When used in this subchapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Access road" means an existing or proposed non-public road that connects an opencut operation to a public road or highway. The term includes the roadbed, cut and fill slopes, ditches, and other structures and disturbances related to the construction, use, and reclamation of the access road. 

(2) "Bonded area" means a portion of the permit area that is subject to a reclamation bond or other security approved by the department under this subchapter.

(3) "Clean fill" means soil, overburden, fines, dirt, sand, gravel, rocks, and rebar-free concrete that have not been made impure by contact, commingling, or consolidation with organic compounds such as petroleum hydrocarbons, inorganic metals, or contaminants that meet the definition of hazardous waste under ARM Title 17, chapter 53, or regulated PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls). "Rebar-free concrete" means pieces of concrete that may contain rebar, but from which no rebar protrudes beyond the concrete.

(4) "Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality provided for in 2-15-3501, MCA.

(5) "Dryland permit" means a permit required under 82-4-432(1)(c), MCA and subject to 82-4-432(14), MCA.

(6) "Intermittent stream" means a stream or reach of a stream that is below the local water table for at least some part of the year and obtains its flow from both ground water discharge and surface runoff.

(7) "Materials" has the meaning given in 82-4-403, MCA.

(8) "Non-bonded area" means the portion of a permit area that is not covered by a reclamation bond or other security approved by the department under this subchapter.

(9)  "Occupied dwelling unit" has the meaning given in 82-4-403, MCA.

(10) "Opencut operation" has the meaning given in 82-4-403, MCA.

(11) "Overburden" has the meaning given in 82-4-403, MCA.

(12) "Pattern of violations" means three or more violations of the Act or this subchapter that harm or have the potential to harm human health or the environment. A violation does not contribute to a pattern of violations:

(a) until such time as the opportunity for administrative review, judicial review, or appeal have passed for the violation; or

(b) after the violator demonstrates compliance with all the terms of an administrative or judicial order in an action taken by the department under authority of the Act and this subchapter because of the violation.

(13) "Perennial stream" means a stream or part of a stream that flows continuously during all of the calendar year as a result of ground water discharge or surface runoff.

(14) "Permit area" means the areas subject to a permit granted under this subchapter.

(15) "Removal" means excavation of soil, overburden, and material from its natural condition.

(16) "Slope" means the measure of an incline by means of a ratio of horizontal to vertical distance indicated by a pair of numbers separated by a colon, for example, 3:1, which means one foot of rise over three horizontal feet.

(17) "Soil" has the meaning given in 82-4-403, MCA.

(18) "Standard permit" is a permit that is required under 82-4-432(1)(b), MCA and that is subject to 82-4-432(2) through (13), MCA.

(19) "Tilling" means breaking up the substrate or soil before seeding to a depth of at least one foot to improve conditions for plant growth.