Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 11, June 11, 2024
Section 20.6.7.7 - DEFINITIONSA. Terms defined in the Water Quality Act and 20.6.2.7 NMAC shall have the meanings as given in such.B. A term defined in this part shall have the following meaning.(1) "Acid mine drainage" means water that is discharged from an area affected by mining exploration, mining, or reclamation, with a pH of less than 5.5 and in which total acidity exceeds total alkalinity as defined by the latest edition of standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater.(2) "Additional conditions" means conditions and requirements included in a discharge permit pursuant to Subsection D of Section 74-6-5 NMSA 1978 that are based on site specific circumstances and that are in addition to those imposed in the rules of the commission.(3) "Applicable standards" means the standards set forth in 20.6.2.3103 NMAC; the background concentration approved by the department; or, any alternative abatement standard approved by the commission pursuant to Subsection F of 20.6.2.4103 NMAC.(4) "Applicant" means the person applying for a new, renewed, modified, or amended discharge permit.(5) "Area of open pit hydrologic containment" means, for an open pit that intercepts the water table, the area where ground water drains to the open pit and is removed by evaporation or pumping, and is interior to the department approved monitoring well network installed around the perimeter of an open pit pursuant to Paragraph (4) of Subsection B of 20.6.7.28 NMAC and also limited to the area of disturbance authorized by a discharge permit.(6) "As-built drawings" means engineering drawings which portray units as constructed.(7) "Background" means the concentration of water contaminants naturally occurring from undisturbed geologic sources of water contaminants.(8) "Below-grade tank" means a tank including sumps where a portion of the tank's side walls is below the surrounding ground surface elevation. A below-grade tank does not include an above ground tank that is located at or above the surrounding ground surface elevation and is surrounded by berms.(9) "Closure" means all activities that are required pursuant to 20.6.7.33 NMAC through 20.6.7.35 NMAC and an approved discharge permit to monitor, minimize, control, mitigate, prevent or abate water pollution associated with a copper mine facility after operations at the copper mine facility, or at an individual unit within the copper mine facility, have ceased.(10) "Construction quality assurance" or "CQA" means a planned system of activities necessary to ensure that standards and procedures are adhered to and that construction and installation meet design criteria, plans and specifications. A CQA includes inspections, verifications, audits, evaluations of material and workmanship necessary to determine and document the quality of the constructed impoundment or structure, and corrective actions when necessary.(11) "Construction quality control" or "CQC" means a planned system of operational techniques and activities used to preserve the quality of materials and ensure construction to specifications. Elements of a CQC include inspections, testing, data collection, data analysis and appropriate corrective actions.(12) "CQA/CQC report" means a report that summarizes all inspection, testing, data collection, data analysis and any corrective actions completed as part of CQA or CQC for a project.(13) "Copper mine facility" means all areas within which copper mining and its related activities that may discharge water contaminants occurs and where the discharge will or does take place including, but not limited to open pits; waste rock piles; ore stockpiles; leaching operations; solution extraction and electrowinning plants; ore crushing, ore milling, ore concentrators; tailings impoundments; smelters; pipeline systems, tanks or impoundments used to convey or store process water, tailings or impacted stormwater; and truck or equipment washing units.(14) "Copper mine rule" means 20.6.7 NMAC, as amended.(15) "Cover system" means any engineered or constructed system designed as a source control measure to minimize to the maximum extent practicable the ingress of water or oxygen into a waste rock pile, leach stockpile or tailing material. A cover system may be comprised of a monolithic layer of, or any combination of, earthen materials, synthetic materials, vegetation, and amendments.(16) "Critical structure" means earthen or rock structures or embankments (such as an outslope of a rock stockpile), that are likely to cause an exceedance of applicable groundwater standards or undue risk to property in the event of a significant unexpected slope movement.(17) "Date of postal notice" means the date when the United States postal service first makes notice to the applicant or permittee of its possession of certified mail addressed to the applicant or permittee.(18) "Discharge" means spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, or dumping of a water contaminant in a location and manner where there is a reasonable probability that the water contaminant may reach ground water.(19) "Discharge permit amendment" means a minor modification of a discharge permit that does not result in a significant change in the location of a discharge, an increase in daily discharge volume of greater than 10% of the original daily discharge volume approved in an existing discharge permit for an individual discharge location, a significant increase in the concentration of water contaminants discharged, or introduction of a new water contaminant discharged.(20) "Discharge volume" means the volume of discharged process water, impacted stormwater or tailings measured at a specific point at the copper mine facility over a specified period of time.(21) "Existing copper mine facility" means a copper mine facility operating under an approved discharge permit as of the effective date of the copper mine rule. Existing copper mine facility includes a copper mine covered under an approved discharge permit as of the effective date of the copper mine rule that is on standby status in accordance with mining and minerals division rules.(22) "Existing impoundment" means an impoundment that is currently receiving or has ever received process water or collected impacted stormwater and that has not been closed pursuant to a discharge permit.(23) "Expiration" means the date upon which the term of a discharge permit ends.(24) "Factor of safety" means, for slope stability purposes, the ratio of the resisting forces to the driving forces.(25) "Final CQA report" means a report prepared by the CQA officer that includes as-built drawings and a detailed description of the installation methods and procedures that document that the work was conducted as designed.(26) "Flow meter" means a measuring device or structure used to measure the volume of water, process water, tailings or stormwater that passes a particular reference section in a unit of time.