S.B. 46 Enrolled

SUNSET DATE EXTENSION OF DIVISION
OF OIL, GAS AND MINING
2004 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Mike Dmitrich

LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill extends the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining remining provision for an
additional five years.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
. extends the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining remining provision for an additional
five-year period.
Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
40-10-11 (Subsection (5) is Repealed 09/30/04), as last amended by Chapter 197,
Laws of Utah 1998
40-10-17 (Subsect (2)(t)(ii) Repeal 09/30/04), as last amended by Chapter 99, Laws of
Utah 1997
Uncodified Material Affected:
AMENDS UNCODIFIED MATERIAL:
Uncodified Section 26, Chapter 219, Laws of Utah 1994

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:

Section 1. Section 40-10-11 (Subsection (5) is Repealed 09/30/04) is amended to read:
40-10-11 (Subsection (5) is Repealed 09/30/04). Division action on permit
application -- Requirements for approval -- Schedule of applicant's mining law violation --
Restoration of prime farmland.
(1) (a) (i) After a complete mining application and reclamation plan or a revision or
renewal of an application and plan is submitted to the division as required by this chapter and the
public is notified and given an opportunity for a hearing as required by Section 40-10-13 , the
division shall grant, require modification of, or deny the permit application.
(ii) The division shall make its decision within a reasonable time set by the division and
notify the applicant in writing.
(b) The applicant for a permit, or a revision of a permit shall have the burden of
establishing that the application is in compliance with all requirements of this chapter.
(c) Within ten days after the granting of a permit, the division shall provide to the local
governmental officials in the local political subdivision in which the area of affected land is
located:
(i) notification that a permit has been issued; and
(ii) a description of the location of the land.
(2) No permit or revision application shall be approved unless the application
affirmatively demonstrates and the division finds in writing on the basis of the information set
forth in the application, or from information otherwise available which will be documented in the
approval and made available to the applicant, that:
(a) the permit application is accurate and complete and that all requirements of this
chapter have been complied with;
(b) the applicant has demonstrated that the reclamation requirements under this chapter
can be accomplished under the reclamation plan contained in the permit application;
(c) the assessment of the probable cumulative impact of all anticipated mining in the area
on the hydrologic balance specified in Subsection 40-10-10 (2)(c) has been made by the division
and the proposed operation has been designed to prevent material damage to the hydrologic

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balance outside the permit area;
(d) the area proposed to be mined is not included within an area:
(i) designated as unsuitable for surface coal mining pursuant to Section 40-10-24 ; or
(ii) under study for this designation in an administrative proceeding commenced under
Subsection 40-10-24 (2), unless the operator demonstrates that prior to January 1, 1977,
substantial legal and financial commitments were made to the operation;
(e) the proposed surface coal mining operation would not:
(i) interrupt, discontinue, or preclude farming on alluvial valley floors that are irrigated or
naturally subirrigated other than on:
(A) undeveloped range lands that are not significant to farming on alluvial valley floors;
or
(B) lands which the division finds are of such small acreage that if farming is interrupted,
discontinued, or precluded, the impact on the farm's agricultural production will be negligible; or
(ii) materially damage the quantity or quality of water in surface or underground water
systems that supply alluvial valley floors specified in Subsection (2)(e)(i), but this Subsection
(2)(e) shall not affect those surface coal mining operations which in the year preceding August 3,
1977, produced coal in commercial quantities and were located within or adjacent to alluvial
valley floors or had obtained specific permit approval by the division to conduct surface coal
mining operations within these alluvial valley floors; and
(f) if the private mineral estate has been severed from the private surface estate, the
applicant has submitted to the division:
(i) the written consent of the surface owner to the extraction of coal by surface mining
methods provided that nothing in this Subsection (2) shall be construed to:
(A) increase or diminish any property right established under the laws of the state; or
(B) authorize the board or division to adjudicate property right disputes;
(ii) a conveyance that expressly grants or reserves the right to extract the coal by surface
mining methods; or
(iii) documentation consistent with state law that establishes the status of the

