W. Va. Code R. § 38-2B-2

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 38-2B-2 - DEFINITIONS

The following definitions refer specifically to these regulations and are valid unless the context in which used clearly requires a different meaning:

2.1Abandoned Coal Refuse Disposal Area - means any coal refuse disposal area which is not being operated. This definition does not relieve any operator from his reclamation responsibility for the coal refuse disposal area.

2.2Accepted Engineering Methods - means sound engineering practice based upon the technology currently applied by the engineering profession.

2.3Acid Mine Drainage - means water with a pH of less than 6.0 discharged from active or abandoned mines and from areas affected by surface mining operations.

2.4Acid-Forming Materials - means earth materials that contain sulfide minerals or other materials which may create acid mine drainage.

2.5Act - means West Virginia Code, Chapter 20, Article 6.

2.6Bearing Capacity - means the ability of a foundation material to support loads imposed by an embankment or other structure as determined by standard engineering evaluations.

2.7Buffer Zone - means an undisturbed border along or around an intermittent or perennial stream.

2.8Channel Protection - means any measures taken to prevent or control erosion, cavitation, or other destructive processes in channels such as diversion ditches and spillways.

2.9Coal Refuse Disposal Area - means all deposits of coal processing waste or coal refuse on or buried in the earth.

2.10Coal Refuse - means any waste coal, rock, shale, slurry, culm, gob, bone, slate, clay, and related materials associated with or near a coal seam, which are either brought above ground or otherwise removed from a mine in the process of mining coal, or which are separated from coal during the cleaning or preparation operations.

2.11Coarse Coal Refuse - means coal refuse predominately within a size range greater than the #28 sieve size.

2.12Combined Coal Refuse - means a mixture of coarse coal refuse and dewatered fine coal refuse.

2.13Combustible Materials - means organic materials that are capable of burning by fire or through oxidation, accompanied by the evolution of heat and a significant temperature rise.

2.14Compaction - means the densification of a soil or soillike material by means of mechanical manipulation.

2.15Complete Application - means an application for a surface mining permit which contains all information required under the Act and all Rules and Regulations.

2.16Construction Pore Pressures - means water pressures generated in foundation soils or embankments due to compression by loads imposed by construction of an embankment or other structure.

2.17Density - means the weight of soil or soil like solids per unit of total volume of soil or similar mass.

2.18Design Storm - means predicted precipitation of given intensity, frequency, and duration based on National Weather Service data.

2.19Director and/or His Authorized Agent - means the director of the department of natural resources, deputy directors, the chief of the division of reclamation, the assistant chiefs of the division of reclamation, and all duly authorized engineers, geologists, surface mining reclamation supervisors, or inspectors and inspectors intraining.

2.20Diversion Ditch - means a designed channel constructed for the purpose of collecting and transmitting surface runoff from the design storm.

2.21Downslope - means the land surface between the projected outcrop of the lowest coal seam being mined or any mining related construction and the valley floor.

2.22Effective Height - means the difference in elevation in feet between the lowest open channel emergency spillway crest and the lowest point in the original cross section on the centerline of the dam.

2.23Embankment - means a manmade deposit of earth or coal refuse materials, usually exhibiting at least one sloping face.

2.24Emergency Spillway - means a hydraulic structure designed to discharge water in excess of that which an impoundment is designed to store or which cannot be passed through a principal spillway.

2.25Engineer - means a professional engineer in accordance with Chapter 30, Article 13 of the Code of West Virginia (W.Va. State Registration Law for Professional Engineers).

2.26Excess Material - means earth and rock not required to achieve the design configuration of the embankment or its appurtenances.

2.27Fine Coal Refuse - means coal processing waste predominately within a size range less than the #28 sieve which may be disposed of in a slurry form or in a dewatered or treated state.

2.28Foundation - means soil, bedrock, or other earth material on or against which an embankment or other structure is placed.

2.29Freeboard - means

1) the vertical distance between the lowest point of the crest of the embankment of a dam and the reservoir water surface or

2) the vertical distance between the top of a ditch or channel and the water surface during the design flow.

2.30Groundwater - means subsurface water in the zone of saturation.

2.31Haulageway or Access Road - means any road constructed, improved, maintained or used by the operator with the exception of state owned roads.

2.32Hazard Potential - means a classification rating assigned to a structure based on engineering evaluations and judgement predicting the damage to human life, property and environment should a failure of the structure occur.

2.33Highway, Primary - means those roadways which are designated as interstates, U. S. numbered highways or West Virginia numbered highways.

2.34Highway, Secondary - means those roadways which are designated by the West Virginia Department of Highways as county numbered routes.

2.35Hydraulics - means the study of the physical behavior of liquids, especially water, in natural or manmade systems or processes.

2.36Hydrological Analysis - means a determination, using standard engineering methods, to establish surface water runoff for a specified design storm.

2.37Hydrologic Balance - means the relationship between the quality and quantity of water inflow to, water outflow from, and water storage in a hydrologic unit such as a drainage basin, aquifer, soil zone, lake, or reservoir. It encompasses the dynamic relationships among precipitation, runoff, evaporation, and changes in ground and surface water storage.

