As used in this article 32, unless the context
otherwise requires:
(1) Acid or toxic producing materials means natural or reworked earth
materials having acid or toxic chemical and physical characteristics.
(1.5) Affected land means the surface of an area within the state where a
mining operation is being or will be conducted, which surface is disturbed as a
result of such operation. Affected lands include but shall not be limited to private
ways, roads, except those roads excluded pursuant to this subsection (1.5), and
railroad lines appurtenant to any such area; land excavations; prospecting sites;
drill sites or workings; refuse banks or spoil piles; evaporation or settling ponds;
leaching dumps; placer areas; tailings ponds or dumps; work, parking, storage, or
waste discharge areas; and areas in which structures, facilities, equipment,
machines, tools, or other materials or property which result from or are used in such
operations are situated. All lands shall be excluded that would be otherwise
included as land affected but which have been reclaimed in accordance with an
approved plan or otherwise, as may be approved by the board. Affected land shall
not include off-site roads which existed prior to the date on which notice was given
or permit application was made to the office and which were constructed for
purposes unrelated to the proposed mining operation and which will not be
substantially upgraded to support the mining operation or off-site groundwater
monitoring wells.
(2) Board means the mined land reclamation board established by section
34-32-105.
(2.5) CERCLA means the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. sec. 9601 et seq.
(3) Department means the department of natural resources or such
department, commission, or agency as may lawfully succeed to the powers and
duties of such department.
(3.5) (a) Designated mining operation means a mining operation at which:
(I) Toxic or acidic chemicals used in extractive metallurgical processing are
present on site;
(II) Acid- or toxic-forming materials will be exposed or disturbed as a result
of mining operations; or
(III) Uranium is developed or extracted, either by in situ leach mining or by
conventional underground or open mining techniques. A uranium mining operation
may seek an exemption from designated mining operation status in accordance
with section 34-32-112.5 (2).
(b) The various types of designated mining operations are identified in
section 34-32-112.5. Except as provided in subparagraph (III) of paragraph (a) of this
subsection (3.5), such mining operations exclude operations that do not use toxic or
acidic chemicals in processing for purposes of extractive metallurgy and that will
not cause acid mine drainage.
(4) Development means the work performed in relation to a deposit,
following the prospecting required to prove minerals are in existence in commercial
quantities but prior to production activities, aimed at, but not limited to, preparing
the site for mining, defining further the ore deposit by drilling or other means,
conducting pilot plant operations, constructing roads or ancillary facilities, and
other related activities.
(4.5) Director means the director of the division of reclamation, mining, and
safety or such officer as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such
director.
(4.7) Division means the division of reclamation, mining, and safety or such
agency as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of such division.
(4.9) Environmental protection plan means a plan submitted by a
designated mining operation for approval as part of the operator's or applicant's
permit for such operation pursuant to rules promulgated by the board for
protection of human health or property or the environment in conformance with the
duties of operators as prescribed by this article.
(5) Executive director means the executive director of the department of
natural resources or such officer as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties
of such executive director.
(5.5) Financial warranty means a warranty of the type described in section
34-32-117 (3) and (4).
(5.7) In situ leach mining means in situ mining for uranium through the in-place dissolution of mineral components of an ore deposit by causing a chemical
leaching solution, usually aqueous, to penetrate or to be pumped down wells
through the ore body and then removing the mineral-containing solution for
development or extraction of the mineral values.
(5.8) In situ mining means the in-place development or extraction of a
mineral by means other than open mining or underground mining.
(5.9) Legacy mine means a mine where pre-law mining operations have
occurred or the mining operations have been abandoned, and no bond or other
financial assurance or reclamation responsibility covering the reclamation of the
land affected by the mining operations exists.
(6) (a) Life of the mine means that a permit granted pursuant to section 34-32-110 or 34-32-115 may continue in effect as long as:
(I) An operator continues to engage in the extraction of minerals and
complies with the provisions of this article;
(II) Mineral reserves are shown by the operator to remain in the mining
operation and the operator plans to, or does, temporarily cease production for one
hundred eighty days or more if he files a notice thereof with the board stating the
reasons for nonproduction, a plan for the resumption thereof, and the measures
taken to comply with reclamation and other necessary activities as established by
the board to maintain the mine in a nonproducing state. The requirement of a notice
of temporary cessation shall not apply to operators who resume operating within
one year and have included, in their permit applications, a statement that the
affected lands are to be used for less than one hundred eighty days per year.