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surface-subsurface legal relationship.
(3) (a) (i) The applicant shall file with the permit application a list of any notices of
violations of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 or its implementing
regulations, this chapter, any state or federal program or law approved under the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1201 et seq., and any law, rule, or
regulation of the United States, State of Utah, or any department or agency in the United States
pertaining to air or water environmental protection incurred by the applicant in connection with
any surface coal mining operation during the three-year period prior to the date of application.
(ii) The list required in Subsection (3)(a)(i) shall also indicate the final resolution of any
notice of violation.
(b) If the list or other information available to the division indicates that any surface coal
mining operation owned or controlled by the applicant is currently in violation of this chapter or
other laws and regulations referred to in this Subsection (3), the permit shall not be issued until
the applicant submits proof that the violation has been corrected or is in the process of being
corrected to the satisfaction of the division, department, or agency which has jurisdiction over the
violation.
(c) No permit shall be issued to an applicant after a finding by the board, after opportunity
for hearing, that the applicant, or the operator specified in the application, controls or has
controlled mining operations with a demonstrated pattern of willful violations of this chapter, the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1201 et seq., the
implementing federal regulations, any state or federal programs enacted under the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act, or other provisions of the approved Utah program of such nature
and duration with such resulting irreparable damage to the environment as to indicate an intent
not to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(4) (a) (i) In addition to finding the application in compliance with Subsection (2), if the
area proposed to be mined contains prime farmland pursuant to division rules, the division shall
grant a permit to mine on prime farmland if the division finds in writing that the operator has the
technological capability to restore the mined area within a reasonable time to an equivalent or

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higher level of yield as nonmined prime farmland in the surrounding area under equivalent levels
of management and can meet the soil reconstruction standards specified in division rules.
(ii) Except for compliance with Subsection (2), the requirements of this subsection shall
apply to all permits issued after August 3, 1977.
(b) This Subsection (4) shall not apply to any permit issued prior to August 3, 1977, or to
any revisions or renewals of the permit, or to any existing surface mining operations for which a
permit was issued prior to August 3, 1977.
(5) (a) After October 24, 1992, the prohibition of Subsection (3) shall not apply to a
permit application if the violation resulted from an unanticipated event or condition that occurred
at a surface coal mining operation on lands eligible for remining under a permit held by the person
making the application.
(b) As used in this Subsection (5), the term "violation" has the same meaning as the term
has under Subsection (3).
(c) This Subsection (5) is repealed September 30, [2004] 2009.
Section 2. Section 40-10-17 (Subsect (2)(t)(ii) Repeal 09/30/04) is amended to read:
40-10-17 (Subsect (2)(t)(ii) Repeal 09/30/04). Performance standards for all coal
mining and reclamation operations -- Additional standards for steep-slope surface coal
mining -- Variances.
(1) Any permit issued pursuant to this chapter to conduct surface coal mining shall
require that the surface coal mining operations will meet all applicable performance standards of
this chapter, and such other requirements as the division shall promulgate.
(2) General performance standards shall be applicable to all surface coal mining and
reclamation operations and shall require the operations as a minimum to:
(a) Conduct surface coal mining operations so as to maximize the utilization and
conservation of the solid fuel resource being recovered so that reaffecting the land in the future
through surface coal mining can be minimized.
(b) Restore the land affected to a condition capable of supporting the uses which it was
capable of supporting prior to any mining, or higher or better uses of which there is reasonable

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likelihood, so long as the use or uses does not present any actual or probable hazard to public
health or safety or pose any actual or probable threat of water diminution or pollution, and the
permit applicant's declared proposed land use following reclamation is not deemed to be
impractical or unreasonable, inconsistent with applicable land use policies and plans, involves
unreasonable delay in implementation, or is violative of federal, state, or local law.
(c) Except as provided in Subsection (3) with respect to all surface coal mining
operations backfill, compact (where advisable to insure stability or to prevent leaching of toxic
materials) and grade in order to restore the approximate original contour of the land with
highwalls, spoil piles, and depressions eliminated (unless small depressions are needed in order to
retain moisture to assist revegetation or as otherwise authorized pursuant to this chapter); but in
surface coal mining which is carried out at the same location over a substantial period of time
where the operation transects the coal deposit and the thickness of the coal deposits relative to the
volume of the overburden is large and where the operator demonstrates that the overburden and
other spoil and waste materials at a particular point in the permit area or otherwise available from
the entire permit area is insufficient, giving due consideration to volumetric expansion, to restore
the approximate original contour, the operator, at a minimum, shall backfill, grade, and compact
(where advisable) using all available overburden and other spoil and waste materials to attain the
lowest practicable grade but not more than the angle of repose, to provide adequate drainage and
to cover all acid-forming and other toxic materials, in order to achieve an ecologically sound land
use compatible with the surrounding region. In surface coal mining where the volume of
overburden is large relative to the thickness of the coal deposit and where the operator
demonstrates that due to volumetric expansion the amount of overburden and other spoil and
waste materials removed in the course of the mining operation is more than sufficient to restore
the approximate original contour, the operator shall, after restoring the approximate contour,
backfill, grade, and compact (where advisable) the excess overburden and other spoil and waste
materials to attain the lowest grade but more than the angle of repose, and to cover all
acid-forming and other toxic materials, in order to achieve an ecologically sound land use
compatible with the surrounding region and that the overburden or spoil shall be shaped and