2.38Hydrology - means the science that deals with the occurrence and behavior of water in the atmosphere, on the ground and underground.

2.39Impoundment - means a closed basin constructed for the retention of water, sediment or coal refuse.

2.40Inspection - shall mean a visual review of surface or other mining operations to insure complete compliance with any applicable law or rules and regulations or permit conditions under the jurisdiction of the director.

2.41Leachate - means a liquid that has percolated through soil, rock, or waste and has extracted dissolved or suspended materials.

2.42Liquifaction - means a phenomenon wherein a saturated granular soil or soil-like material loses strength due to the development of elevated porewater pressure commonly occuring during cyclic loading, such as in an earthquake. This loss of strength may result in limited movement or liquid-like flow.

2.43Mine - means the shaft, slopes, drifts or inclines connected with excavations penetrating coal seams or strata and the surface structures which contributes directly or indirectly to the mining, preparation or handling of coal.

2.44Natural Drainway - means any natural water course which may carry water to the tributaries and rivers of the watershed.

2.45Occupied Dwelling - means any building that is currently being used on a regular or temporary basis for human habitation.

2.46Peak Runoff - means the maximum flow at a specified location resulting from a design storm.

2.47Phreatic Surface - means the upper surface of a zone of saturation where a body of groundwater is not confined by an overlying impermeable strata.

2.48Piezometric Surface - means the surface to which the water from a given aquifer will rise under its pressure and elevation head.

2.49Piping - means a process of internal erosion which occurs when water transports soil or soil like materials through unprotected exits, developing unseen channels or pipes through an embankment or its foundation.

2.50Potential Hazard - means the existence of any condition or practice or any violation of a permit or other requirements of the Act in an operating or an abandoned coal refuse disposal area which might reasonably be expected to cause physical harm to persons, property, or the environment inside or outside the permit area.

2.51Principal Spillway - means the hydraulic structure designed to discharge water stored between normal pool and the emergency spillway invert elevations.

2.52Probable Maximum Precipitation - means the depth-duration-area rainfall for a particular area that represents the maximizing of the most critical meteorological conditions that are considered possible of occurrence.

2.53Qualified Person - means a person deemed qualified by registration as a registered professional engineer, or certification by the MSHA as a coal refuse embankment and impoundment inspector, and designated by the operator to make examinations of coal refuse embankments and impoundments under the supervision of the operator's engineer.

2.54Reclamation - means the process of converting disturbed land to a stable form for productive use.

2.55Sediment - means solid material, both mineral and organic, resulting from the works of man that has been moved from its site of origin by water.

2.56Safety Factor - means the ratio of the available shear strength to the developed shear stress, or the ratio of the sum of the resisting forces to the sum of the loading or driving forces, as determined by one or more accepted engineering methods of analysis.

2.57Sediment Control Structure - means a primary structure designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with Section 4B of the Surface Mining regulations and includes barriers, dams, excavations or other structures placed in suitable locations which slows down water runoff to allow sediment to settle out. Provided that such secondary sediment control structures including hay or straw bales, check dams, riprap, or mulch are not considered primary sediment control structures.

2.58Seepage - means

1) the appearance or disappearance of water at the surface of natural ground or embankments or

2) the movement of water through soil or soil-like materials.

2.59Site - means the coal refuse disposal area, diversion ditches, sediment control structures, roads and all other surface disturbance within the permit area.

2.60Slope Protection - means any measures taken to control erosion on slopes.

2.61Slope Stability - means the degree of safety relative to the development of a structural failure in a slope or embankment as defined by one or more standard engineering methods of analysis.

2.62Stabilize - means to control movement of soil, or soil-like material, spoil piles, or areas of disturbed earth by modifying geometric, physical or chemical properties.

2.63Storm Water - means any water flowing over the surface of the ground caused by precipitation; generally, surface runoff.

2.64Structure - means but is not be limited to gas lines, water lines, towers, airports, coal facilities and dams.

2.65Strength Parameters - mean those engineering values obtained from standard engineering shear strength tests of soil or soil-like material.

2.66Sub-drainage System - means a designed and constructed system provided for the conveyance of subsurface water.

2.67Subsidence - means a sinking, collapsing or cracking of a portion of the earth's surface resulting from the underground removal of a mineral subsequent to failure of support structures.

2.68Surface Water - means water on the surface of the earth.

2.69Topsoil - means the A horizon soil layer of the three major soil horizons.

2.70Toxic-Forming Materials - means earth materials or wastes which, if acted upon by air, water weathering, or microbiological processes, are likely to produce chemical or physical conditions in soils, air or water that are detrimental to biota or uses of water.

2.71Toxic Mine Drainage - means water that is discharged from active, abandoned and other areas affected by surface mining or prospecting operations and which contains a substance which through chemical action or physical effects, is likely to kill, injure, or impair biota commonly present in the area that might be exposed to it.

2.72Zone of Saturation - means the zone below the piezometric surface in which all voids are filled with groundwater.

W. Va. Code R. § 38-2B-2