Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
similar to the OSM regulations at 30 C.F.R. Chapter VII, but, in response to
local concerns and conditions, some programs contain requirements that are
more extensive than the federal rules.
OSM directly regulates surface coal mining and reclamation operations on
all Indian lands and in nonprimacy states. Currently 12 states do not have a
primacy program (Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, North
Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington).
Of those, only Tennessee, Washington, and Arizona, have significant active
surface coal mining operations.
Because the OSM regulations in 30 C.F.R. Chapter VII form the template
for state programs, this chapter focuses on the federal regulations rather than the
requirements of individual state regulatory programs. Several sections of the
regulations are specific to the design, construction, and maintenance of coal
refuse impoundments. Other sections apply in a more general fashion. The
following summary highlights requirements relevant to limiting the potential for
impoundment breakthroughs and failures.
Buffer Zone Rule
Many coal waste impoundments in the Appalachian coalfields are placed
in valleys and can affect the preexisting drainage. SMCRA, as well as parallel
state laws, governs the placement of mining materials in or near a stream.
SMCRA at 30 U.S.C. § 1265(b) contains general environmental performance
standards for protecting streams and fish and wildlife. To carry out these and
other requirements of the statutory program, the OSM promulgated a federal
buffer zone rule in 1981, which provides (30 C.F.R. § 816.57):
(a) No land within 100 feet of a perennial stream or an intermittent stream shall
be disturbed by surface mining activities, unless the regulatory authority
specifically authorizes surface mining activities closer to, or through, such a
stream. The regulatory authority may authorize such activities only upon
finding that: (1) Surface mining activities will not cause or contribute to the
violation of applicable State or Federal water quality standards, and will not
adversely affect the water quantity and quality or other environmental
resources of the stream.
Federal SMCRA regulations at 30 C.F.R. § 701.5 include the following
stream-related definitions:
Intermittent stream means
(a) a stream or reach of a stream that drains a
watershed of at least one square mile, or (b) a stream or reach of a stream that is
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