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graded in such a way as to prevent slides, erosion, and water pollution and is revegetated in
accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
(d) Stabilize and protect all surface areas, including spoil piles affected by the surface coal
mining and reclamation operation to effectively control erosion and attendant air and water
pollution.
(e) Remove the topsoil from the land in a separate layer, replace it on the backfill area, or
if not utilized immediately, segregate it in a separate pile from other spoil, and when the topsoil is
not replaced on a backfill area within a time short enough to avoid deterioration of the topsoil,
maintain a successful cover by quick growing plant or other means thereafter so that the topsoil is
preserved from wind and water erosion, remains free of any contamination by other acid or toxic
material, and is in a usable condition for sustaining vegetation when restored during reclamation;
except if topsoil is of insufficient quantity or of poor quality for sustaining vegetation, or if other
strata can be shown to be more suitable for vegetation requirements, then the operator shall
remove, segregate, and preserve in a like manner the other strata which is best able to support
vegetation.
(f) Restore the topsoil or the best available subsoil which is best able to support
vegetation.
(g) For all prime farmlands, as identified in the rules, to be mined and reclaimed,
specifications for soil removal, storage, replacement, and reconstruction, the operator shall, as a
minimum, be required to:
(i) segregate the A horizon of the natural soil, except where it can be shown that other
available soil materials will create a final soil having a greater productive capacity, and if not
utilized immediately, stockpile this material separately from other spoil, and provide needed
protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic material;
(ii) segregate the B horizon of the natural soil, or underlying C horizons or other strata,
or a combination of these horizons or other strata that are shown to be both 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

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zone of comparable depth and quality to that which existed in the natural soil, and if not utilized
immediately, stockpile this material separately from other spoil, and provide needed protection
from wind and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic material;
(iii) replace and regrade the root zone material described in Subsection (2)(g)(ii) above
with proper compaction and uniform depth over the regraded spoil material; and
(iv) redistribute and grade in a uniform manner the surface soil horizon described in
Subsection (2)(g)(i).
(h) Create, if authorized in the approved mining and reclamation plan and permit,
permanent impoundments of water on mining sites as part of reclamation activities only when it is
adequately demonstrated that:
(i) the size of the impoundment is adequate for its intended purposes;
(ii) the impoundment dam construction will be so designed as to achieve necessary
stability with an adequate margin of safety compatible with that of structures constructed under
Public Law 83-566 (16 U.S.C. 1006);
(iii) the quality of impounded water will be suitable on a permanent basis for its intended
use and that discharges from the impoundment will not degrade the water quality below water
quality standards established pursuant to applicable federal and state law in the receiving stream;
(iv) the level of water will be reasonably stable;
(v) final grading will provide adequate safety and access for proposed water users; and
(vi) these water impoundments will not result in the diminution of the quality or quantity
of water utilized by adjacent or surrounding landowners for agricultural, industrial, recreational,
or domestic uses.
(i) Conducting any augering operation associated with surface mining in a manner to
maximize recoverability of mineral reserves remaining after the operation and reclamation are
complete and seal all auger holes with an impervious and noncombustible material in order to
prevent drainage except where the division determines that the resulting impoundment of water in
the auger holes may create a hazard to the environment or the public health or safety; but the
permitting authority may prohibit augering if necessary to maximize the utilization, recoverability,

