As used in this subchapter, the following words defined in the Act, §131.004, shall have the definitions therein set forth and as they may be hereafter severally amended. For convenience in reference, such definitions are as follows. (1) Affected land or land affected-- (A) The area from which any materials are to be or have been displaced in a surface mining operation. (B) The area on which any materials so displaced are to be or have been deposited. (C) The haul roads and impoundment basins within the surface mining area. (D) Other land whose natural state has been or will be disturbed as a result of the surface mining operations. (2) Approximate original contour--That surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading of the surface-mined area so that it resembles the 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 depressions eliminated, although the new contour may subsequently be at a moderately lower or higher elevation than existed prior to the surface mining operation. (3) Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas. (4) Exploration activity--The disturbance of the surface or subsurface for the purpose of or related to determining the location, quantity, or quality of a mineral deposit. (5) Minerals--Uranium and uranium ore. (6) Operator--The individual or entity, including any public or governmental agency, that is to engage or that is engaged in a surface mining operation, including any individual or entity whose permit has expired or been suspended or revoked. (7) Overburden--All materials displaced in a mining operation which are not, or will not be, removed from the affected area. (8) Party to the administrative proceedings--Any person who has participated in a public hearing or filed a valid petition or timely objection pursuant to any provision of the Act; a party to the administrative proceedings may or may not be a party as defined in the APA. (9) Permit area--All the area designated as such in the permit application and shall include all land affected by the surface mining operations during the term of the permit and may include any contiguous area that the operator proposes to surface mine after that time. (10) Person--An individual, partnership, society, joint-stock company, firm, company, corporation, business organization, governmental agency, or any organization or association of citizens. (11) Reclamation--The process of restoring an area affected by a surface mining operation to its original or other substantially beneficial condition, considering past and possible future uses of the area and the surrounding topography. (12) Surface mining--The mining of minerals by removing the overburden lying above the natural deposit of minerals and mining directly from the natural deposits that are exposed and those aspects of underground mining having significant effects on the surface; provided, this definition shall not be construed to include in situ mining activities associated with the removal of uranium or uranium ore. (13) Surface mining operation--Those activities conducted at or near the mining site and concomitant with the surface mining, including extraction, storage, processing, and shipping of minerals, and reclamation of the land affected. (14) Surface mining permit--The written certification by the commission that the named operator may conduct the surface mining operations described in the certification during the term of the surface mining permit and in the manner established in the certification. A surface mining permit does not include: (A) a discharge permit issued by the Commission pursuant to the Act; or (B) an exploration permit issued by the Commission pursuant to this subchapter (relating to Substantive Rules-Uranium Exploration and Surface Mining). (15) Topsoil--The unconsolidated mineral matter naturally present on the surface of the earth which has been subjected to and influenced by genetic and environmental factors of parent material, climate, macroorganisms and microorganisms, and topography, all acting over a period of time, and which is necessary for the growth and regeneration of vegetation on the surface of the earth. (16) Toxic material--Any substance present in sufficient concentration or amount to cause injury or illness to plant, animal, or human life. |
| Source Note: The provisions of this §11.81 adopted to be effective March 24, 1976, 1 TexReg 502; amended to be effective October 31, 1980, 5 TexReg 4175; amended to be effective March 29, 1982, 7 TexReg 1106; amended to be effective November 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 9724 |
