TITLE 35: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SUBTITLE D: MINE RELATED WATER POLLUTION
CHAPTER I: POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
PART 402
DEFINITIONS
Section
402.100
Terms Defined Elsewhere
402.101 Definitions
Appendix A
References to Previous Rules
Authority Note: Authorized by Section 27 and Implementing Sections 12 and 13 of the
Environmental Protection Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 111 1/2, pars. 1012, 1013 and
1027) unless otherwise noted.
Source Note: Adopted at 4 Ill. Reg. 34, page 164, effective August 7, 1980; codified 5 Ill.
Reg. 34, page 8527 effective August 10, 1981, amended in R84-29 at 11 Ill. Reg. 12890,
effective July 27, 1987.
Section 402.100 Terms Defined Elsewhere
Unless otherwise stated or unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, the
definition of terms used in this Chapter are the same as those found in the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act (Act), (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 111 1/2, Section 1001 et
seq.) the Water Pollution Regulations of the Illinois Pollution Control Board (subtitle C,
chapter I) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (FWPCA), (33 U.S.C.
1251 et seq., 1972 as amended). The following definitions which apply to this Chapter
can be found in the Act, Subtitle C, Chapter I or the FWPCA: Administrator, Agency,
Board, Contaminant, Effluent, Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), Point Source Discharge, Pollutant,
Refuse, Storet, Treatment Works, Underground Waters, Wastewater, Wastewater Source,
Water Pollution and Waters.
Section 402.101 Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter the following terms are defined:
"Abandon": to transfer ownership of or to close down mining activities, a
mine or mine refuse area with no intention by that operator to reopen the
affected land. A mine or mine refuse area which has been inoperative for
one year shall be rebuttabley presumed to be abandoned.
"Acid or Ferruginous Mine Drainage": mine drainage which, before any
treatment, has a pH of less than 6.0 or a total iron concentration greater
than 10 mg/L.
"Acid-producing Material": material which when exposed to air and water
is capable of causing drainage containing sulfuric acid. In determining
whether material is acid-producing, consideration shall be given to the
sulfur content of the material, the size and spatial distribution of pyritic
compounds and other compounds of sulfur, the neutralizing effect of
surrounding intermixed materials and the quality of drainage produced by
mining on sites with similar soils.
"Affected Land": any land owned or controlled or otherwise used by the
operator in connection with mining activities except the surface area above
underground mine workings that is not otherwise used for mining
activities. The term does not include offsite office buildings and farming
operations or recreational activities on undisturbed land. Land described
in a certificate of abandonment issued by the Agency under Section
405.110(e) is no longer part of the affected land.
"Alkaline Mine Drainage": mine drainage which, prior to treatment, has a
pH equal to or greater than 6.0 and a total iron concentration of less than
10 mg/L/.
"Aquifer": A zone, stratum or group of strata which can store and transmit
water in sufficient quantities for a specific use.
"Base Flow": any flow which is not a result of immediate runoff from
precipitation. It includes, but is not limited to, groundwater flow,
mechanical pumpages, springs, discharges from subsurface drainage
systems, and controlled outfalls from other treatment works. It is normally
any flow beyond 24 hours after the rainfall ceases.
"Coal Preparation Plant": a facility where coal is subjected to cleaning,
concentrating, or other processing or preparation in order to separate coal
from its impurities.
"Coal Preparation Plant Associated Areas": coal preparation plant yards,
immediate access roads, coal refuse piles and coal storage piles and
facilities.
"Coal Refuse Disposal Pile": any coal refuse permanently deposited on the
earth or stored for more than 180 days. It does not include coal refuse
deposited within the active mining area or coal refuse never removed from
the active mining area.
"Coal Transfer Facility or Coal Storage Yard": any area where coal is
transferred from one mode of transportation to another or where coal is
dumped, piled, stored or blended. The term includes but is not limited to
coal docks, blending yards, conveyor belts and pipelines. As used in this
Chapter, the terms mining activity and mine related facility shall include
coal transfer facilities and coal storage yards.
"Construction Authorization": authorization under Section 403.104 to
prepare land for mining activities or to construct mine related facilities.
Construction authorization is issued to a person who holds or is required to
have an NPDES permit.
"Construction Permit": a state permit issued under Section 404.101 which
allows the operator to prepare land for mining activities or to construct
mine related facilities.
"Controlled Surface Mine Drainage": any surface mine drainage that is
pumped or siphoned from a mine area or mined area.
"Domestic Retail Sales Yard": a business which stockpiles coal or other
minerals solely for the purpose of supplying homeowners, small
businesses, small industries or other institutions with the mineral for their
individual consumption. The term does not include any sales yard located
at a mine.
"Drainage Course": any natural or man-made channel or ditch which
serves the purpose of directing the flow of water into a natural waterway.
"Facility": a contiguous area of land, including all structures above or
below the ground, which is owned or controlled by one person.
"Mine Area or Mined Area": the surface and subsurface land where
mining has occurred or is occurring. The term does not include the
unmined surface land directly above underground mine workings which is
not otherwise disturbed by mining activities.
"Mine Discharge": any point source discharge, whether natural or man-
made, from a mine related facility. Such discharges include but are not
limited to mechanical pumpages, pit overflows, spillways, drainage
ditches, seepage from mine or mine refuse areas, effluent from processing
and milling or mineral preparation plants. Other discharges including but
not limited to sanitary sewers and sewage treatment works are not mine
discharges. The term mine discharge includes surface runoff discharged
from a sedimentation pond but does not include non-point source mine
discharges.
