Requirements for the Disposal of Coal Processing Waste

PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the requirements for disposal of coal processing waste pursuant to sections 444.810, 444.855.2(13) and (22) and 444.860.2(5), RSMo. Editor’s Note: The secretary of state has determined that the publication of this rule in its entirety would be unduly cumbersome or expensive. The entire text of the rule has been filed with the secretary of state. AASHTO T99-74 is incorporated by reference as it exists on the date of adoption of this rule. The entire text of this rule may be found at the headquarters of the agency and is available to any interested person at a cost established by state law. (1) General Requirements. (A) All coal processing waste disposed of in an area other than the mine workings or excavations shall be hauled or conveyed and placed for final placement in new or existing disposal areas approved in the permit and plan for this purpose. These areas shall be within a permit area. The disposal area shall be designed, constructed and maintained— 1. In accordance with 10 CSR 403.060(1) and (2) and sections (1)–(7) of this rule; and 2. To prevent combustion. (B) Coal processing waste materials from activities located outside a permit area, such as those activities at other mines or abandoned mine waste piles, may be disposed of in the permit area only if approved in the permit and plan. Approval shall be based on a showing by the person who conducts surface mining activities in the permit area, using hydrologic, geotechnical, physical and chemical analysis, that disposal of these materials does not— 1. Adversely affect water quality, water flow or vegetation; 2. Create public health hazards; or 3. Cause instability in the disposal areas. (C) Refuse piles shall meet the requirements of 10 CSR 40-3.080, 30 CFR 77.214 and 30 CFR 77.215. (2) Site Inspection. (A) All coal processing waste banks shall be inspected, on behalf of the person conducting surface mining activities, by a qualified registered professional engineer or other qualified professional specialist under the direction of the professional engineer approved in the permit and plan. The professional engineer or specialist shall be experienced in the construction of similar earth and waste structures. 1. Inspections shall occur at least quarterly, beginning within seven (7) days after preparation of the disposal area begins. The permit and plan may require more frequent inspections based upon an evaluation of the potential danger to the health or safety of the public and the potential harm to land, air and water resources. Inspections may terminate when the coal processing waste bank has been graded, covered in accordance with section (4) of this rule, topsoil has been distributed on the bank in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.030(4), or at a later time as the permit and plan may require. 2. Inspections shall include observations and tests as may be necessary to evaluate the potential hazard to human life and property, to ensure that all organic material and topsoil have been removed and that proper construction and maintenance are occurring in accordance with the plan submitted under 10 CSR 40-6.050(11) and approved in the permit and plan. 3. The engineer or other approved inspector shall consider steepness of slopes, seepage and other visible factors which could indicate potential failure, and the results of failure with respect to the threat to human life and property. 4. The certified report on the drainage system and protective filters shall include color photographs taken during and after construction, but before underdrains are covered with coal mine waste. If the underdrain system is constructed in phases, each phase shall be certified separately. The photographs accompanying each certified report shall be taken in adequate size and number with enough terrain or other physical features of the site shown to provide a relative scale to the photographs and to specifically and clearly identify the site. 5. Copies of the inspection findings shall be maintained at the mine site. (B) If any inspection discloses that a potential hazard exists, the director shall be promptly informed of the finding and of the emergency procedures formulated for public protection and remedial action. If adequate procedures cannot be formulated or implemented, the director shall be notified immediately. The director shall then notify the appropriate emergency agencies that other emergency procedures are required to protect the public from the coal processing waste area. (3) Water Control Measures. (A) Unless the operator satisfactorily demonstrates to the director that a subdrainage system is not required to ensure the structural integrity of a coal processing waste bank and the protection of the surface water and groundwater quality in the immediate vicinity of the disposal area, a properly designed subdrainage system shall be provided, which shall— 1. Intercept all groundwater sources; 2. Be protected by an adequate filter; and 3. Be covered so as to protect against the entrance