| (55) Direct financial interest--Ownership or part ownership
by an employee of lands, stocks, bonds, debentures, warrants, partnership
shares, or other holdings and also means any other arrangement where
the employee may benefit from his or her holding in or salary from
coal mining operations. Direct financial interests include employment,
pensions, creditor, real property and other financial relationships.
(56) Director--The Director or Acting Director, Office
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of
the Interior, or the Director's representative.
(57) Disturbed area--An area where vegetation, topsoil,
or overburden is removed or upon which topsoil, spoil, coal processing
waste, underground development waste, or noncoal waste is placed by
surface coal mining operations. Those areas are classified as disturbed
until reclamation is complete and the performance bond or other assurance
of performance required by Subchapter J of this chapter (relating
to Bond and Insurance Requirements for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation
Operations) is released.
(58) Diversion--A channel, embankment, or other manmade
structure constructed to divert water from one area to another.
(59) Division--The Surface Mining and Reclamation Division
of the Railroad Commission of Texas.
(60) Downslope--The land surface between the projected
outcrop of the lowest coal bed being mined along each highwall and
a valley floor.
(61) 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.
(62) Employee--Shall include:
(A) any person employed by the Commission who performs
any function or duty under the Act, including the Commissioners; and
(B) Advisory board or Commission members and consultants
who perform any function or duty under the Act, if they perform decision
making functions for the Commission under the authority of state law
or regulations. However, members of advisory boards or commissions
established in accordance with state law or regulations to represent
multiple interests are not considered to be employees.
(63) Ephemeral stream--A stream which flows only in
direct response to precipitation in the immediate watershed or in
response to the melting of a cover of snow and ice, and which has
a channel bottom that is always above the local water table.
(64) Essential hydrologic functions--The role of an
alluvial valley floor in collecting, storing, regulating, and making
the natural flow of surface or ground water, or both, usefully available
for agricultural activities by reason of the valley floor's topographic
position, the landscape and the physical properties of its underlying
materials. A combination of these functions provides a water supply
during extended periods of low precipitation.
(A) The role of the valley floor in collecting water
includes accumulating runoff and discharge from aquifers in sufficient
amounts to make the water available at the alluvial valley floor greater
than the amount available from direct precipitation.
(B) The role of the alluvial valley floor in storing
water involves limiting the rate of discharge of surface water, holding
moisture in soils, and holding ground water in porous materials.
(C) The role of the alluvial valley floor in regulating:
(i) the natural flow of surface water results from
the characteristic configuration of the channel flood plain and adjacent
low terraces; and
(ii) the natural flow of ground water results from
the properties of the aquifers which control inflow and outflow.
(D) The role of the alluvial valley floor in making
water usefully available for agricultural activities results from
the existence of flood plains and terraces where surface and ground
water can be provided in sufficient quantities to support the growth
of agriculturally useful plants, from the presence of earth materials
suitable for the growth of agriculturally useful plants, from the
temporal and physical distribution of water making it accessible to
plants throughout the critical phases of the growth cycle either by
flood irrigation or by subirrigation, from the natural control of
alluvial valley floors in limiting destructive extremes of stream
discharge, and from the erosional stability of earth materials suitable
for the growth of agriculturally useful plants.
(65) Existing structure--A structure or facility used
in connection with or to facilitate surface coal mining and reclamation
operations for which construction began prior to approval of the state
program.
(66) Experimental practice--The use of alternative
surface coal mining and reclamation operation practices for experimental
or research purposes.
(67) Explosives--Any chemical compound, mixture, or
device by whose decomposition or combustion gas is generated with
such rapidity that it can be used for blasting.
(68) Extraction of coal as an incidental part--The
extraction of coal which is necessary to enable the construction to
be accomplished. For purposes of §12.21 and §12.22 of this
title (relating to Applicability, and to Information to be Maintained
On Site), only that coal extracted from within the right-of-way, in
the case of a road, railroad, utility line or other such construction,
or within the boundaries of the area directly affected by other types
of government-financed construction, may be considered incidental
to that construction. Extraction of coal outside the right-of-way
or boundary of the area directly affected by the construction shall
be subject to the requirements of the Act and this chapter.
(69) Federal Act--The "Surface Mining Control and Reclamation
Act of 1977" (Pub. L. 95-87).
(70) Federal lands--Any land, including mineral interests,
owned by the United States, without regard to how the United States
acquired ownership of the lands or which agency manages the lands.
It does not include Indian lands.
(71) Federal lands program--A program established by
the Secretary, pursuant to Section 523 of the Federal Act, to regulate
surface coal mining and reclamation operations on federal lands.
(72) Flood irrigation--With respect to alluvial valley
floors, supplying water to plants by natural overflow or the diversion
of flows, so that the irrigated surface is largely covered by a sheet
of water.
(73) Flyrock--Rock or other blasted material that is
propelled from a blast through the air or along the ground.
(74) Fragile lands--Areas containing natural, ecologic,
scientific or esthetic resources that could be significantly damaged
by surface coal mining operations. Examples of fragile lands include
valuable habitats for fish or wildlife, critical habitats for endangered
or threatened species of animals or plants, uncommon geologic formations,
paleontological sites, National Natural Landmarks, areas where mining
may result in flooding, environmental corridors containing a concentration
of ecologic and esthetic features, and areas of recreational value
due to high environmental quality.
(75) 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 and reclamation operations or both. During
surface coal mining and reclamation operations, 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.
(76) Fund--The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund established
pursuant to Section 401 of the Federal Act.
(77) General area--With respect to hydrology, the topographic
and ground-water basin surrounding a permit area which is of sufficient
size, including areal extent and depth, to include one or more watersheds
containing perennial streams and ground-water zones and to allow assessment
of the probable cumulative impacts on the quality and quantity of
surface- and ground-water systems in the basins.
(78) Government financing agency--A federal, state,
county, municipal, or local unit of government, or a department, bureau,
agency or office of the unit which, directly or through another unit
of government, finances construction.
(79) Government-financed construction--Construction
funded 50% or more by funds appropriated from a government financing
agency's budget or obtained from general revenue bonds, but shall
not mean government financing agency guarantees, insurance, loans,
funds obtained through industrial revenue bonds or their equivalent,
or in-kind payments.
(80) 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.
Cont'd... |
