Section 312 IAC 25-4-99 - Special categories of mining; experimental practices miningAuthority: IC 14-34-2-1
Affected: IC 14-34
Sec. 99.
(a) Experimental practices provide a variance from environmental protection performance standards of IC 14-34 and 312 IAC 25-6-1 through 312 IAC 25-6-148 for experimental or research purposes or allow an alternative postmining land use and may be undertaken if they are approved by the director and the director of the Office of Surface Mining and if they are incorporated in a permit or permit revision issued in accordance with the requirements of 312 IAC 25-6-1 through 312 IAC 25-6-148.(b) An application for an experimental practice shall contain descriptions, maps, plans, and data that show the following:(1) The nature of the experimental practice, including the following: (A) A description of the performance standards for which variances are requested.(B) The duration of the experimental practice.(C) Any special monitoring that will be conducted.(2) How use of the experimental practice encourages advances in mining and reclamation technology or allows a postmining land use for industrial, commercial, residential, or public use (including recreational facilities) on an experimental basis.(3) That the experimental practice: (A) is potentially more, or at least as, environmentally protective during and after mining operations as would otherwise be required by standards under 312 IAC 25-6-1 through 312 IAC 25-6-148; and(B) will not reduce the protection afforded public health and safety below that provided by the requirements of 312 IAC 25-6-1 through 312 IAC 25-6-148.(4) That the applicant will conduct monitoring of the effects of the experimental practice. The monitoring program shall ensure the collection, analysis, and reporting of reliable data that are sufficient to enable the director and the director of the Office of Surface Mining to: (A) evaluate the effectiveness of the experimental practice; and(B) identify, at the earliest possible time, potential risk to the environment and public health and safety that may be caused by the experimental practice during and after mining.(c) Applications for experimental practices shall comply with the public notice requirements of sections 109 through 113 of this rule.(d) No application for an experimental practice under this section shall be approved until the director first finds the following in writing, and the director of the Office of Surface Mining then concurs: (1) The experimental practice encourages either of the following: (A) Advances in mining and reclamation technology.(B) Allows a postmining land use for industrial, commercial, residential, or public use (including recreational facilities) on an experimental basis.(2) The experimental practice is potentially more, or at least as, environmentally protective, during and after mining operations, as would otherwise be required by standards under 312 IAC 25-6-1 through 312 IAC 25-6-148.(3) The mining operations approved for a particular land use or other purpose are not larger or more numerous than necessary to determine the effectiveness and economic feasibility of the experimental practice.(4) The experimental practice does not reduce the protection afforded public health and safety below that provided by standards under 312 IAC 25-6-1 through 312 IAC 25-6-148.(e) Experimental practices granting variances from the special environmental protection performance standards of IC 14-34-10 through IC 14-34-11 applicable to prime farmland shall be approved only after consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service.(f) Each person undertaking an experimental practice shall conduct the periodic monitoring, recording, and reporting program set forth in the application and shall satisfy such additional requirements as the director or the director of the Office of Surface Mining may impose to ensure protection of the public health and safety and the environment.(g) Each experimental practice shall be reviewed by the director at a frequency set forth in the approved permit, but no less frequently than every two and one-half (2½) years. After review, the director may require such reasonable modifications of the experimental practice as are necessary to ensure that the activities fully protect the environment and the public health and safety. Copies of the decision of the director shall be sent to the permittee and shall be subject to the provisions for administrative and judicial review of sections 122 through 123 of this rule.(h) Revisions or modifications to an experimental practice shall be processed in accordance with the requirements of section 127 of this rule and approved by the director. Any revisions that propose significant alterations in the experimental practice shall, at a minimum, be subject to the following: (1) The notice, hearing, and public participation requirements of sections 109 through 113 of this rule.(2) Concurrence by the director of the Office of Surface Mining; however, revisions that do not propose significant alterations in the experimental practice shall not require concurrence by the director of the Office of Surface Mining.Natural Resources Commission; 312 IAC 25-4-99; filed Jun 21, 2001, 2:53 p.m.: 24 IR 3479, eff Dec 1, 2001; errata filed Nov 20, 2001, 11:55 a.m.: 25 IR 1182; readopted filed May 29, 2007, 9:51 a.m.: 20070613-IR-312070146RFA; readopted filed Sep 19, 2013, 10:12 a.m.: 20131016-IR-312130125RFAReadopted filed 3/26/2019, 3:40 p.m.: 20190424-IR-312190011RFA