2016-29958: Stream Protection Rule

Summary

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE or OSM), are revising our regulations, based on, among other things, advances in science, to improve the balance between environmental protection and the Nation's need for coal as a source of energy. This final rule will better protect water supplies, surface water and groundwater quality, streams, fish, wildlife, and related environmental values from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and provide mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment. We have revised our regulations to define "material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area" and require that each permit specify the point at which adverse mining-related impacts on groundwater and surface water would reach that level of damage; collect adequate premining data about the site of the proposed mining operation and adjacent areas to establish an adequate baseline for evaluation of the impacts of mining and the effectiveness of reclamation; adjust monitoring requirements to enable timely detection and correction of any adverse trends in the quality or quantity of surface water and groundwater or the biological condition of streams; ensure protection or restoration of perennial and intermittent streams and related resources; ensure that permittees and regulatory authorities make use of advances in science and technology; ensure that land disturbed by mining operations is restored to a condition capable of supporting the uses that it was capable of supporting before mining; and update and codify the requirements and procedures for protection of threatened or endangered species and designated critical habitat. Approximately thirty percent of the final rule consists of editorial revisions and organizational changes intended to improve consistency, clarity, accuracy, and ease of use.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 15 parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 30 CFR 700 General
• 30 CFR 701 Permanent Regulatory Program
• 30 CFR 773 Requirements for Permits and Permit Processing
• 30 CFR 774 Revision; Renewal; Transfer, Assignment, or Sale of Permit Rights; Post-Permit Issuance Requirements; and Other Actions Based on Ownership, Control, and Violation Information
• 30 CFR 777 General Content Requirements for Permit Applications
• 30 CFR 779 Surface Mining Permit Applications—Minimum Requirements for Information on Environmental Resources
• 30 CFR 780 Surface Mining Permit Applications—Minimum Requirement for Reclamation and Operation Plan
• 30 CFR 783 Underground Mining Permit Applications—Minimum Requirements for Information on Environmental Resources
• 30 CFR 784 Underground Mining Permit Applications—Minimum Requirements for Reclamation and Operation Plan
• 30 CFR 785 Requirements for Permits for Special Categories of Mining
• 30 CFR 800 Bond and Insurance Requirements for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Operations Under Regulatory Programs
• 30 CFR 816 Permanent Program Performance Standards—Surface Mining Activities
• 30 CFR 817 Permanent Program Performance Standards—Underground Mining Activities
• 30 CFR 824 Special Permanent Program Performance Standards—Mountaintop Removal
• 30 CFR 827 Permanent Program Performance Standards—Coal Preparation Plants Not Located Within the Permit Area of a Mine