By: Hegar S.B. No. 1295
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the mining and reclamation of certain land previously
  affected by surface coal mining operations.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 134.004, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended by adding Subdivision (15-a) to read as follows:
               (15-a)  "Previously mined land" means land that:
                     (A)  was affected by surface coal mining
  operations occurring before August 3, 1977; and
                     (B)  has not been reclaimed in accordance with
  this chapter.
         SECTION 2.  Section 134.069, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b), the commission
  may not deny an applicant's permit application based on a previous
  violation by the applicant that occurred in connection with a
  surface coal mining operation conducted on previously mined land if
  the violation resulted from an event or condition that was not
  contemplated in the permit for the surface coal mining operation.
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 134.092, Natural
  Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Performance standards for surface coal mining and
  reclamation operations shall require an operator:
               (1)  to conduct surface coal mining operations to
  maximize the use and conservation of the solid fuel resource being
  recovered so that reaffecting the land in the future through
  surface coal mining can be minimized;
               (2)  to restore the land affected to a condition
  capable of supporting the uses that it could support before mining
  or reasonably likely higher or better uses if:
                     (A)  the uses do not present an actual or probable
  hazard to public health or safety or pose an actual or probable
  threat of water diminution or pollution; and
                     (B)  the permit applicant's declared proposed
  land use following reclamation:
                           (i)  is not considered impractical or
  unreasonable;
                           (ii)  is not inconsistent with applicable
  land use policies and plans;
                           (iii)  does not involve unreasonable delay
  in implementation; and
                           (iv)  does not violate federal, state, or
  local law;
               (3)  except as provided by Sections 134.093(b),
  134.094(b), and 134.107, to backfill, compact where advisable to
  ensure stability or to prevent leaching of toxic materials, and
  grade to restore the approximate original contour of the land with
  all highwalls, spoil piles, and depressions eliminated, unless
  small depressions are needed to retain moisture to assist
  revegetation or as otherwise authorized under this chapter;
               (4)  to stabilize and protect the surface areas,
  including spoil piles affected by the surface coal mining and
  reclamation operation, for effective control of erosion and
  attendant air and water pollution;
               (5)  to remove the topsoil from the land in a separate
  layer and replace it on the backfill area or, if the topsoil is not
  used immediately, to segregate it in a separate pile from other
  spoil;
               (6)  to restore the topsoil or the best available
  subsoil that is best able to support vegetation;
               (7)  for prime farmland to be mined and reclaimed, at a
  minimum:
                     (A)  to segregate the A horizon of the natural
  soil, unless it can be shown that other available soil materials
  will create a final soil having a greater productive capacity, and,
  if this material is not used immediately, to stockpile it
  separately from other spoil and provide needed protection from wind
  and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic
  materials;
                     (B)  to segregate the B horizon of the natural
  soil, underlying C horizons or other strata, or a combination of
  those horizons or other strata that are shown to be texturally and
  chemically suitable for plant growth and that can be shown to be
  equally or more favorable for plant growth than the B horizon, in
  sufficient quantities to create in the regraded final soil a root
  zone of a depth and quality comparable to that which existed in the
  natural soil and, if this material is not used immediately, to
  stockpile it separately from other spoil and provide needed
  protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other
  acid or toxic material;
                     (C)  to replace and regrade the root zone material
  described by Subdivision (7)(B) with proper compaction and uniform
  depth over the regraded spoil material; and
                     (D)  to redistribute and grade uniformly the
  surface soil horizon described by Subdivision (7)(A);
               (8)  to create a permanent impoundment of water on a
  mining site as part of a reclamation activity if:
                     (A)  the approved mining and reclamation plan and
  permit authorize impoundment; and
                     (B)  it is adequately demonstrated that:
                           (i)  the size of the impoundment is adequate
  for its intended purposes;
                           (ii)  the impoundment dam construction will
  be designed to achieve necessary stability with an adequate margin
  of safety compatible with that of structures constructed under the
  Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. Section
  1001 et seq.);
                           (iii)  the quality of impounded water will
  be permanently suitable for its intended use;
                           (iv)  discharges from the impoundment will
  not degrade the water quality in the receiving stream below water
  quality standards established under applicable federal and state
  law;
                           (v)  the water level will be reasonably
  stable;
                           (vi)  final grading will provide adequate
  safety and access for proposed water users; and
                           (vii)  the impoundment will not reduce the
  quality or quantity of water used by adjacent or surrounding
  landowners for agricultural, industrial, recreational, or domestic
  uses;
               (9)  to conduct any augering operation associated with
  surface mining so as to maximize recoverability of coal reserves
  remaining after the operation and reclamation are complete and to
  seal the auger holes with an impervious and noncombustible material
  to prevent drainage unless the commission determines that the
  resulting impoundment of water in the auger holes may create a
  hazard to the environment or the public health or safety;
               (10)  to minimize disturbances to the prevailing
  hydrologic balance at the mine site in associated offsite areas and
  to the quality and quantity of water in surface-water systems and
  groundwater systems both during and after surface coal mining
  operations and during reclamation by:
                     (A)  avoiding acid or other toxic mine drainage by
  measures including:
                           (i)  preventing water from contacting or
  removing water from contact with toxic-producing deposits;
                           (ii)  treating drainage to reduce toxic
  content that adversely affects downstream water when the drainage
  is released to a watercourse; or
