17.24.631    GENERAL HYDROLOGY REQUIREMENTS

(1) The permittee shall plan and conduct mining and reclamation operations to minimize disturbance to the prevailing hydrologic balance and to prevent material damage to the prevailing hydrologic balance outside the permit area.

(2) Changes in water quality and quantity, in the depth to ground water, and in the location of surface water drainage channels must be minimized so that the postmining land use of the disturbed land is not adversely affected and applicable federal and state statutes and regulations are not violated.

(3)(a) The permittee shall conduct operations so as to minimize water pollution and shall, where necessary, use treatment methods to control water pollution. The permittee shall emphasize mining and reclamation practices that will prevent or minimize water pollution. Diversions of drainages must be used in preference to the use of water treatment facilities.

(b) Practices to control and minimize pollution include, but are not limited to, stabilizing disturbed areas through land shaping, diverting runoff, achieving quickly germinating and growing stands of temporary vegetation, regulating channel velocity of water, lining drainage channels with rock or vegetation, mulching, selectively placing and sealing acid-forming and toxic-forming materials, and selectively placing waste materials in backfill areas.

(4) If pollution can be controlled only by treatment, the permittee shall operate and maintain the necessary water treatment facilities for as long as treatment is required. The department may specify which practices, used to minimize water pollution, may be used on a permanent basis.

 

History: 82-4-205, MCA; IMP, 82-4-231, MCA; NEW, 1980 MAR p. 725, Eff. 4/1/80; AMD, 1989 MAR p. 30, Eff. 1/13/89; TRANS, from DSL, 1996 MAR p. 2852; AMD, 2024 MAR p. 258, Eff. 2/10/24.