Okla. Stat. tit. 45, § 45-742.2

As used in this act:

1. "Acid drainage" means water with a pH of less than 6.0

Standard Units and in which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity,

discharged from active, inactive, or abandoned mines and from areas

affected by surface coal mining and reclamation operations.

2. "Acid-forming materials" means earth materials that contain

sulfide minerals or other materials which, if exposed to air, water,

or weathering processes, will result in the formation of acids that

may create acid drainage.

3. "Adjacent area" means land located outside the affected

area, permit area, or mine plan area, depending on the context in

which "adjacent area" is used, where air, surface or ground water,

fish, wildlife, vegetation or other resources protected by this act

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may be adversely impacted by surface coal mining and reclamation

operations.

4. "Affected area" means, with respect to surface mining

activities, any land or water upon or in which those activities are

conducted or located. With respect to underground mining

activities, "affected area" means any water or surface land upon or

in which those activities are conducted or located, and land or

water which is located above underground mine workings.

5. "Approximate original contour" means that surface

configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined areas

so that the reclaimed area, including any terracing or access roads,

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 all highwalls, spoil piles and coal

refuse piles eliminated. Water impoundments may be permitted where

the regulatory authority determines that they are in compliance with

Section 745.18 of this title and applicable rules and regulations.

6. "Aquifer" means a zone, stratum, or group of strata confined

or unconfined, including perched conditions, that can store and

transmit water in sufficient quantities for a specific use.

7. "Auger mining" means a method of mining coal at a cliff or

highwall by drilling holes laterally into an exposed coal seam from

the highwall and transporting the coal along an auger bit to the

surface.

8. "Box cut" means the first open cut in strip mining which

results in the placing of overburden on unmined land adjacent to the

initial pit and outside the area to be mined.

9. "Coal exploration" means the gathering of surface or

subsurface geologic, physical, or chemical data by mapping,

trenching, drilling, geophysical or other techniques necessary to

determine the quality and quantity of overburden and coal of an area

and the gathering of environmental data to establish the conditions

of the area beginning before surface coal mining and reclamation

operations.

10. "Coal processing plant" means a collection of facilities

where run-of-the-mine coal is prepared for market by chemical or

physical processing, and separated from its impurities. The

processing plant may consist of, but not be limited to, the

following support facilities: loading facilities; storage and

stockpile facilities; shed, shops and other buildings; water

treatment and water storage facilities; settling basins and

impoundments; coal processing and other waste disposal areas; roads,

railroads and other transport facilities; and utilities.

11. "Consolidated material" means material of sufficient

hardness or ability to resist weathering and to inhibit erosion or

sloughing.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 45. Mines and Mining Page 65

12. "Department" means the office of the Chief Mine Inspector,

including all employees, agents, deputies, and representatives of

the Department, herein called the Department of Mines and Mining, or

such department, bureau or commission as may lawfully succeed to the

powers and duties of such department, having primary responsibility
ing.

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12. "Department" means the office of the Chief Mine Inspector,

including all employees, agents, deputies, and representatives of

the Department, herein called the Department of Mines and Mining, or

such department, bureau or commission as may lawfully succeed to the

powers and duties of such department, having primary responsibility

for administering all titles of the Surface Mining Law.

13. "Director" means the Chief Mine Inspector of the State of

Oklahoma or such officer, bureau or commission as may lawfully

succeed to the powers and duties of such Chief Mine Inspector or

such employee, agent, deputy or representative of the Chief Mine

Inspector as shall be designated by the Chief Mine Inspector to

perform any actions required by this act.

14. "Disturbed area" means an area where vegetation, topsoil,

or overburden is removed by surface coal mining operations or upon

which topsoil, spoil, coal processing waste or noncoal waste is

placed. Those areas are "disturbed" until reclamation of those

areas is complete and the bond or other assurance of performance is

released.

