PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
§ 88.1. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
AOC—Approximate original contour.
Abandoned—An operation where no coal has been produced or overburden removed for 6 months, verified by monthly reports submitted to the Department by the operator and by inspections made by the Department, unless an operator within 30 days after receipt of notification by the Secretary determining an operation abandoned submits sufficient evidence to the Secretary that the operation is in fact not abandoned and submits a timetable satisfactory to the Secretary regarding plans for the reactivation of the operation.
Access roads—Roads located and constructed or reconstructed for minimal or infrequent use to transport equipment and personnel to current and future activity sites.
Acid drainage—Water with a pH of less than 6 and in which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity, discharged from an active, inactive or abandoned surface coal mine and reclamation operation or from an area affected by surface coal mining activities.
Acid-forming materials—Earth materials that contain sulfide minerals or other materials which, if exposed to air, water or weathering processes, form acids that may create acid drainage.
Adjacent area—Land outside the permit area, where air, surface or groundwater, fish and wildlife, vegetation or other resources protected by this chapter may be adversely affected by surface coal mining activities.
Affected area—Land or water upon or in which surface mining activities are conducted or located. The term includes land in which the natural land surface has been disturbed as a result of or incidental to the surface activities of the operator, including, but not limited to, private ways and roads appurtenant to the area, land excavations, workings, refuse banks, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, repair areas, storage areas, processing areas, shipping areas and areas in which structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools or other materials or property which result from or are used in, surface mining operations are situated. The term also includes lands affected by the construction of new roads or the improvement of existing roads to gain access to the site or for hauling from the site.
Anthracite mining activities—Operations handling anthracite coal or anthracite coal-related material, including, but not limited to, surface mining, the surface affected by underground mining, bank recovery and reclamation, coal refuse disposal and coal preparation plant activity, except when an operation is specifically modified or exempted from this definition.
Aquifer—A zone, stratum or group of strata that can store and transmit water in sufficient quantities for a known specific use.
Bank removal and reclamation activities—The process of extracting anthracite coal from coal banks which will be disturbed or affected in any manner during the mining.
Best technology currently available—Equipment, devices, systems, methods or techniques which will:(i) Prevent, to the extent possible, additional contributions of suspended solids to stream flow or runoff outside the permit area, but in no event result in contributions of suspended solids in excess of requirements set by applicable State or Federal laws.
(ii) Minimize, to the extent possible, disturbances and adverse impacts on fish and wildlife and related environmental values, and achieve enhancement of those resources where practicable. The term includes equipment, devices, systems, methods or techniques which are currently available anywhere as determined by the Secretary, even if they are not in routine use. The term includes, but is not limited to, construction practices, siting requirements, vegetative selection and planting requirements, scheduling of activities and design of sedimentation ponds in accordance with this chapter.
Blast—A detonation of explosives.
Blasting—The detontation of explosives.
Bottom rock—The rock stratum upon which a coal seam rests, which is the underclay or seat-earth which stratigraphically underlies the coal seam except in complex geologic settings such as overturned folds. The term is synonymous with the highwall in most anthracite mining operations.
Coal bank—Silt dams, refuse banks, culm banks, waste banks and similar storage areas into which materials including anthracite coal have been deposited by raw coal dumping, coal cleaning, rejection processes and similar procedures during deep mine and surface mine operations from which existing coal products can be extracted and marketed.
Coal preparation activity—An operation in which coal is subject to chemical or physical processing or cleaning, concentrating or other processing or preparation. The term includes a facility associated with the coal preparation activity and the activity by which the land surface has been or is disturbed as a result of or incidental to coal preparation activity of the operator, including, but not limited to, the following:(i) Private ways and roads appurtenant to the area, land excavations and loading facilities.
(ii) Storage and stockpile facilities.
(iii) Sheds, shops and other buildings.
(iv) Water treatment and water storage facilities.
(v) Settling basins and impoundments.
(vi) Areas in which are situated facilities, equipment, machines, tools or other materials or property which result from, or are used in, the coal preparation activity.
Coal processing waste—Earth materials which are separated and wasted from the product coal during cleaning, concentrating or other processing or preparation of coal.