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or conservation of the solid fuel resources or to protect against adverse water quality impacts.
(j) Minimize the disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance at the mine site and in
associated offsite areas and to the quality and quantity of water in surface and groundwater
systems both during and after surface coal mining operations and during reclamation by:
(i) avoiding acid or other toxic mine drainage by such measures as, but not limited to:
(A) preventing or removing water from contact with toxic-producing deposits;
(B) treating drainage to reduce toxic content which adversely affects downstream water
upon being released to water courses; and
(C) casing, sealing, or otherwise managing boreholes, shafts, and wells and keep acid or
other toxic drainage from entering ground and surface waters;
(ii) (A) conducting surface coal mining operations so as to prevent, to the extent possible
using the best technology currently available, additional contributions of suspended solids to
streamflow or runoff outside the permit area, but in no event shall contributions be in excess of
requirements set by applicable state or federal law; and
(B) constructing any siltation structures pursuant to this Subsection (2)(j)(ii) prior to
commencement of surface coal mining operations, such structures to be certified by a qualified
registered engineer to be constructed as designed and as approved in the reclamation plan;
(iii) 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 division;
(iv) restoring recharge capacity of the mined area to approximate premining conditions;
(v) avoiding channel deepening or enlargement in operations requiring the discharge of
water from mines;
(vi) preserving throughout the mining and reclamation process the essential hydrologic
functions of alluvial valley floors in the arid and semiarid areas of the state; and
(vii) such other actions as the division may prescribe.
(k) With respect to surface disposal of mine wastes, tailings, coal processing wastes, and
other waste in areas other than the mine working or excavations, stabilize all waste piles in

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designated areas through construction in compacted layers, including the use of incombustible and
impervious materials, if necessary, and assure 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 the provisions of this chapter.
(l) Refrain from surface coal mining within 500 feet from active and abandoned
underground mines in order to prevent breakthroughs and to protect health or safety of miners;
but the division shall permit an operator to mine near, through, or partially through an abandoned
underground mine or closer to an active underground mine if:
(i) the nature, timing, and sequencing of the approximate coincidence of specific surface
mine activities with specific underground mine activities are jointly approved by the departments,
divisions, and agencies concerned with surface mine reclamation and the health and safety of
underground miners; and
(ii) the operations will result in improved resource recovery, abatement of water
pollution, or elimination of hazards to the health and safety of the public.
(m) Design, locate, construct, operate, maintain, enlarge, modify, and remove or
abandon, in accordance with the standards and criteria developed pursuant to the division's rules,
all existing and new coal mine waste piles consisting of mine wastes, tailings, coal processing
wastes, or other liquid and solid wastes, and used either temporarily or permanently as dams or
embankments.
(n) Insure that all debris, acid-forming materials, toxic materials, or materials constituting
a fire hazard are treated or buried and compacted or otherwise disposed of in a manner designed
to prevent contamination of ground or surface waters and that contingency plans are developed to
prevent sustained combustion.
(o) Insure that explosives are used only in accordance with existing state and federal law
and the rules adopted by the board, which shall include provisions to:
(i) provide adequate advance written notice to local governments and residents who
might be affected by the use of the explosives by publication of the planned blasting schedule in a
newspaper of general circulation in the locality and by mailing a copy of the proposed blasting

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schedule to every resident living within 1/2 mile of the proposed blasting site and by providing
daily notice to resident/occupiers in these areas prior to any blasting;
(ii) maintain for a period of at least three years and make available for public inspection
upon request a log detailing the location of the blasts, the pattern and depth of the drill holes, the
amount of explosives used per hole, and the order and length of delay in the blasts;
(iii) limit the type of explosives and detonating equipment, the size, the timing and
frequency of blasts based upon the physical conditions of the site so as to prevent injury to
persons, damage to public and private property outside the permit area, adverse impacts on any
underground mine, and change in the course, channel, or availability of ground or surface water
outside the permit area;
(iv) require that all blasting operations be conducted by trained and competent persons,
and to implement this requirement, the division shall promulgate rules requiring the training,
examination, and certification of persons engaging in or directly responsible for blasting or the use
of explosives in surface and coal mining operations; and
(v) provide that upon the request of a resident or owner of a man-made dwelling or
structure within 1/2 mile of any portion of the permitted area, the applicant or permittee shall
conduct a preblasting survey of the structures and submit the survey to the division and a copy to
the resident or owner making the request, the area of which survey shall be decided by the
division and shall include such provisions as promulgated.
(p) Insure that all reclamation efforts proceed in an environmentally sound manner and as
contemporaneously as practicable with the surface coal mining operations; but where the
applicant proposes to combine surface mining operations with underground mining operations to
assure maximum practical recovery of the mineral resources, the division may grant a variance for
specific areas within the reclamation plan from the requirement that reclamation efforts proceed as
contemporaneously as practicable to permit underground operations prior to reclamation:
(i) if the division finds in writing that:
(A) the applicant has presented, as part of the permit application, specific, feasible plans
for the proposed underground mining operations;

