Part Definitions. [Contingent Effective Date, See Compiler's notes.]

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Mines and Mining
  4. Strip and Open Pit Mines
  5. Primacy and Reclamation Act of Tennessee [Contingent Effective Date, See Compiler's notes.]
  6. Part Definitions. [Contingent Effective Date, See Compiler's notes.]

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As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

  1. “Affected area”:
    1. Means any land or water surface area that is used to facilitate, or is physically altered by, coal surface mining and reclamation operations; and
    2. Includes:
      1. The disturbed area;
      2. Any area upon which coal surface mining and reclamation operations are conducted;
      3. Any adjacent lands, the use of which is incidental to coal surface mining and reclamation operations;
      4. All areas covered by new or existing roads used to gain access to, or for hauling coal to or from, coal surface mining and reclamation operations, unless the road is a maintained public road;
      5. Any area covered by surface 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, or shipping areas;
      6. Any areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property or materials on the surface resulting from, or incidental to, coal surface mining and reclamation operations; and
      7. The area located above underground workings;
  2. “Approximate original contour” means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the mined area 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 and spoil piles eliminated;
  3. “Board” means the Tennessee board of energy and natural resources, established by § 69-3-104;
  4. “Commerce” means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several states or between a state and any other place outside it, or between points in the same state which directly or indirectly affect interstate commerce;
  5. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of environment and conservation or the commissioner's designee;
  6. “Department” means the department of environment and conservation;
  7. “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 requirement of this part 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 the condition, practice, or violation could be abated. A reasonable expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational person, subjected to the same conditions or practices giving rise to the peril, would not expose himself or herself to the danger during the time necessary for abatement;
  8. “Locality” means the county where all or the majority of a surface coal mining and reclamation operation is located;
  9. “Office” means the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement, established by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. § 1201, et seq.);
  10. “Operator” means any person, partnership, or corporation engaged in surface coal mining who removes or intends to remove more than two hundred fifty (250) tons of coal from the earth by surface coal mining within twelve (12) consecutive months in any one (1) location;
  11. “Permit” means a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the commissioner;
  12. “Permit applicant” or “applicant” means a person applying for a permit;
  13. “Permit area” means the area of land indicated on the approved map submitted by the permit applicant with the applicant's application, which area of land is covered by the operator's bond as required by this part;
  14. “Permittee” means a person holding a permit;
  15. “Person”:
    1. Means an individual, partnership, association, society, governmental agency or entity, joint stock company, firm, company, corporation, or other business organization; and
    2. Does not mean the board, department, and their officials and employees acting in their official capacity;
  16. “Prime farmland” has the same meaning as that previously prescribed by the 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; which historically has been used for intensive agricultural purposes; and as published in 7 CFR 657.5;
  17. “Reclamation plan” means a plan submitted by an applicant for a permit under § 59-8-109, that sets forth a plan for reclamation of the proposed surface coal mining and reclamation operations;
  18. “Secretary” means the secretary of the interior;
  19. “Spoil bank” means the overburden as it is piled or deposited in the process of mining;
  20. “Surface coal mining and reclamation operations” means surface coal mining operations and all activities necessary and incidental to the reclamation of surface coal mining operations occurring on and after the effective date of this part [see the Compiler's Notes];
  21. “Surface coal mining operations” means:
      1. (a)  Activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine; or
      2. The activities:

Surface operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine that are subject to §59-8-111;

  1. Include excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal, including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, cross ridge, box cut, open pit, and area mining; the uses of explosives and blasting; and in situ distillation or retorting, leaching, or other chemical or physical processing; and the cleaning, concentrating, or other processing or preparation, loading of coal for interstate commerce at or near the mine site; and
  2. 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 purposes of commercial use or sale or coal explorations subject to § 59-8-105; and

The areas upon which the activities described in subdivision (21)(A) occur or where the activities disturb the natural land surface. “Areas” include:

Any adjacent land, the use of which is incidental to any of the activities described in subdivision (21)(A);

All lands affected by the construction of new roads or the improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to the site of any of the activities described in subdivision (21)(A) and for haulage; however, maintained public roads are not “areas”; 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 any of the activities described in subdivision (21)(A); and

“Unwarranted failure to comply” means the failure of a person, operator, or permittee to prevent the occurrence of any violation of a permit or any requirement of this part due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care, or the failure to abate any violation of a permit or this part due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care.


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