Section 69-05.2-26-05 - Performance standards - Prime farmland - Revegetation and restoration of productivity The following revegetation requirements must be met for areas being returned to prime farmland after mining:
1. Following soil replacement, the operator shall establish a vegetative cover capable of stabilizing the soil surface. All revegetation must comply with the plan approved by the commission and be carried out in a manner that encourages prompt vegetative cover and recovery of productive capacity. The timing and mulching provisions of sections 69-05.2-22-04 and 69-05.2-22-05 must be met. 2. Measurement of success in prime farmland revegetation will be determined in accordance with section 69-05.2-22-07. 3. Prime farmland productivity must be restored in accordance with the following: a. Measurement of productivity must be initiated within ten years after completion of soil replacement. b. Productivity must be measured on a representative sample or on all of the mined and reclaimed prime farmland area using the crop determined under subdivision f. The permittee shall use a statistically valid sampling technique approved by the commission. Approved techniques are found in the commission's Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessments. c. The measurement period for determining average annual crop production is specified in subdivision c of subsection 3 of section 69-05.2-22-07. d. The level of management applied during the measurement period must be the same as that used on nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area. e. Restoration of prime farmland productivity will be considered achieved when the average yield equals or exceeds that of the crop established on nonmined prime farmland soils in the surrounding areas. The soil series, texture, and slope of the nonmined prime farmlands must be the same or similar to the prime farmlands that were mined and management practices must be equivalent. f. The crop on which restoration of productivity is proven must be selected from the crops most commonly produced on the surrounding prime farmland. Where row crops are the dominant crops grown on prime farmland in the area, the row crop requiring the greatest rooting depth must be used as one of the crops. g. Crop yields for the same or similar nonmined prime farmland soils during a given crop season must be determined by methods contained in Standards for Evaluation of Revegetation Success and Recommended Procedures for Pre- and Postmining Vegetation Assessment or other methods approved by the commission and the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement. h. If a reclaimed tract contains a mixture of prime and nonprime farmlands, the commission may approve a single yield standard for the entire tract as allowed under subdivision l of subsection 4 of section 69-05.2-22-07. N.D. Admin Code 69-05.2-26-05
Effective August 1, 1980; amended effective May 1, 1990; May 1,1992; June 1, 1997; May 1, 2001.General Authority: NDCC 38-14.1-03
Law Implemented: NDCC 38-14.1-24