(III) Production is resumed within five years of the date production ended, or
the operator files a report requesting an extension of the period of temporary
cessation of production with the board stating the reasons for the continuation of
nonproduction and those factors necessary to, and his plans for, resumption of
production. In no case shall temporary cessation of production be continued for
more than ten years without terminating the operation and fully complying with the
reclamation requirements of this article.
(IV) The board does not take action to declare termination of the life of the
mine, which action shall require a sixty-day notice to the operator alleging a
violation of, or that inadequate reasons are provided in an operator's report under
subparagraph (I), (II), or (III) of this paragraph (a). In such cases, the board shall
provide a reasonable opportunity for the operator to meet with the board to present
the full case and further provide reasonable time for the operator to bring violations
into compliance.
(b) Life of the mine includes that period of time after cessation of
production necessary to complete reclamation of disturbed lands as required by
the board and this article, until such time as the board releases, in writing, the
operator from further reclamation obligations regarding the affected land, declares
the operation terminated, and releases all applicable performance and financial
warranties.
(7) Mineral means an inanimate constituent of the earth in a solid, liquid, or
gaseous state which, when extracted from the earth, is useable in its natural form
or is capable of conversion into a useable form as a metal, a metallic compound, a
chemical, an energy source, or a raw material for manufacturing or construction
material. For the purposes of this article, this definition does not include coal,
surface or subsurface water, geothermal resources, or natural oil and gas together
with other chemicals recovered therewith, but does include oil shale.
(8) Mining operation means the development or extraction of a mineral
from its natural occurrences or within refuse on affected land. Mining operation
includes, but is not limited to, open mining, in situ mining, in situ leach mining,
surface operations, and the disposal of refuse from underground mining, in situ
mining, and in situ leach mining. Mining operation also includes the following
operations on affected lands: Transportation, concentrating, milling, evaporation,
removal of waste piles and refuse, and other processing. Mining operation does
not include: The exploration and extraction of natural petroleum in a liquid or
gaseous state by means of wells or pipe; the development or extraction of coal; the
extraction of geothermal resources; smelting, refining, cleaning, preparation,
transportation, and other off-site operations not conducted on affected land; or the
extraction of construction material where there is no development or extraction of
any mineral.
(8.5) Office means the office of mined land reclamation, created in section
34-32-105.
(9) Open mining means the mining of minerals by removing the overburden
lying above such deposits and mining directly from the deposits thereby exposed.
The term includes mining directly from such deposits where there is no overburden.
The term includes, but is not limited to, such practices as open cut mining, open pit
mining, strip mining, quarrying, and dredging.
(10) Operator means any person, firm, partnership, association, or
corporation, or any department, division, or agency of federal, state, county, or
municipal government engaged in or controlling a mining operation.
(11) Overburden means all of the earth and other materials which lie above
natural minerals and also means such earth and other materials disturbed from
their natural state in the process of mining.
(11.5) Performance warranty means a warranty of the type described in
section 34-32-117 (2).
(12) Prospecting means the act of searching for or investigating a mineral
deposit. Prospecting includes, but is not limited to, sinking shafts, tunneling,
drilling core and bore holes and digging pits or cuts and other works for the
purpose of extracting samples prior to commencement of development or
extraction operations, and the building of roads, access ways, and other facilities
related to such work. The term does not include those activities which cause no or
very little surface disturbance, such as airborne surveys and photographs, use of
instruments or devices which are hand carried or otherwise transported over the
surface to make magnetic, radioactive, or other tests and measurements, boundary
or claim surveying, location work, or other work which causes no greater land
disturbance than is caused by ordinary lawful use of the land by persons not
prospecting. The term also does not include any single activity which results in the
disturbance of a single block of land totaling one thousand six hundred square feet
or less of the land's surface, not to exceed two such disturbances per acre; except
that the cumulative total of such disturbances will not exceed five acres statewide
in any prospecting operation extending over twenty-four consecutive months.
(13) Reclamation means the employment during and after a mining
operation of procedures reasonably designed to minimize as much as practicable
the disruption from the mining operation and to provide for the establishment of
plant cover, stabilization of soil, the protection of water resources, or other
measures appropriate to the subsequent beneficial use of such affected lands.
Reclamation shall be conducted in accordance with the performance standards of
this article.
(14) Refuse means all waste material directly connected with the cleaning
and preparation of substances mined by a mining operation.