15. "Diversion" means a channel, embankment, or other manmade

structure constructed for the purpose of diverting the flow of water

from one area to another:

a. Permanent diversion means a diversion remaining after

surface coal mining and reclamation are completed and

which has been approved for retention by the

Department and other appropriate state and federal

agencies,

b. Temporary diversion means a diversion which is used

during coal exploration or surface coal mining and

reclamation operations, and not approved by the

Department to remain after reclamation as part of the

approved postmining land use.

16. "Ephemeral stream" means a stream which flows only in

direct response to precipitation in the immediate watershed or in

response to the melting of snow and ice, and which has a channel

bottom that is always above the local water table.

17. "Ground water" means subsurface water that fills available

openings in rock or soil materials such that they may be considered

water-saturated.

18. "Head-of-hollow fill" means a fill structure consisting of

any material, other than coal processing waste and organic material,

placed in the uppermost reaches of a hollow where side slopes of the

existing hollow measured at the steepest point are greater than

twenty (20) degrees or the average slope of the profile of the

hollow from the toe of the fill to the top of the fill is greater

than ten (10) degrees. In fills with less than two hundred fifty

thousand (250,000) cubic yards of material, associated with contour

mining, the top surface of the fill will be at the elevation of the

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coal seam. In all other head-of-hollow fills, the top surface of

the fill, when completed, is at approximately the same elevation as

the adjacent ridge line, and no significant area of natural drainage

occurs above the fill draining into the fill area.

19. "Highwall" means the face of exposed overburden and coal in

an open cut of a surface or for entry to an underground coal mine.

20. "Hydrologic balance" means the relationship between the

quality and quantity of inflow to, outflow from and storage in a

hydrologic unit such as a drainage basin, aquifer, soil zone, lake,

or reservoir. It encompasses the quantity and quality relationships

between precipitation, runoff, evaporation, and the change in ground

and surface water storage.

21. "Hydrologic regime" means the entire state of water

movement in a given area. It is a function of the climate, and

includes the phenomena by which water first occurs as atmospheric

water vapor, passes into a liquid or solid form and falls as

precipitation, moves along or into the ground surface, and returns

to the atmosphere as vapor by means of evaporation and

transpiration.
r storage.

21. "Hydrologic regime" means the entire state of water

movement in a given area. It is a function of the climate, and

includes the phenomena by which water first occurs as atmospheric

water vapor, passes into a liquid or solid form and falls as

precipitation, moves along or into the ground surface, and returns

to the atmosphere as vapor by means of evaporation and

transpiration.

22. "Imminent danger to the health and safety of the public"

means the existence of any condition or practice, or any violation

of a permit or other requirements of this act in a surface coal

mining and reclamation operation, which condition, practice, or

violation could reasonably be expected to cause substantial physical

harm to persons outside the permit area before such condition,

practice, or violation can be abated. A reasonable expectation of

death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational

person, subjected to the same condition or practice giving rise to

the peril, would not expose oneself to the danger during the time

necessary for abatement.

23. "Impoundment" means a closed basin, naturally formed or

artificially built, which is dammed or excavated for the retention

of water, sediment, or waste.

24. "In situ processes" means activities conducted on the

surface or underground in connection with in-place distillation,

retorting, leaching, or other chemical or physical processing of

coal, to include, but not be limited to, in situ gasification, in

situ leaching, slurry mining, solution mining, bore hole mining and

fluid recovery mining.

25. "Intermittent stream" means a stream or reach of a stream

that drains a watershed of at least one (1) square mile, or a stream

or reach of a stream that is below the local water table for at

least some part of the year, and obtains its flow from both surface

runoff and ground water discharge.

26. "Operator" means any person, partnership, firm or

corporation engaged in coal mining who removes or intends to remove

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more than two hundred fifty (250) tons from the earth within twelve

(12) consecutive months in any one location.

27. "Other minerals" means clay, stone, sand, gravel,

metalliferous and nonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid

material or substances of commercial value excavated in solid form

from natural deposits on or in the earth, exclusive of coal and

those minerals which occur naturally in liquid or gaseous form.