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(B) the proposed underground mining operations are necessary or desirable to assure
maximum practical recovery of the mineral resource and will avoid multiple disturbance of the
surface;
(C) the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that the plan for the underground mining
operations conforms to requirements for underground mining in the jurisdiction and that permits
necessary for the underground mining operations have been issued by the appropriate authority;
(D) the areas proposed for the variance have been shown by the applicant to be necessary
for the implementing of the proposed underground mining operations;
(E) no substantial adverse environmental damage, either onsite or offsite, will result from
the delay in completion of reclamation as required by this chapter; and
(F) provisions for the offsite storage of spoil will comply with Subsection (2)(v);
(ii) if the board has adopted specific rules to govern the granting of the variances in
accordance with the provisions of this Subsection (2)(p) and has imposed such additional
requirements as [deemed] considered necessary;
(iii) if variances granted under this Subsection (2)(p) are to be reviewed by the division
not more than three years from the date of issuance of the permit; and
(iv) if liability under the bond filed by the applicant with the division pursuant to Section
40-10-15 shall be for the duration of the underground mining operations and until the
requirements of this Subsection [ 40-10-17 ](2) and Section 40-10-16 have been fully complied
with.
(q) Insure that the construction, maintenance, and postmining conditions of access roads
into and across the site of operations will control or prevent erosion and siltation, pollution of
water, damage to fish or wildlife or their habitat, or public or private property.
(r) Refrain from the construction of roads or other access ways up a stream bed or
drainage channel or in such proximity to the channel so as to seriously alter the normal flow of
water.
(s) Establish on the regraded areas and all other lands affected, a diverse, effective, and
permanent vegetative cover of the same seasonal variety native to the area of land to be affected

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and capable of self-regeneration and plant succession at least equal in extent of cover to the
natural vegetation of the area; except that introduced species may be used in the revegetation
process where desirable and necessary to achieve the approved postmining land use plan.
(t) (i) Assume the responsibility for successful revegetation, as required by Subsection
(2)(s), for a period of five full years after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation,
or other work in order to assure compliance with Subsection (2)(s), except in those areas or
regions of the state where the annual average precipitation is 26 inches or less, then the operator's
assumption of responsibility and liability will extend for a period of ten full years after the last year
of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work; but when the division approves a
long-term intensive agricultural postmining land use, the applicable five or ten-year period of
responsibility for revegetation shall commence at the date of initial planting for this long-term
intensive, agricultural postmining land use, except when the division issues a written finding
approving a long-term, intensive, agricultural postmining land use, as part of the mining and
reclamation plan, the division may grant exception to the provisions of Subsection (2)(s); and
(ii) on lands eligible for remining, assume the responsibility for successful revegetation for
a period of two full years after the last year of augmented seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other
work in order to assure compliance with the applicable standards, except in areas of the state
where the average annual precipitation is 26 inches or less, assume the responsibility for
successful revegetation for a period of five full years after the last year of augmented seeding,
fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure compliance with the applicable standards.
(u) Protect offsite areas from slides or damage occurring during the surface coal mining
and reclamation operations and not deposit spoil material or locate any part of the operations or
waste accumulations outside the permit area.
(v) Place all excess spoil material resulting from coal surface mining and reclamation
activities in a manner that:
(i) spoil is transported and placed in a controlled manner in position for concurrent
compaction and in a way to assure mass stability and to prevent mass movement;
(ii) the areas of disposal are within the bonded permit areas and all organic matter shall be

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removed immediately prior to spoil placement;
(iii) appropriate surface and internal drainage systems and diversion ditches are used so as
to prevent spoil erosion and movement;
(iv) the disposal area does not contain springs, natural water courses, or wet weather
seeps unless lateral drains are constructed from the wet areas to the main underdrains in a manner
that filtration of the water into the spoil pile will be prevented;
(v) if placed on a slope, the spoil is placed upon the most moderate slope among those
upon which, in the judgment of the division, the spoil could be placed in compliance with all the
requirements of this chapter and shall be placed, where possible, upon or above a natural terrace,
bench, or berm, if this placement provides additional stability and prevents mass movement;
(vi) where the toe of the spoil rests on a downslope, a rock toe buttress of sufficient size
to prevent mass movement, is constructed;
(vii) the final configuration is compatible with the natural drainage pattern and
surroundings and suitable for intended uses;
(viii) design of the spoil disposal area is certified by a qualified professional engineer, and
to implement this requirement, the division shall promulgate rules regarding the certification of
engineers in the area of spoil disposal design; and
(ix) all other provisions of this chapter are met.
(w) Meet such other criteria as are necessary to achieve reclamation in accordance with
the purposes of this chapter, taking into consideration the physical, climatological, and other
characteristics of the site.
(x) To the extent possible, using the best technology currently available, minimize
disturbances and adverse impacts of the operation on fish, wildlife, and related environmental
values, and achieve enhancement of these resources where practicable.
(y) Provide for an undisturbed natural barrier beginning at the elevation of the lowest coal
seam to be mined and extending from the outslope for the distance as the division shall determine
shall be retained in place as a barrier to slides and erosion.
(3) (a) Where an applicant meets the requirements of Subsections (3)(b) and (c), a permit

