06-096-200 Me. Code R. § 5-23

Current through 2024-51, December 18, 2024

Section 096-200-5-23 - Reclamation

Reclamation shall be completed on all mining areas and, if necessary, any affected areas.

A. A Permittee shall commence and complete reclamation of each mining area and, if necessary, any affected areas, consistent with mining permit conditions and the Department-approved plan.

B. Upon written request of a Permittee, the Department may approve with conditions an extension of time to begin or complete final reclamation.

C. To the extent feasible and practicable and considering changes caused by non-mining activities or other natural events, the Permittee shall reclaim the mining areas and affected areas to the ecological conditions that approximate pre-mining conditions.

D. Contemporaneous reclamation of the mining areas must be conducted consistent with the performance standards of this Chapter.

E. Safe ingress and egress must be provided for people and wildlife to water bodies accessible after reclamation.

F. Structures and equipment not required in meeting the approved mine plan must be dismantled and removed from each mining area.

G. The prevailing hydrologic balance of the affected area must be restored to conditions that approximate baseline conditions.

H. To the extent practical and feasible, intermittent and perennial streams diverted during mining activity must be returned to original channels or, if the original channel has been disturbed or destroyed, to a reconstructed channel having grades, pools (substrate, floodplains), and meanders comparable to baseline conditions.

NOTE: Other or additional standards may apply under the Natural Resources Protection Act to a project located in or adjacent to a protected natural resource. For example, a person who conducts, or causes to be conducted, an activity that involves filling, displacing or exposing soil or other earthen materials may need to take measures to prevent unreasonable erosion of soil or sediment beyond the project site or into a protected natural resource as defined in 38 M.R.S. §480-B.

I. Surface water and stormwater from each mining area and each affected area must be managed to ensure that:

(1) Erosion and sedimentation control practices are in accordance with the Maine Erosion and Sediment Control BMPs;

(2) Water impoundments are removed unless necessary for pollution control or to meet other conditions of the permit; and

(3) Peak stormwater discharge from the area does not exceed baseline conditions.

J. Vegetation appropriate to the approved final post-mining land use must be established.

(1) Introduced, naturalized or nonnative plant species may be used only if they are suitable to the post-mining land use and approved by the Department.

(2) Where establishment of vegetative cover is required by the reclamation plan, the land must be reclaimed with a diverse, self-regenerating, no- or low-maintenance cover of native vegetation that is appropriate to the safety, stability, environmental protection, and natural resource goals of the plan.

(3) Transitional vegetative cover may be used to provide the greatest probability of success in plant establishment considering site conditions as well as slope stability, erosion control, and hydrologic and water quality goals associated with successful establishment of vegetative cover.

K. The Permittee shall create and attach enforceable covenants on each mining area in accordance with the Uniform Environmental Covenant Act at 38 M.R.S. §3001 et seq. as required by the Department. These covenants must limit future use of the mining area such that the goals of this Chapter, the Act, and the mining permit are maintained or enhanced until there is no unreasonable threat to public health and safety or the environment.

L. Following closure and reclamation, the landowner or lessee of a mining area in an unorganized territory may petition the Maine Land Use Planning Commission for rezoning to an appropriate subdistrict designation.

M. All pitwalls and mine openings shall be adequately marked or fenced, and all markers and fencing must be maintained by the Permittee to provide notice to the public of a dangerous condition. The Department may determine, following closure and reclamation of a mining area from which potential sources of contamination have been removed, that the area may no longer be designated as a mining area.

N. Highwalls, or quarry faces, must be treated in such a manner as to leave them in a condition that minimizes the possibility of rock falls, slope failures and collapse. A highwall that is loose must be controlled by the use of blasting or scaling, the use of safety benches, the use of flatter slopes or reduced face heights or the use of benching near the top of the face or rounding the edge of the face.

O. Drill and auger holes, adits, shafts, underground workings, and pits must be permanently secured.

P. All unused fuel, designated chemical materials, and explosives must be removed from the mine site in accordance with applicable rules.

06-096 C.M.R. ch. 200, § 5-23