28. "Overburden" means all of the earth and other materials,

excluding topsoil, which lie above natural deposits of coal and

other minerals, and also means such earth and other materials

disturbed from their natural state in the process of surface mining.

29. "Peak" means an upward projecting point of overburden

created in the surface mining process.

30. "Perennial stream" means a stream or part of a stream that

flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a result of

groundwater discharge or surface runoff.

31. "Performance bond" means the indemnity instrument in a sum

certain, supported by a surety's guarantee, pledge of collateral or

other acceptable contractual guarantee, by which the permit

applicant assures faithful performance of all the applicable permit

requirements of this act and the rules and regulations promulgated

thereunder.

32. "Permit" means a permit to conduct surface coal mining and

reclamation operations issued by the Department pursuant to state

law.

33. "Permit area" means the area, including all natural and

human resources, included within the boundaries specified in a

permit, whether or not the areas will be impacted by surface coal

mining and reclamation operations, which are designated on the

approved maps submitted by the applicant with his permit application

and covered by the performance and reclamation bonds as required.

34. "Permittee" means a person holding a "permit" to conduct
al and

human resources, included within the boundaries specified in a

permit, whether or not the areas will be impacted by surface coal

mining and reclamation operations, which are designated on the

approved maps submitted by the applicant with his permit application

and covered by the performance and reclamation bonds as required.

34. "Permittee" means a person holding a "permit" to conduct

surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the

Department pursuant to state law.

35. "Pit" means a tract of land from which overburden or

minerals have been or are being removed in the process of surface

mining.

36. "Prime farmland" means lands which meet the criteria of the

Department, which shall prescribe criteria at least as stringent as

criteria prescribed by the United States Secretary of Agriculture on

the basis of such factors as moisture availability, temperature

regime, chemical balance, permeability, surface layer composition,

susceptibility to flooding, and erosion characteristics, and which

historically have been used for intensive agricultural purposes.

37. "Reclamation" means, through the process of backfilling,

regrading, topsoil replacement, reutilization, and revegetation

activities, the bringing back of land to its approximate original

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contours and configuration, and resulting in an equal or better land

use category, and shall be consistent with the existing surrounding

environment.

38. "Reference areas" means land units of varying size and

shape identified and maintained under appropriate management for the

purpose of measuring ground cover, productivity and species

diversity that are produced naturally or by crop production methods

approved by the Department. Reference areas must be representative

of geology, soils, slope, aspect and vegetation in the permit area.

39. "Refuse" means all waste material directly connected with

the production, cleaning or preparation of coal or other minerals

which have been mined by either underground or surface mining

method.

40. "Regulatory authority" means the Department of Mines and

Mining.

41. "Ridge" means a lengthened elevation of overburden created

in the surface mining process.

42. "Significant, imminent environmental harm to land, air or

water resources" is determined as follows:

a. An environmental harm is any adverse impact on land,

air, or water resources, including but not limited to,

plant and animal life,

b. An environmental harm is imminent if a condition,

practice or violation exists which:

(1) is causing such harm or,

(2) may reasonably be expected to cause such harm at

any time before the end of the reasonable

abatement time that would be set under Section

775 of this title,

c. An environmental harm is significant if that harm is

appreciable and not immediately reparable.

43. "Slope" means average inclination of a surface, measured

from the horizontal; normally expressed as a unit of vertical

distance to a given number of units of horizontal distance (e.g.,

one unit vertical (1v) to five units horizontal (5h) = 11.3

degrees).

44. "Soil horizons" means contrasting layers of soil lying one

below the other, parallel or near parallel to the land surface.

Soil horizons are differentiated on the basis of field

characteristics and laboratory data. The three (3) major soil

horizons are:

a. "A horizon". The uppermost layer in the soil profile

often called the surface soil. It is the part of the

soil in which organic matter is most abundant and

where leaching of soluble or suspended particles is

the greatest,

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b. "B horizon". The layer immediately beneath the A

horizon and often called the subsoil. This middle

layer commonly contains more clay, iron or aluminum

than the A or C horizons, and

c. "C horizon". The deepest layer of the soil profile.
anic matter is most abundant and

where leaching of soluble or suspended particles is

the greatest,

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b. "B horizon". The layer immediately beneath the A

horizon and often called the subsoil. This middle

layer commonly contains more clay, iron or aluminum

than the A or C horizons, and

c. "C horizon". The deepest layer of the soil profile.