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without regard to the requirement to restore to approximate original contour provided in
Subsections (2)(c), (4)(b), and (4)(c) may be granted for the surface mining of coal where the
mining operation will remove an entire coal seam or seams running through the upper fraction of
a mountain, ridge, or hill (except as provided in this Subsection (3)) by removing all of the
overburden and creating a level plateau or a gently rolling contour with no highwalls remaining,
and capable of supporting postmining uses in accord with the requirements of this Subsection (3).
(b) In cases where an industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential, or public facility
(including recreational facilities) use is proposed for the postmining use of the affected land, the
division may grant a permit for a surface mining operation of the nature described in Subsection
(3)(a) pursuant to procedures and criteria set forth in the rules, including:
(i) the applicant's presentation of specific plans for the proposed postmining land use
which meet criteria concerning the type of use proposed;
(ii) the applicant's demonstration that the proposed use would be consistent with adjacent
land uses and existing state and local land use plans and programs and with other requirements of
this chapter; and
(iii) procedures whereby the division provides the governing body of the unit of
general-purpose government in which the land is located and any state or federal agency which
the division, in its discretion, determines to have an interest in the proposed use, an opportunity of
not more than 60 days to review and comment on the proposed use.
(c) All permits granted under the provisions of this Subsection (3) shall be reviewed not
more than three years from the date of issuance of the permit, unless the applicant affirmatively
demonstrates that the proposed development is proceeding in accordance with the terms of the
approved schedule and reclamation plan.
(4) The following performance standards shall be applicable to steep-slope surface coal
mining and shall be in addition to those general performance standards required by this section;
but the provisions of this Subsection (4) shall not apply to those situations in which an operator is
mining on flat or gently rolling terrain, on which an occasional steep slope is encountered through
which the mining operation is to proceed, leaving a plain or predominantly flat area or where an

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operator is in compliance with provisions of Subsection (3):
(a) Insure that when performing surface coal mining on steep slopes, no debris,
abandoned or disabled equipment, spoil material, or waste mineral matter be placed on the
downslope below the bench or mining cut; but spoil material in excess of that required for the
reconstruction of the approximate original contour under the provisions of Subsection (2)(c) or
this Subsection (4) shall be permanently stored pursuant to Subsection 40-10-17 (2)(v).
(b) Complete backfilling with spoil material shall be required to cover completely the
highwall and return the site to the appropriate original contour, which material will maintain
stability following mining and reclamation.
(c) The operator may not disturb land above the top of the highwall unless the division
finds that the disturbance will facilitate compliance with the environmental protection standards of
this section; but the land disturbed above the highwall shall be limited to that amount necessary to
facilitate this compliance.
(d) For the purposes of this Subsection (4), "steep slope" means any slope above 20
degrees or such lesser slope as may be defined by the division after consideration of soil, climate,
and other characteristics of an area.
(5) The board shall promulgate specific rules to govern the granting of variances from the
requirement to restore to approximate original contour provided in Subsection (4)(b) pursuant to
procedures and criteria set forth in those rules including:
(a) written request by the surface owner concerning the proposed use;
(b) approval of the proposed use as an equal or better economic or public use; and
(c) approval of the proposed use as improving the watershed control in the area and as
using only such amount of spoil as is necessary to achieve the planned postmining land use.
(6) Subsection (2)(t)(ii) is repealed September 30, [2004] 2009.
Section 3. Uncodified Section 26, Chapter 219, Laws of Utah 1994 is amended to
read:
Section 26. Repeal Date.
Subsections 40-10-11(5) and 40-10-17(2)(t)(ii) are repealed September 30, [2004] 2009.

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