(27) "Freeboard" means the vertical distance between the elevation at the lowest point of the top inside edge of the impoundment and the design high water elevation of the water level in the impoundment.(28) "Highway" means any public road operated and maintained by the local, county, state or federal government.(29) "Impacted stormwater" means direct precipitation and runoff that comes into contact with water contaminants within a copper mine facility which causes the stormwater to exceed one or more of the standards of 20.6.2.3103 NMAC and includes overflow from a primary process solution impoundment or other collection system resulting from a precipitation event.(30) "Impoundment" means any structure designed and used for storage or containment of mine process water, or impacted stormwater, or used for solids settling, excluding a tailings impoundment. A process water or stormwater transfer sump or a tank, below-grade tank, drum or pit bottom is not an impoundment.(31) "Interbench slope" means the outslope surface between terrace benches or between a terrace bench and any engineered conveyance system (i.e., a system to divert runoff).(32) "Large copper mine facility" means a copper mine facility that has disturbed or is proposing to disturb an area of 1500 acres or greater.(33) "Leach stockpile" means stockpiles of ore and all other rock piles associated with mining disturbances that have been leached, are currently being leached or have been placed in a pile for the purpose of being leached.(34) "Liner system" means an engineered system required by the copper mine rule for the containment, management or storage of process water, leach stockpile material, waste rock, tailings or other materials that have the potential to generate water contaminants including all constructed elements of the system and may include the subgrade, liner bedding, leak detection systems, synthetic liners, earthen liners, overliners, solution collection systems, anchor trenches, and berms, or other system elements, as applicable.(35) "Maximum daily discharge volume" means the total daily volume of process water (expressed in gallons per day) or tailings (expressed in tons per day) authorized for discharge by a discharge permit.(36) "Medium copper mine facility" means a copper mine facility that has disturbed or is proposing to disturb an area of a minimum of 500 acres but less than 1500 acres.(37) "Mining and minerals division" means the mining and minerals division of the New Mexico energy, minerals, and natural resources department.(38) "Mining Act" means the New Mexico Mining Act, Sections 69-36-1 through 69-36-20, NMSA 1978.(39) "New copper mine facility" means a copper mine facility that is not operating under an approved discharge permit as of the effective date of the copper mine rule.(40) "Non-impacted stormwater" means stormwater run-off generated as a result of direct precipitation at a copper mine facility that does not exceed the standards of 20.6.2.3103 NMAC.(41) "Open pit" means the area within which ore and waste rock are exposed and removed by surface mining.(42) "Open pit surface drainage area" means the area in which storm water drains into an open pit and cannot feasibly be diverted by gravity outside the pit perimeter, and the underlying ground water is hydrologically contained by pumping or evaporation of water from the open pit.(43) "Operator" means the person or persons responsible for the overall operations of a copper mine facility.(44) "Outslope" means the sloped perimeter of waste rock piles, leach stockpiles and tailings impoundments.(45) "Owner" means the person or persons who own all or part of a copper mine facility.(46) "Permittee" means a person who is issued or receives by transfer a discharge permit for a copper mine facility, the holder of an expired discharge permit, or, in the absence of a discharge permit, a person who makes or controls a discharge at a copper mine facility.(47) "Pipeline corridor" means a constructed pathway that contains concentrate, tailing or process water pipelines, associated spill containment structures, the pipeline subgrade and access roads.(48) "Pipeline system" means one or more pipelines and associated structures used to transport process water, concentrate, slurry, tailing or impacted stormwater.(49) "PLS" means pregnant leach solution that is generated from leaching ore or rock stockpiles.(50) "Process water" means any water containing water contaminants in excess of the standards of 20.6.2.3103 NMAC that is generated, managed or used within a copper mine facility including raffinate; PLS; leachate collected from waste rock stockpiles, leach stockpiles, and tailings impoundments; tailings decant water; pit dewatering water; intercepted ground water, laboratory or other waste discharges containing water contaminants; and domestic wastes mixed with process water.(51) "Seepage" means leachate that is discharged from a waste rock stockpile or tailing impoundment and emerges above or at the ground surface or that is present in the vadose zone and may be captured prior to entering ground water.(52) "Slag" means a partially vitreous by-product of the process of smelting ore.(53) "Slope angle" means the horizontal run distance divided by the vertical rise, measured along the steepest gradient of the interbench slope's physical surface (for example, a 2.5:1 slope refers to 2.5 horizontal and 1 vertical).(54) "Small copper mine facility" means a copper mine facility that has disturbed or is proposing to disturb less than 500 acres and that does not contain tailings impoundments or leach stockpiles.(55) "Spillway" means a structure used for controlled releases from a stormwater or process water impoundment, in a manner that protects the structural integrity of the impoundment.(56) "Stormwater" means all direct precipitation and runoff generated within a copper mine facility from a storm event.(57) "Surface water(s) of the state" means all surface waters as defined in 20.6.4.7 NMAC.(58) "SX/EW" means solution extraction and electrowinning.(59) "Tailings" means finely crushed and ground rock residue and associated fluids discharged from an ore milling, flotation beneficiation and concentrating process.(60) "Tailings impoundment" means an impoundment that is the final repository of tailings.(61) "Unauthorized discharge" means a release of process water, tailings, leachate or seepage from individual copper mine facility components, impacted stormwater or other substances containing water contaminants not approved by a discharge permit.(62) "Underground mine" means the below-surface mine workings within which ore and waste rock are removed.(63) "Unit" means a component of a mining operation including but not limited to processing, leaching, excavation, storage, stockpile or waste units.(64) "Variance" means a commission order establishing requirements for a copper mine facility or a portion of a copper mine facility that are different than the requirements in the copper mine rule.(65) "Waste rock" means all material excavated from a copper mine facility that is not ore or clean top soil.20.6.7.7 NMAC - N, 12/1/13