By: Hegar	S.B. No. 1295

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the mining and reclamation of certain land previously
	affected by surface coal mining operations.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 134.004, Natural Resources Code, is
	amended by adding Subdivision (15-a) to read as follows:
	(15-a)  "Previously mined land" means land that:
	(A)  was affected by surface coal mining
	operations occurring before August 3, 1977; and
	(B)  has not been reclaimed in accordance with
	this chapter.
	SECTION 2.  Section 134.069, Natural Resources Code, is
	amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
	(c)  Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b), the commission
	may not deny an applicant's permit application based on a previous
	violation by the applicant that occurred in connection with a
	surface coal mining operation conducted on previously mined land if
	the violation resulted from an event or condition that was not
	contemplated in the permit for the surface coal mining operation.
	SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 134.092, Natural
	Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Performance standards for surface coal mining and
	reclamation operations shall require an operator:
	(1)  to conduct surface coal mining operations to
	maximize the use and conservation of the solid fuel resource being
	recovered so that reaffecting the land in the future through
	surface coal mining can be minimized;
	(2)  to restore the land affected to a condition
	capable of supporting the uses that it could support before mining
	or reasonably likely higher or better uses if:
	(A)  the uses do not present an actual or probable
	hazard to public health or safety or pose an actual or probable
	threat of water diminution or pollution; and
	(B)  the permit applicant's declared proposed
	land use following reclamation:
	(i)  is not considered impractical or
	unreasonable;
	(ii)  is not inconsistent with applicable
	land use policies and plans;
	(iii)  does not involve unreasonable delay
	in implementation; and
	(iv)  does not violate federal, state, or
	local law;
	(3)  except as provided by Sections 134.093(b),
	134.094(b), and 134.107, to backfill, compact where advisable to
	ensure stability or to prevent leaching of toxic materials, and
	grade to restore the approximate original contour of the land with
	all highwalls, spoil piles, and depressions eliminated, unless
	small depressions are needed to retain moisture to assist
	revegetation or as otherwise authorized under this chapter;
	(4)  to stabilize and protect the surface areas,
	including spoil piles affected by the surface coal mining and
	reclamation operation, for effective control of erosion and
	attendant air and water pollution;
	(5)  to remove the topsoil from the land in a separate
	layer and replace it on the backfill area or, if the topsoil is not
	used immediately, to segregate it in a separate pile from other
	spoil;
	(6)  to restore the topsoil or the best available
	subsoil that is best able to support vegetation;
	(7)  for prime farmland to be mined and reclaimed, at a
	minimum:
	(A)  to segregate the A horizon of the natural
	soil, unless it can be shown that other available soil materials
	will create a final soil having a greater productive capacity, and,
	if this material is not used immediately, to stockpile it
	separately from other spoil and provide needed protection from wind
	and water erosion or contamination by other acid or toxic
	materials;
	(B)  to segregate the B horizon of the natural
	soil, underlying C horizons or other strata, or a combination of
	those horizons or other strata that are shown to be texturally and
	chemically suitable for plant growth and that can be shown to be
	equally or more favorable for plant growth than the B horizon, in
	sufficient quantities to create in the regraded final soil a root
	zone of a depth and quality comparable to that which existed in the
	natural soil and, if this material is not used immediately, to
	stockpile it separately from other spoil and provide needed
	protection from wind and water erosion or contamination by other
	acid or toxic material;
	(C)  to replace and regrade the root zone material
	described by Subdivision (7)(B) with proper compaction and uniform
	depth over the regraded spoil material; and
	(D)  to redistribute and grade uniformly the
	surface soil horizon described by Subdivision (7)(A);
	(8)  to create a permanent impoundment of water on a
	mining site as part of a reclamation activity if:
	(A)  the approved mining and reclamation plan and
	permit authorize impoundment; and
	(B)  it is adequately demonstrated that:
