Rule 8. (1) Upon request of the supervisor, an operator shall submit his long-range
environment plan for the mining area.
(2) An operator, on his own initiative, may submit an environment plan covering
the mining area or any portion thereof to the supervisor at any time prior to
abandonment.
(3) An environment plan shall include the following:
(a) A detailed description of the mining area.
(b) The reclamation problems involved.
(c) The operator's plan of action to prevent erosion and pollution, to attain
revegetation, and to achieve the ultimate reclamation of the mining area in accordance
with the purposes and requirements of the act and the rules adopted thereunder.
(d) An estimate time schedule for completion of the plan, and the proposed
purpose for which the land is to be used upon completion.
(e) Estimated cost of reclamation.
(f) Other pertinent information that the supervisor may deem necessary.
(4) If circumstances warrant, or if development of an environment plan is
dependent upon unknown factors which cannot or will not be determined except
during the progress of the operation, a partial plan may be submitted and
supplemented as new plans are developed.
(5) If the surface landowner and the operator are 2 separate persons, the surface
landowner shall be given an opportunity to comment on the operator's environment
plan before the operator submits the plan to the supervisor.
History: 1979 AC.
R 425.9 Evaluation of environment plan.
Rule 9. (1) Upon receipt of an environment plan, the supervisor shall evaluate it
in terms of the reclamation required by the act. The supervisor may consult with
and obtain assistance of other divisions of the department in the evaluation process.
The supervisor may reject a plan or any part thereof, and shall give reasons in
writing,
objections, if
together
with recommendations for modification of a plan to meet his
the
the reclamation specified by a plan does not conform to
requirements of the act and these rules, or if, in the opinion of the supervisor, it is
not feasible or is otherwise undesirable because of the following:
(a) Erosion is likely to occur in the sloping, terracing, or other treatment of
stockpiles and tailings basins, which may result in injury or damage to fish and wildlife
or the pollution of public waters or which may cause injury to the property or person of
others.
(b) Vegetation or other practical treatment of tailings basins and stockpiles,
upon becoming permanently inactive, is not satisfactory.
(c) The surface overburden banks of open pits in rock, and the entire bank of
open pits in unconsolidated materials, upon their abandonment will not be stabilized.
(d) The cleanup of plantsite and mining areas, and the removal of debris therefrom
on termination of the mining operation, will not be satisfactory.
(2) If the supervisor rejects an environment plan, an operator may resubmit the
plan as revised so as to meet the supervisor's objections.
Page 4