Coal refuse—A waste coal, rock, shale, slurry, culm, gob, boney, slate, clay and related materials, associated with or near a coal seam, which are either brought aboveground or otherwise removed from a coal mine in the process of mining coal or which are separated from coal during the cleaning or preparation operations. The term includes underground development waste, coal processing waste and excess spoil; the term does not mean overburden from surface mining operations.
Combustible material—Material that is capable of burning, either by fire or through oxidation, accompanied by the evolution of heat and a significant temperature rise.
Common use roads—These accessways are existing roadways that normally are utilized by two or more operators, agencies or persons, or both, for access, safety, fire protection and other common purposes.
Compaction—The increase of the density of a material by reducing the voids between the particles and is generally accomplished by controlled placement and mechanical effort such as from repeated application of wheel, track or roller loads from heavy equipment.
Contouring—Reclamation of the land affected to AOC so that it closely resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to mining and blends into and complements the drainage pattern of the surrounding terrain with no highwall, spoil piles or depressions to accumulate water and with adequate provision for drainage; provided, that in the discretion of the Department, diversion structures and impoundments may be constructed on the reclaimed area of the operation if they are part of an approved drainage control plan, meet all applicable requirements of law and do not interfere with the attachment of AOC.
Contour mining—The type of surface mining where the coal is mined along the contour of its outcrop, generally in successive cuts. In anthracite surface mining operations, the term is generally synonymous with modified block-cut mining.
Cropland—Land used for the production of adapted crops for harvest, alone or in rotation with grasses and legumes, including row crops, small grain crops, hay crops, nursery crops, orchard crops and other similar agronomic and horticultural crops. The term does not include land primarily used for pastureland or pastureland occasionally used or cut for hay.
Degree—The inclination from the horizontal.
Disturbed area—An area where vegetation, soil or overburden is removed or upon which soil, spoil, coal processing waste or noncoal waste is placed by surface coal mining activities. Those areas are classified as disturbed until reclamation is complete, and the performance bond or other assurance of performance required by Chapter 86 Subchapter F (relating to bonding and insurance requirements) is released.
Diversion—A channel, embankment or other manmade structure constructed at a controlled slope to divert water from one area to another.
Dry weather flow—The base flow or surface discharge from an area or treatment facility which occurs immediately prior to a precipitation event and which resumes 24 hours after the precipitation event ends.
Embankment—An artificial deposit of material that is raised above the natural surface of the land and used to contain, divert or store water; support roads or railways; or for other similar purposes.
Ephemeral stream—A water conveyance which lacks substrates associated with flowing waters and flows only in direct response to precipitation in the immediate watershed or in response to melting snowpack and which is always above the local water table.
Fugitive dust—That particulate matter not emitted from a duct or stack which becomes airborne due to the forces of wind or surface coal mining activities, or both. During surface coal mining activities, it may include emissions from haul roads; wind erosion of exposed surfaces, storage piles and spoil piles; reclamation operations and other activities in which material is either removed, stored, transported or redistributed.
Ground cover—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.
Groundwater—All subsurface waters of the Commonwealth.
Haul road—Roads that are planned, designed, located, constructed, reconstructed or improved, utilized and maintained for the transportation of equipment, fuel, personnel, coal, spoil and other operating resources from a public road to points within the surface mine or between principal operations on the mine site or both, but not including roads within the pit or on unreclaimed spoil areas. The term includes public roads that are used as an integral part of the coal mining activity.
Highwall—The face of exposed overburden and coal in an open cut of a surface coal mine activity or for entry to underground mining activities. There may be more than one highwall in an anthracite surface mine depending on the geologic structure and the configuration of the open cut. The term includes, but is not limited to, the bottom rock of a coal mine with steeply inclined coal seams.
Historically used for cropland—One of the following:(i) Lands that have been used for cropland for 5 years or more out of the 10 years immediately preceding their acquisition—including purchase, lease or option—for the purpose of conducting or allowing, through resale, lease or option, surface coal mining activities.
(ii) Lands that the Department determines, on the basis of additional cropland history of the surrounding lands and the lands under consideration, that the permit area is clearly cropland but falls outside the specific 5-year-in-10 criterion, in which case, the provisions for prime farmland in this chapter may be applied to include more years of cropland history only to increase the prime farmland acreage to be preserved.
