11 Miss. Code. R. 8-8-2-A-4-III

Current through December 10, 2024

Section 11-8-8-2-A-4-III - Success Standards and Measurement Frequency

A. Ground Cover

1. Ground cover shall be considered acceptable if it is at least ninety percent of the approved success standard at a ninety percent statistical confidence level for any two of the last four years of the five year responsibility period. The success standard for ground cover shall be ninety percent density. Other approved success standards could be other areas that are representative of unmined lands in the area being reclaimed or through the use of technical guidance procedures published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or United States Department of Interior (USDI) for assessing ground cover and productivity.

Ground cover must be measured over each noncontiguous area which is proposed for release. The aggregate of areas with less than 90 percent ground cover must not exceed five percent of the release area. These areas must not be larger than one acre and must be completely surrounded by desirable vegetation which has a ground cover of ninety percent. Areas void of desirable vegetation may not be larger than one quarter of an acre and must be surrounded by desirable vegetation which has a ground cover of ninety percent.

2. Ground cover shall consist of the species mixture which has been approved in the original permit or an approved acceptable species mixture as recommended by the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for use in that area. No more than fifteen percent of the stand can be approved species not listed in the permit. If the area was previously mined, thirty-five percent can be approved species not listed in the permit. See Addendum T for unacceptable plant species.

3. The sampling techniques for measuring success shall use a ninety percent statistical confidence interval (i.e., one sided test with a .10 alpha error). Whenever ground cover is equal to or exceeds the success standard, the statistical confidence interval test does not have to be determined.

4. Ground cover success and forage production success need not be met during the same year.

5. Ground cover shall be sampled twice during any two of the last four years of the five-year responsibility period to verify cover data.

B. Forage Production

Production shall be considered acceptable if it is at least ninety percent of the approved success standard, at a ninety percent statistical confidence level, for any two of the last four years of the five year responsibility period. If a reference area is used, the standard will be the annual crop yield for the reference area for the same year that the yield for the release area is being measured. If the permittee chooses to use a technical standard for determination of crop productivity, the permittee shall use the most current USDA/NRCS soil survey for the county where the mining operation is located. Actual crop specific yield will be from Table 5 of the county soil survey. See Addendum W.

C. Reference Area Requirements

1. Reference areas must be representative of soils, slope, aspect, and vegetation in the pre-mined permit area. In cases where differences exist because of mixing of several soil series on the reclaimed area or unavailability of a reference area as herein described, yields must be adjusted as outlined in Addendum Q.

Reference area pasture must be under the same management as pasture in the reclaimed area.

This means:

a. They must consist of similar plant species and diversity as approved in the permit;

b. They must be currently managed under the same land use designation as the proposed mined release area;

c. They must consist of soils in the same land capability class;

d. They must be located in the general vicinity to the mined test area to minimize weather fluctuations;

e. the same fertilizer and pest management techniques shall be used;

f. fertilizer rates shall be based on the same yield goal;

g. that, if the reference plot was mowed prior to sampling, the reclaimed area must also have been mowed at the same time to the same height;

h. identical harvest dates, row spacing, and plant populations shall be used; and

i. any other commonly used management techniques not listed above such as adequate weed and insect control may be used provided the pasture area and the reference plot are treated identically.

Reference areas shall consist of a single plot (whole plot) at least four acres in size. Either statistically adequate subsampling or whole plot harvesting may be used to determine yields.

Reference plot crop yields must be at a level which is reasonably comparable to the county average for the given crop. Reference plot yields which are less than eighty percent of the county average are highly suspect and may be rejected.

Reference areas may be used as a standard for several mines or bond release areas in the vicinity, with prior approval of the Permit Board. Reference areas may be located on undisturbed acreage within permitted areas. If not so located, the permittee must obtain from the landowner(s) a written agreement allowing use of the property as a reference area and allowing right of entry for any authorized representative of the Department.

2. When release areas and reference plots fall on different soil series, adjustments must be made to compensate for the productivity difference. Section II of the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide shall be used for this purpose. For ease of calculation, this adjustment shall always be made to the reference area yield. Each reference plot sampling frame or whole field reference plot yield must be adjusted before yield comparison or t-test statistics can be calculated. See Addenda B and O.

11 Miss. Code. R. 8-8-2-A-4-III