CMM Environmental Reclamation Standards 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under SMCRA's permit application requirements, what must a baseline 'premining hydrologic information' study document?
- Projected water consumption rates for all mine equipment and processes
- Existing surface and groundwater quality, quantity, and flow regimes before disturbance (Correct answer)
- Historical flood frequencies and 100-year floodplain boundaries only
- Water rights ownership records for all adjacent landowners
Correct answer: Existing surface and groundwater quality, quantity, and flow regimes before disturbance
Premining hydrologic information must document existing surface water and groundwater quality, quantity, and seasonal flow patterns to establish a baseline for impact evaluation and reclamation planning.
Question 2: What is the primary environmental concern with 'highwalls' left after surface coal mining, and how does SMCRA address them?
- Highwalls cause excessive shading that prevents vegetation; SMCRA requires painting them white
- Highwalls represent unreclaimed slopes and safety hazards; SMCRA generally requires their elimination through backfilling (Correct answer)
- Highwalls erode and create sediment loads; SMCRA requires annual slope stability inspections
- Highwalls contain exposed coal seams; SMCRA requires all coal to be extracted before reclamation
Correct answer: Highwalls represent unreclaimed slopes and safety hazards; SMCRA generally requires their elimination through backfilling
SMCRA generally requires that highwalls be eliminated by backfilling excavated spoil material to restore the approximate original contour and eliminate unstable, unreclaimed slopes.
Question 3: A mineral manager evaluating reclamation success must understand that 'ground cover' measurements differ from 'vegetative cover' measurements because:
- Ground cover includes living plants only, while vegetative cover includes both plants and litter
- Ground cover includes all surface materials (litter, rock, plants), while vegetative cover refers specifically to living plant cover (Correct answer)
- Ground cover is measured only in the first growing season, while vegetative cover is measured at bond release
- There is no regulatory distinction; both terms refer to total living plant coverage
Correct answer: Ground cover includes all surface materials (litter, rock, plants), while vegetative cover refers specifically to living plant cover
Ground cover includes all materials covering the soil surface (living plants, litter, rocks, and mulch), while vegetative cover refers specifically to the percentage covered by living plants.
Question 4: Under 30 CFR Part 817 (underground mining), what reclamation requirement applies to subsidence-affected surface structures?
- Operators must prevent any measurable subsidence from occurring above underground mines
- Operators must promptly repair or compensate for subsidence damage to structures and water supplies (Correct answer)
- Operators must purchase all surface land above mining areas before mining begins
- Operators must install surface dewatering systems to counteract ground movement
Correct answer: Operators must promptly repair or compensate for subsidence damage to structures and water supplies
SMCRA requires operators to promptly repair or compensate for subsidence damage to non-commercial buildings and occupied residential structures, and to replace or restore damaged water supplies.
Question 5: What reclamation requirement applies specifically to coal mine refuse (gob) piles or slurry impoundments?
- They must be moved off-site to licensed solid waste disposal facilities
- They must be compacted, contoured, revegetated, and stabilized to prevent erosion and AMD (Correct answer)
- They are exempt from reclamation requirements if they contain less than 20% coal content
- They must be capped with six inches of topsoil and seeded within 30 days of closure
Correct answer: They must be compacted, contoured, revegetated, and stabilized to prevent erosion and AMD
Coal refuse disposal areas must be reclaimed by grading to stable configurations, covering with topsoil or approved substitute, and revegetating to control erosion and prevent AMD formation.
Question 6: What is the 'revegetation success standard' in areas with less than 26 inches of average annual precipitation under SMCRA?
- Cover must equal 70% of the reference area within three years of seeding
- The liability period is extended to 10 years with productivity measured at year 10
- A 10-year liability period applies and success is measured by ground cover and productivity (Correct answer)
- Artificial irrigation must be used to compensate for the precipitation deficit
Correct answer: A 10-year liability period applies and success is measured by ground cover and productivity
In areas receiving less than 26 inches of annual precipitation, a 10-year revegetation liability period applies, requiring demonstration of ground cover and productivity success at that longer interval.
Question 7: Under state primacy programs approved under SMCRA, what must a state's regulatory program be 'no less stringent than' to receive approval?
- The environmental standards established by the EPA under the Clean Air Act
- The federal SMCRA requirements and federal regulations promulgated by OSMRE (Correct answer)
- The most stringent requirements of any adjacent state's approved program
- The environmental protection standards of the National Environmental Policy Act
Correct answer: The federal SMCRA requirements and federal regulations promulgated by OSMRE
State programs must be no less stringent than SMCRA and the federal regulations promulgated by OSMRE; states may adopt more stringent requirements but not weaker ones.
CMM Environmental Reclamation Standards 5
Under SMCRA's permit application requirements, what must a baseline 'premining hydrologic information' study document?