                           (iii)  casing, sealing, or otherwise
  managing boreholes, shafts, and wells and keeping acid or other
  toxic drainage from entering surface water and groundwater;
                     (B)  conducting surface coal mining operations
  to:
                           (i)  prevent, to the extent possible using
  the best technology currently available, additional contributions
  of suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit
  area; and
                           (ii)  prevent those contributions from
  exceeding requirements set by applicable state or federal law;
                     (C)  constructing any siltation structures under
  Paragraph (B) before beginning surface coal mining operations;
                     (D)  cleaning out and removing temporary or large
  settling ponds or other siltation structures from drainways after
  disturbed areas are revegetated and stabilized and depositing the
  silt and debris at a site and in a manner approved by the
  commission;
                     (E)  restoring the recharge capacity of the mined
  area to approximate premining conditions;
                     (F)  avoiding channel deepening or enlargement in
  operations requiring the discharge of water from a mine;
                     (G)  preserving throughout the mining and
  reclamation process the essential hydrologic functions of alluvial
  valley floors in the arid and semiarid areas of the country; and
                     (H)  performing other actions the commission
  prescribes;
               (11)  with respect to surface disposal of mine wastes,
  tailings, coal processing wastes, and other wastes in areas other
  than the mine workings or excavations:
                     (A)  to stabilize the waste piles in designated
  areas through construction in compacted layers including the use of
  incombustible and impervious materials, if necessary; and
                     (B)  to assure that the final contour of the waste
  pile will be compatible with natural surroundings and that the site
  can and will be stabilized and revegetated according to this
  chapter;
               (12)  to refrain from surface coal mining within 500
  feet of an active or abandoned underground mine to prevent a
  breakthrough and to protect the health or safety of miners;
               (13)  to design, locate, construct, operate, maintain,
  enlarge, modify, and remove or abandon, in accordance with the
  standards developed under commission rule, existing and new coal
  mine waste piles used temporarily or permanently as dams or
  embankments;
               (14)  to ensure that debris, acid-forming materials,
  toxic materials, or materials constituting a fire hazard are
  treated, buried and compacted, or otherwise disposed of in a manner
  designed to prevent contamination of surface water or groundwater
  and that contingency plans are developed to prevent sustained
  combustion;
               (15)  to ensure that explosives are used in accordance
  with state and federal law, including commission rules;
               (16)  to ensure that reclamation efforts proceed in an
  environmentally sound manner and as contemporaneously as
  practicable with the surface coal mining operations;
               (17)  to ensure that the construction, maintenance, and
  postmining conditions of access roads into and across the site of
  operations will control or prevent:
                     (A)  erosion and siltation;
                     (B)  water pollution; and
                     (C)  damage to:
                           (i)  fish or wildlife or their habitat; or
                           (ii)  public or private property;
               (18)  to refrain from constructing roads or other
  access ways up a stream bed or drainage channel or so near the
  channel as to seriously alter the normal flow of water;
               (19)  to establish on regraded areas and other affected
  land a diverse, effective, and permanent vegetative cover:
                     (A)  of the seasonal variety native to the area of
  land to be affected;
                     (B)  capable of self-regeneration and plant
  succession; and
                     (C)  at least equal in extent of cover to the
  natural vegetation of the area;
               (20)  to assume responsibility for successful
  revegetation as required by Subdivision (19) for:
                     (A)  five years after the last year of augmented
  seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure
  compliance with that subdivision, if the land is not previously
  mined land; or
                     (B)  two years after the last year of augmented
  seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure
  compliance with that subdivision, if the land is previously mined
  land [subsection];
               (21)  to protect off-site areas from slides or damage
  occurring during the surface coal mining and reclamation operations
  and to refrain from depositing spoil material or locating any part
  of the operations or waste accumulations outside the permit area;
               (22)  to place the excess spoil material resulting from
  surface coal mining and reclamation activities in accordance with
  Section 134.106;
               (23)  to meet other standards necessary to achieve
  reclamation in accordance with the purposes of this chapter,
  considering the physical, climatological, and other
  characteristics of the site;
               (24)  to the extent possible, using the best technology
  currently available, to minimize disturbance and adverse impacts of
  the operation on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values
  and to enhance those resources where practicable; and
               (25)  to provide an undisturbed natural barrier
  beginning at the elevation of the lowest coal seam to be mined and
  extending from the outslope for the distance the commission
  determines shall be retained in place as a barrier to slides and
  erosion.
         SECTION 4.  Section 134.104, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 134.104.  RESPONSIBILITY FOR REVEGETATION: AREA OF LOW
  PRECIPITATION. Notwithstanding Section 134.092(a)(20), in areas
  or regions of the state where the annual average precipitation is 26
  inches or less, an operator's assumption of responsibility and
  liability extends for:
               (1)  10 years after the last year of augmented seeding,
  fertilizing, irrigation, or other work, if the land is not
  previously mined land; or
               (2)  five years after the last year of augmented
  seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work, if the land is
  previously mined land.
         SECTION 5.  Subsection (a), Section 134.105, Natural
  Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The applicable [five-year or 10-year] period of
  responsibility for revegetation begins on the date of initial
  planting for long-term intensive agricultural postmining land use
  if the commission approves a long-term intensive agricultural
  postmining land use.
         SECTION 6.  Subsection (c), Section 134.069, Natural
  Resources Code, as added by this Act, applies to a permit
  application that is filed with the Railroad Commission of Texas on
  or after the effective date of this Act or that is pending as of the
  effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2011.