(iii) Lands that have been controlled for purposes other than cropland and that would likely have been used for cropland in any 5 out of the last 10 years if the lands have been acquired 10 or more years ago by a person other than the current owner.
Hydrologic balance—The relationship between the quality and quantity of water inflow to, water outflow from and water storage in a hydrologic unit, such as a drainage basin, aquifer, soil zone, lake or reservoir. It encompasses the dynamic relationships among precipitation, runoff, evaporation and changes in groundwater and surface water storage.
Impoundment—A closed basin, naturally formed or artificially built, which is dammed or excavated for the retention of water, sediment or waste.
Intermittent stream—A body of water flowing in a channel or bed composed primarily of substrates associated with flowing water, which during periods of the year, is below the local water table and obtains its flow from both surface runoff and groundwater discharges.
Land—The surface of the land upon which surface mining is conducted.
Land use—Specific uses or management-related activities, rather than the vegetation or cover of the land. Land uses may be identified in combination when joint or seasonal uses occur. A change of land use from one of the following categories to another shall be considered as a change to an alternative land use which is subject to approval by the Department. The term is further defined as:(i) Cropland. Land used for the production of adapted crops for harvest, alone or in a rotation with grasses and legumes, and includes row crops, small grain crops, hay crops, nursery crops, orchard crops and other similar specialty crops. Land used for facilities in support of cropland farming operations which is adjacent to or an integral part of these operations is also included.
(ii) Pastureland or land occasionally cut for hay. Land used primarily for the long-term production of adopted, domesticated forage plants to be grazed by livestock or occasionally cut and cured for livestock feed. Land used for facilities in support of pastureland or land occasionally cut for hay which is adjacent to or an integral part of these operations is also included.
(iii) Forestland. Land used for the long-term production of wood, wood fiber or wood-derived products; watershed protection or site stabilization and for the production, protection and management of species of fish and wildlife. Land used for facilities in support of forestry and watershed management operations which is adjacent to or an integral part of these operations is also included.
(iv) Commercial forestland. Land used or managed primarily for the long-term production of wood, wood fiber or wood-derived products. Land used for facilities in support of forest harvest and management operations which is adjacent to or an integral part of these operations is also included.
(v) Residential. Includes single- and multiple-family housing, mobile home parks and other residential lodgings. Land used for facilities in support of residential operations which is adjacent to or an integral part of these operations is included. Support facilities include, but are not limited to, vehicle parking and open space that directly relate to the residential use.
(vi) Industrial/commercial. Land used for the following:
(A) Extraction or transformation of materials for fabrication of products. This includes all heavy and light manufacturing facilities such as lumber and wood processing, chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining and fabricated metal products manufacture. Land used for facilities in support of these operations which is adjacent to or an integral part of that operation is also included. Support facilities include, but are not limited to, all rail, road and other transportation facilities.
(B) Retail or trade of goods or services, including hotels, motels, stores, restaurants and other commercial establishments. Land used for facilities in support of commercial operations which is adjacent to or an integral part of these operations is also included. Support facilities include, but are not limited to, parking, storage or shipping facilities.
(vii) Recreation. Land used for developed recreation facilities such as parks, camps and other developed recreational uses.
(viii) Fish and wildlife habitat. Land and water used wholly or partially for the production, protection or management of species of fish or wildlife.
(ix) Developed water resources. Land used for storing water for beneficial uses such as stockponds, irrigation, fire protection, flood control and water supply.
(x) Unmanaged natural habitat. Idle land which does not require a specific management plan after the reclamation and revegetation have been accomplished.
Mine opening blasting—Blasting conducted for the purpose of constructing a shaft, slope, drift or tunnel mine opening for an underground mine, either operating or under development from the surface down to the point where the mine opening connects with the coal seam to be or being extracted.
