to restore affected areas to their approximate original contour, are met;

(6) An outcrop barrier of sufficient width, consisting of the toe of the lowest coal seam, and its associated overburden,

of sufficient width

are retained to prevent slides and erosion

. You must construct drains through the barrier to the extent necessary to prevent saturation of the backfill. (ii) The outcrop barrier requirement in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section does not apply if the

, except that the regulatory authority may permit an exemption to the retention of the coal barrier requirement if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) The proposed mine site was mined prior to May 3, 1978, and the toe of the lowest

coal

seam has

already

been removed

.

; or

(

iii) You may remove a

ii) A coal barrier adjacent to a head-of-hollow fill may be removed after the elevation of

the

a head-of-hollow fill attains the elevation of the coal barrier if the head-of-hollow fill provides the stability otherwise ensured by the retention of a coal barrier

.

;

(

iv) The regulatory authority may allow removal of the outcrop barrier required by paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section if the regulatory program establishes standards for and requires construction of a barrier comprised of alternative materials that will provide equivalent stability. (3) The final graded slopes must be less than 1v:5h

7) The final graded slopes on the mined area are less than 1v:5h, so as to create a level plateau or gently rolling configuration

. The

, and the outslopes of the plateau

may

do not exceed

1v

1v:

2h

2h except where engineering data

substantiate

substantiates, and the regulatory authority finds, in writing, and includes in the permit under

§

30 CFR 785.14

of this chapter that an alternative configuration will achieve

, that a minimum static safety factor of 1.5

. (4) You must grade the plateau

will be attained;

(8) The resulting level or gently rolling contour is graded to drain inward from the outslope, except at specified points where it drains over the outslope in stable and protected channels.

(5) You must place sufficient spoil

The drainage shall not be through or over a valley or head-of-hollow fill.

(9) Natural watercourses below the lowest coal seam mined are not damaged;

(10) All waste and acid-forming or toxic-forming materials, including the strata immediately below the coal seam, are covered with non-toxic spoil to prevent pollution and achieve the approved postmining land use; and

(11) Spoil is placed on the mountaintop bench as necessary to achieve the

approved

postmining land use

. You must place all

approved under paragraphs (a)(3) and (a)(4) of this section. All excess spoil material not retained on the mountaintop

bench §

shall be placed in accordance with

the excess spoil disposal requirements of § 816.71 or

30 CFR 816.41 and 816.43 and 816.71 through 816.74

of this chapter.

(6) You must prevent damage to natural watercourses in accordance with the finding made by the regulatory authority under § 785.14 of this chapter.

[

.

[44 FR 15452, Mar. 13, 1979; 44 FR 49687, Aug. 24, 1979, as amended at 48 FR 39905, Sept. 1, 1983; 48 FR 44781, Sept. 30, 1983; 81 FR 93445, Dec. 20, 2016; 82 FR 55020, Nov. 17, 2017]