It consists of loose material or weathered rock that

is relatively unaffected by biologic activity.

45. "Spoil" means displaced overburden.

46. "Strip mining" means those mining operations carried out by

removing the overburden lying above natural deposits of coal and

other minerals, and mining directly from such natural deposits

thereby exposed, but excludes auger mining, quarrying, dredging,

pumping or the use of hydraulic methods.

47. "Substantially disturb" means, for purposes of coal

exploration, to significantly impact upon land, air or water

resources by such activities as blasting, mechanical excavation of

land, drilling or altering coal or water exploratory holes or wells,

construction or creation of roads and other access routes, and the

placement of structures, excavated earth or other debris upon the

surface of land.

48. "Surface coal mining and reclamation operations" means

surface mining operations and all activities necessary and incident

to the reclamation of such operations.

49. "Surface coal mining operations" means:

a. Activities conducted on the surface of lands in

connection with a surface coal mine or surface

operations and surface impacts incident to an

underground coal mine. Such activities include

excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal,

including such common methods as contour, strip,

auger, mountaintop removal, box cut, open pit, and

area mining, the uses of explosives and blasting, in

situ distillation or retorting, leaching or other

chemical or physical processing, and the cleaning,

concentrating, or other processing or preparation,

loading of coal at or near the mine site. Such

activities do not include the extraction of coal

incidental to the extraction of other minerals where

coal does not exceed sixteen and two-thirds percent

(16 2/3%) of the tonnage of minerals removed for the

purposes of commercial use or sale or coal

exploration, subject to Section 745.11 of this title,

and

b. The areas upon which such activities occur or where

such activities disturb the natural land surface.

Such areas shall also include any adjacent land, the

use of which is incidental to any such activities, all

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lands affected by the construction of new roads or

improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to

the site of such activities and for haulage and

excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, ventilation

shafts, entryways, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles,

overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings,

holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas,

processing areas, shipping areas and other areas upon

which are sited structures, facilities, or other

property or materials on the surface, resulting from

or incident to such activities.

50. "Surface water" means water, either flowing or standing, on

the surface of the earth.

51. "Topsoil" means the "A" soil horizon, which is the

uppermost layer of the three (3) major soil horizons.

52. "Underground mining activities" means a combination of:

a. Surface operations incident to underground extraction

of coal or in situ processing, such as construction,

use, maintenance, and reclamation of roads, above-

ground repair areas, storage areas, processing areas,

shipping areas, areas upon which are sited support

facilities including hoist and ventilating ducts,

areas utilized for the disposal and storage of waste,

and areas on which materials incident to underground

mining operations are placed, and
l or in situ processing, such as construction,

use, maintenance, and reclamation of roads, above-

ground repair areas, storage areas, processing areas,

shipping areas, areas upon which are sited support

facilities including hoist and ventilating ducts,

areas utilized for the disposal and storage of waste,

and areas on which materials incident to underground

mining operations are placed, and

b. Underground operations such as underground

construction, operation, and reclamation of shafts,

adits, underground support facilities, in situ

processing, and underground mining, hauling, storage,

and blasting, and

c. The areas in which activities enumerated above occur

or where such activities disturb the natural land

surface.

53. "Unwarranted failure to comply" means the failure of a

permittee to prevent the occurrence of any violation of his permit

or any requirement of this act due to indifference, lack of

diligence, or lack of reasonable care, or the failure to abate any

violation of such permit or the act due to indifference, lack of

diligence, or lack of reasonable care.

54. "Water table" means the upper surface of a zone of

saturation, where the body of ground water is not confined by an

overlying impermeable zone.