Modified block-cut mining—The type of surface mining where the mining progresses along the contour or outcrop or strike of the coal seam by extracting successive blocks of overburden and coal. In anthracite surface mining operations, the term is generally synonymous with contour mining. The term may include multiple surface mining pits concurrently operated within the permit area if the total length of all of the pits is less than 1,500 feet, unless a pit length variance is granted by the Department under § 88.115(c)(1) (relating to backfilling and grading: general requirements).
Mulch—Vegetation residue or other suitable materials that are placed on the soil surface to aid in soil stabilization and soil moisture conservation, thus providing microclimatic conditions suitable for seed germination and plant growth.
Noxious plants—Species that have been included on the official Pennsylvania list of noxious plants for the Commonwealth.
Open pit mining—The type of surface mining operation involving one or more of the following:(i) Basin removal operations where the open pit encompasses the entire cross section of a synclinal basin or a significant portion thereof unless the cross section of the synclinal basin is relatively narrow, less than 1,500 feet in width, in which case the operation will be classified as modified block-cut mining upon a demonstration by the operator that the requirements of § 88.115(c)(1) are met.
(ii) Area mining operations.
(iii) Overburden haul back operations.
(iv) Mining operations where multiple seams are being mined concurrently within a single mining phase or multiple mining phases, if the sequence of mining and reclamation operations are controlled by this phase mining plan developed by the coal operator and the timing of backfilling and grading operations is controlled by the backfilling schedule approved by the Department.
Operation and maintenance costs—All costs incurred by the water supply owner or water supply user associated with utilizing that supply for the purposes served. Examples of these costs include electricity, chemicals, treatment system maintenance, public water fees and equipment replacement costs.
Outslope—The face of the spoil or embankment sloping downward from the highest elevation to the toe.
Overburden—The strata or material overlying a coal deposit or in between coal deposits in its natural state and includes material before or after its removal by surface mining.
Perennial stream—A body of water flowing in a channel or bed composed of substrates associated with flowing waters and is capable, in the absence of pollution or other manmade stream disturbances, of supporting a benthic macroinvertebrate community which is composed of two or more recognizable taxonomic groups of organisms which are large enough to be seen by the unaided eye and can be retained by a United States Standard No. 30 sieve (28 meshs per inch, 0.595 millimeter openings) and live at least part of their life cycles within or upon available substrates in a body of water or water transport system.
Permanent diversion—A diversion which is to remain after surface coal mining activities are completed which has been approved for retention by the Department.
Permit area—The land and water within the boundaries of the permit which are designated on the permit application maps, as approved by the Department. This area includes all areas which are or will be affected by the coal mining activities during the term of the permit.
Precipitation event—A quantity of water resulting from drizzle, rain, snow, sleet or hail in a limited period of time. It may be expressed in terms of recurrence interval.
Prime farmland—Lands that are so defined by the United States Secretary of Agriculture in 7 CFR 657.5(a) (relating to identification of important farmlands) and that have been historically used for cropland as that phrase is defined in this section.
Recharge capacity—The ability of the soils and underlying materials to allow precipitation and runoff to infiltrate and reach the zone of saturation.
Reclamation—Actions taken to restore mined land as required by this chapter to a postmining land use approved by the Department.
Recurrence interval—The interval of time in which a precipitation event is expected to occur once, on the average. For example, the 10-year, 24-hour precipitation event is expected to occur on the average once in 10 years.
Road—A surface right-of-way for purposes of travel by land vehicles used in coal exploration or surface coal mining and reclamation operations. A road consists of the entire area within the right-of-way, including the roadbed shoulders, parking and side area, approaches, structures, ditches, surface and such contiguous appendages as are necessary for the total structure. The term includes access and haul roads constructed, used, reconstructed, improved or maintained for use in coal exploration or surface coal mining activities, including use by coal-hauling vehicles leading to transfer, processing or storage areas.
Safety factor—The ratio of the available shear strength to the developed shear stress, or the ratio of the sum of the resisting forces to the sum of the loading or driving forces, as determined by accepted engineering practices.
Sedimentation pond—A primary sediment control structure designed, constructed and maintained and, including, but not limited to, a barrier, dam or excavated depression which detains water runoff to allow sediment to settle out. The term may not include secondary sedimentation control structures, such as straw dikes, riprap, check dams, mulches, dugouts and other measures that reduce overland flow velocity, reduce runoff volume or trap sediment, to the extent that the secondary sedimentation structures drain to a sedimentation pond.