of surface water or leachate from the coal processing waste. (B) All surface drainage from the area above the coal processing waste bank and from the crest and face of the waste disposal area shall be diverted, in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.060(2)(D). (C) Slope protection shall be provided to minimize surface erosion at the site. All disturbed areas, including diversion ditches that are not riprapped, shall be vegetated upon completion of construction. (D) All water discharged from a coal processing waste bank shall comply with 10 CSR 40-3.040(1), (2), (5), (6) and (16). (4) Construction Requirements. (A) The disposal facility shall be designed using current, prudent engineering practices and shall meet any design criteria established by the director. A qualified registered professional engineer experienced in the design of similar earth and waste structures shall certify the design of the disposal facilities. (B) Coal processing waste banks shall be constructed in compliance with 10 CSR 403.060(1) and (2), except to the extent that the requirements of those sections are covered in this section. (C) Coal processing waste banks shall have a minimum static safety factor of one and five tenths (1.5). (D) Compaction requirements during construction or modification of all coal processing waste banks shall meet the requirements of this subsection, instead of those specified in 10 CSR 40-3.060(2)(C). The coal processing waste shall be— 1. Spread in layers no more than twentyfour inches (24") in thickness; and 2. Compacted to attain ninety percent (90%) of the maximum dry density to prevent spontaneous combustion and to provide the strength required for stability of the coal processing waste bank. Dry densities shall be determined in accordance with the American Association of State Highway and Trans - portation Officials (AASHTO) Specifications T99-74 (Twelfth Edition) (July 1978) or an equivalent method; (E) Following grading of the coal processing waste bank, the site shall be covered with a minimum of four feet (4') of the best available nontoxic and noncombustible material, in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.030(2)(E), and in a manner that does not impede flow from subdrainage systems. The coal processing waste bank shall be revegetated in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.120(1)–(7). The permit or plan may allow less than four feet (4') of cover material based on physical and chemical analyses which show that the requirements of 10 CSR 40-3.120(1)–(7) will be met. (5) Burning. Coal processing waste fires shall be extinguished by the person who conducts the surface mining activities, in accordance with a plan allowed by the permit and plan and approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The plan shall contain, at a minimum, provisions to ensure that only those persons authorized by the operator and who have an understanding of the procedures to be used shall be involved in the extinguishing operations. (6) Burned Waste Utilization. Before any burned coal processing waste, other materials or refuse is removed from a disposal area, approval shall be obtained from the director. A plan for the method of removal, with maps and appropriate drawings to illustrate the proposed sequence of the operation and method of compliance with this chapter, shall be submitted to the director. Consideration shall be given in the plan to potential hazards, which may be created by removal, to persons working or living in the vicinity of the structure. The plan shall be certified by a qualified registered professional engineer. (7) Return to Underground Workings. Solid coal processing waste may be returned to underground mine workings only in accordance with the waste disposal program approved in the permit and plan and the MSHA under 10 CSR 40-6.120(16). (8) Disposal of Noncoal Wastes. (A) Noncoal wastes including, but not limited to, grease, lubricants, paints, flammable liquids, garbage, abandoned mining machinery, lumber and other combustibles generated during surface mining activities shall be placed and stored in a controlled manner in a designated portion of the permit area. Placement and storage shall ensure that leachate and surface runoff do not degrade surface or ground water, fires are prevented and that the area remains stable and suitable for reclamation and revegetation compatible with the natural surroundings. (B) Final disposal of noncoal wastes should be in accordance with all applicable requirements of sections 260.200–260.430, RSMo and any other federal, state and local law applicable to disposal. The place of final disposal of noncoal waste, if in the permit area, shall be designated in the permit. Permit area disposal sites shall be designed and constructed with appropriate water barriers on the bottom and sides of the designated site. Wastes shall be routinely compacted and covered to prevent combustion and windborne waste. When the disposal is completed, a minimum of two feet (2') of soil cover shall be placed over the site, slopes stabilized and revegetation accomplished