"Mine Refuse": gob, coal, rock, slate, shale, mill tailings, boney, clay,
pyrites and other unmerchantable solid or slurry material intended to be
discarded which is connected with the cleaning and preparation of mined
materials at a preparation plant or washery. It includes sludge or other
precipitated matter produced by the treatment of acid mine drainage but
does not otherwise generally include sediment from alkaline mine
drainage. The term also includes acid-producing spoil.
"Mine Refuse Area": any land used for dumping, storage or disposal of
mine refuse.
"Mine Refuse Pile": any deposit of solid mine refuse which is intended to
serve as permanent disposal of such material.
"Mine Related Facility": a portion of a facility which is related to mining
activities. The term includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Affected
land;
Coal storage yard or transfer facility;
Mine;
Mine drainage treatment facility;
Mine refuse area; and
Processing or mineral preparation plant.
"Mining": the surface or underground extraction or processing of natural
deposits of coal, clay, fluorspar, gravel, lead bearing ores, peat, sand,
stone, zinc bearing ores or other minerals by the use of any mechanical
operation or process. The term also includes the recovery or processing of
the minerals from a mine refuse area. It does not include drilling for oil or
natural gas.
"Mining Activities": all activities on a facility which are directly in
furtherance of mining, including activities before, during and after mining.
The term does not include land acquisition, exploratory drilling, surveying
and similar activities. The term includes, but is not limited to, the
following:
Preparation of land for mining activities;
Construction of mine related facilities which could generate refuse,
result in a discharge or have the potential to cause water pollution;
Ownership or control of a mine related facility;
Ownership or control of a coal storage yard or transfer facility;
Generation or disposal of mine refuse;
Mining;
Opening a mine;
Production of a mine discharge or non-point source mine
discharge;
Surface drainage control; and
Use of acid-producing mine refuse.
"Mountaintop Removal": surface coal mining and reclamation operations
that remove entire coal seams running through the upper fraction of a
mountain, ridge, or hill by removal of all of the overburden and create a
level plateau or gently rolling contour with no highwalls remaining.
"New Source Coal Mine": a coal mine, including an abandoned mine
which is being remined, at which:
Construction commenced after May 4, 1984; or
A major alteration has resulted in a new, altered or increased
discharge of pollutants. Major alterations are:
Extraction from a coal seam not previously extracted by
that mine;
Discharge into a drainage area not previously affected by
wastewater discharge from that mine;
Extensive new surface disruption at the mining operation;
and
Construction of a new shaft, slope or drift.
"Non-point Source Mine Discharge": surface runoff from the affected
land. The term does not include surface runoff which is discharged from a
sedimentation pond or seepage from a mine or mine refuse area.
"Opening a Mine": any construction activity related to preparation for
mining on a facility.
"Operating Permit": a state permit required of a person carrying out
mining activities.
"Operator": a person who carries out mining activities.
"Permittee": a person who holds a state or NPDES permit issued under
this Subtitle D, Chapter I. In some contexts the term permittee also
includes a permit applicant.
"Person": any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company,
corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, political
subdivision, state agency, or any other legal entity, or their legal
representative, agent or assigns.
"Processing or Mineral Preparation Plant": a facility used for the sizing or
separation from the ore or raw mineral of coal, clay, fluorspar, gravel, lead
bearing ores, peat, sand, stone, zinc bearing ores or other materials.
"Reclamation Area": the surface area of a coal mine which has been
returned to the contour required by permit and on which revegetation work
has commenced.
"Slurry": mine refuse separated from the mineral in the cleaning process
consisting of readily pumpable fines and clays and other materials in the
preparation plant effluent. This term includes mill tailings.
"Spoil": the accumulation of excavated overburden or other earth, dirt or
rock overlying the mineral seam or other deposit excavated from its
original location by surface or underground mining.
"State Permit": a construction permit or operating permit issued by the
Agency. NPDES permits are not state permits.
"Steep Slope": any slope of more than 20 degrees. "Surface Drainage
Control": control of surface water on the affected land by a person who is
engaging in mining activities. Control of surface water includes diversion
of surface waters around or away from the active mining area or mine
refuse area and diversion, redirection or impoundment of a stream or
impoundment of water for flow augmentation or controlled release of
effluents.
"Surface Mining": mining conducted in an open pit including area and
contour strip mining.
"Underground Mining": mining conducted below the surface by means of
constructing an access facility to the mineral deposit. The term includes
slope, drift, shaft mines and auger or punch mining.
"Use of Acid-producing Mine Refuse": use of acid-producing mine refuse
includes any use, offer for sale, sale or offer for use in roadway projects,
mine roads, mine yards or elsewhere.
(Source: Amended in R84-29 at 11 Ill. Reg. 12890, effective July 27, 1987)
Section 402.APPENDIX A REFERENCES TO PREVIOUS RULES
The following table is provided to aid in referencing old Board rule numbers to
section numbers pursuant to codification.
Chapter 4, Mine Related Pollution Part II,
Definitions
35 Ill. Admin. Code Part 402
Rule 200
Section 402.100
Rule 201
Section 402.101
(filed August 10, 1981, effective August 10, 1981)