Slope—Average inclination of a surface, measured from the horizontal, generally expressed as the ratio of a unit of vertical distance to a given number of units of horizontal distance, for example, lv:5h. It may also be expressed as a percent or in degrees.
Soil—The best available vegetation-supporting material.
Soil survey—A field classification and laboratory analysis of soils in an area resulting in a map showing the geographic distribution of soils and an accompanying report that describes, classifies and interprets the soils for use. Soil surveys shall meet the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey.
Spoil—Overburden and reject material that has been removed during surface coal mining operations.
Spoil pile—The overburden and reject minerals as piled or deposited in surface mining.
Stabilize—To control movement of soil, spoil piles or areas of disturbed earth by modifying the geometry of the mass, or by otherwise modifying physical or chemical properties, such as by providing a protective surface coating.
Stratum or strata—A section of geologic formation that consists throughout of approximately the same kind of rock material; a stratum may consist of an indefinite number of beds.
Substrates—Inorganic sediments which are 0.05 millimeters in diameter or larger, and include coarse sands, granules, pebbles, cobbles or boulders, based on Wentworth’s Classification.
Surface mining activities—The surface mining of anthracite coal as well as the surface where anthracite coal is or is likely to be uncovered, disturbed or affected in any manner during the mining.
Suspended solids—Expressed as milligrams per liter, means organic or inorganic materials carried or held in suspension in water which are retained by a standard glass fiber filter in the procedure outlined by the EPA’s regulations for wastewater and analyses (40 CFR 136 (relating to guidelines establishing test procedures for the analysis of pollutants)).
Temporary diversion—A diversion of a stream or overland flow which is used during surface coal mining activities and not approved by the Department to remain after reclamation as part of the approved postmining land use.
Terracing—Grading where the steepest contour of the highwall shall not be greater than 35° from the horizontal, with the table portion of the restored area a nearly level plain without depressions to hold water and with adequate provision for drainage, unless otherwise approved by the Department.
Toxic-forming materials—Earth materials or wastes which, if acted upon by air, water, weathering or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical or physical conditions in soils or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of water.
Underground mine pool—An abandoned anthracite underground mine whose workings lie wholly or partially below the normal water table and whose workings have flooded when mining operations ceased.
Water supply—For the purpose of § § 88.27 and 88.107a (relating to alternative water supply information; and hydrologic balance: water rights and replacement), an existing, designated, or currently planned source of water, facility, or system for the supply of water for human consumption or for agricultural, commercial, industrial or other uses. Natural soil moisture utilized by vegetation or crops is not a water supply.
Water supply owner—Landowner or water supply company.
Water table—The upper surface of a zone of saturation where the body or groundwater is not confined by an overlying impermeable zone.
Authority The provisions of this § 88.1 amended under sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § § 1396.4(a) and 1396.4b); section 11 of the Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § 3311); sections 1917-A and 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § § 510-17 and 510-20); section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. § 69.15); section 3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P.S. § 30.53b); and section 7(b) of The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (52 P.S. § 1406.7(b)).
Source The provisions of this § 88.1 adopted December 19, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 4789, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended March 30, 1984, effective August 10, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 2872; amended January 4, 1985, effective immediately upon the approval by the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior and publication thereof in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, 15 Pa.B. 13; amended November 18, 1988, 18 Pa.B. 5155, effective August 25, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 3674; amended June 15, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3383, effective July 27, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 3316; amended April 9, 1993, effective April 10, 1993, 23 Pa.B. 1711; amended June 25, 1993, effective June 26, 1993, 23 Pa.B. 3075; amended May 8, 1998, effective May 9, 1998, 28 Pa.B. 2215; amended May 8, 1998, effective May 9, 1998, 28 Pa.B. 2227; amended August 8, 2008, effective August 9, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 4355; amended March 13, 2020, effective March 14, 2020, 50 Pa.B. 1508; amended June 25, 2021, effective June 26, 2021, 51 Pa.B. 3449. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (400937) to (400947).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 88.503 (relating to applicability).
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