in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.120. Operation of the disposal site shall be conducted in accordance with all local, state and federal requirements. (C) At no time shall any solid waste material be deposited at refuse embankments or impoundment sites nor shall any excavation for solid waste disposal be located within eight feet (8') of any coal outcrop or coal storage area. (D) Any noncoal mine waste defined as hazardous under Section 3001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)(P.L. 94-580) and 40 CFR part 261 shall be handled in accordance with the requirements of Subtitle C of RCRA and any implementing regulations. (9) Dams and Embankments—General Requirements. (A) Sections (9)–(11) of this rule apply to dams and embankments, constructed of coal processing waste or intended to impound coal processing waste, whether they were completed before adoption of the regulatory program or are intended to be completed after that. (B) Waste shall not be used in the construction of dams and embankments unless it has been demonstrated that the stability of that structure conforms with the requirements of subsection (11)(A) of this rule. It also shall be demonstrated that the use of waste material shall not have a detrimental effect on downstream water quality or the environment due to acid seepage through the dam or embankment. (10) Dams and Embankments—Site Preparation. Before coal processing waste is placed at a dam or embankment site— (A) All trees, shrubs, grasses and other organic material shall be cleared and grubbed from the site, and all combustibles shall be removed and stockpiled in accordance with the requirements of this chapter; and (B) Runoff from areas above the disposal facility or runoff from the surface of the facility that may cause erosion to the embankment area or the embankment features, whether during construction or after completion, shall be diverted away from the embankment by diversion ditches that comply with the requirements of 10 CSR 40-3.040(3). Adequate outlets for discharge from these diversions shall be in accordance with section (7). Diversions that are designed to divert drainage from the upstream area away from the impoundment area shall be designed to carry the peak runoff from a one hundred (100)-year, twenty-four (24)-hour precipitation event. The diversion shall be maintained to prevent blockage, and the discharge shall be in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.040(7). Sediment control measures shall be provided at the discharge of each diversion ditch before entry into natural watercourses in accordance with 10 CSR 40-3.040(1)–(7). (11) Dams and Embankments—Design and Construction. (A) The design of each dam and embankment constructed of coal processing waste or intended to impound waste shall comply with the requirements of 10 CSR 40-3.040(10)(A)5. and 10 CSR 403.040(10)(E)–(K), modified as follows: 1. The design freeboard between the lowest point on the embankment crest and the maximum water elevation shall be at least three feet (3'). The maximum water elevation shall be that determined by the freeboard hydrograph criteria contained in the United States Soil Conservation Service criteria referenced in 10 CSR 40-3.040(10); 2. The dam and embankment shall have a minimum safety factor of one and fivetenths (1.5) for the partial pool with steady seepage saturation conditions and the seismic safety factor shall be at least one and twotenths (1.2); and 3. The dam or embankment foundation and abutments shall be designed to be stable under all conditions of construction and operation of the impoundment. Sufficient foundation investigations and laboratory testing shall be performed to determine the safety factors of the dam or embankment for all loading conditions appearing in paragraph (11)(A)2. of this rule or the publications referred to in 10 CSR 40-3.040(10) and for all increments of construction. (B) Spillways and outlet works shall be designed to provide adequate protection against erosion and corrosion. Inlets shall be protected against blockage. (C) Dams or embankments constructed of, or impounding, waste materials shall be designed so that at least ninety percent (90%) of the water stored during the design precipitation event is removed within a ten (10)-day period. (D) Dams or embankments constructed of, or impounding, waste materials may not be retained permanently as part of the approved Surface Coal Mining and Related Activities postmining land use. AUTHORITY: sections 444.530 and 444.810, RSMo Supp. 1999.* Original rule filed Oct. 12, 1979, effective Feb. 11, 1980. Amended: Filed Aug. 8, 1980, effective Dec. 11, 1980. Amended: Filed Dec. 10, 1980, effective April 11, 1981. Amended: Filed Sept. 15, 1988, effective Jan. 15, 1989. Amended: Filed July 3, 1990, effective Nov. 30, 1990. Amended: Filed May 15, 1992, effective Jan. 15, 1993. Amended: Filed Sept. 15, 1994, effective April 30, 1995. Amended: Filed March 21, 2000, effective Oct. 30, 2000. *Original authority: 444.530, RSMo 1971, amended 1983, 1990, 1993, 1995; and 444.810, RSMo 1979, amended 1983, 1993, 1995.