	(i)  the size of the impoundment is adequate
	for its intended purposes;
	(ii)  the impoundment dam construction will
	be designed to achieve necessary stability with an adequate margin
	of safety compatible with that of structures constructed under the
	Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. Section
	1001 et seq.);
	(iii)  the quality of impounded water will
	be permanently suitable for its intended use;
	(iv)  discharges from the impoundment will
	not degrade the water quality in the receiving stream below water
	quality standards established under applicable federal and state
	law;
	(v)  the water level will be reasonably
	stable;
	(vi)  final grading will provide adequate
	safety and access for proposed water users; and
	(vii)  the impoundment will not reduce the
	quality or quantity of water used by adjacent or surrounding
	landowners for agricultural, industrial, recreational, or domestic
	uses;
	(9)  to conduct any augering operation associated with
	surface mining so as to maximize recoverability of coal reserves
	remaining after the operation and reclamation are complete and to
	seal the auger holes with an impervious and noncombustible material
	to prevent drainage unless the commission determines that the
	resulting impoundment of water in the auger holes may create a
	hazard to the environment or the public health or safety;
	(10)  to minimize disturbances to the prevailing
	hydrologic balance at the mine site in associated offsite areas and
	to the quality and quantity of water in surface-water systems and
	groundwater systems both during and after surface coal mining
	operations and during reclamation by:
	(A)  avoiding acid or other toxic mine drainage by
	measures including:
	(i)  preventing water from contacting or
	removing water from contact with toxic-producing deposits;
	(ii)  treating drainage to reduce toxic
	content that adversely affects downstream water when the drainage
	is released to a watercourse; or
	(iii)  casing, sealing, or otherwise
	managing boreholes, shafts, and wells and keeping acid or other
	toxic drainage from entering surface water and groundwater;
	(B)  conducting surface coal mining operations
	to:
	(i)  prevent, to the extent possible using
	the best technology currently available, additional contributions
	of suspended solids to streamflow or runoff outside the permit
	area; and
	(ii)  prevent those contributions from
	exceeding requirements set by applicable state or federal law;
	(C)  constructing any siltation structures under
	Paragraph (B) before beginning surface coal mining operations;
	(D)  cleaning out and removing temporary or large
	settling ponds or other siltation structures from drainways after
	disturbed areas are revegetated and stabilized and depositing the
	silt and debris at a site and in a manner approved by the
	commission;
	(E)  restoring the recharge capacity of the mined
	area to approximate premining conditions;
	(F)  avoiding channel deepening or enlargement in
	operations requiring the discharge of water from a mine;
	(G)  preserving throughout the mining and
	reclamation process the essential hydrologic functions of alluvial
	valley floors in the arid and semiarid areas of the country; and
	(H)  performing other actions the commission
	prescribes;
	(11)  with respect to surface disposal of mine wastes,
	tailings, coal processing wastes, and other wastes in areas other
	than the mine workings or excavations:
	(A)  to stabilize the waste piles in designated
	areas through construction in compacted layers including the use of
	incombustible and impervious materials, if necessary; and
	(B)  to assure that the final contour of the waste
	pile will be compatible with natural surroundings and that the site
	can and will be stabilized and revegetated according to this
	chapter;
	(12)  to refrain from surface coal mining within 500
	feet of an active or abandoned underground mine to prevent a
	breakthrough and to protect the health or safety of miners;
	(13)  to design, locate, construct, operate, maintain,
	enlarge, modify, and remove or abandon, in accordance with the
	standards developed under commission rule, existing and new coal
	mine waste piles used temporarily or permanently as dams or
	embankments;
	(14)  to ensure that debris, acid-forming materials,
	toxic materials, or materials constituting a fire hazard are
	treated, buried and compacted, or otherwise disposed of in a manner
	designed to prevent contamination of surface water or groundwater
	and that contingency plans are developed to prevent sustained
	combustion;
	(15)  to ensure that explosives are used in accordance
	with state and federal law, including commission rules;
	(16)  to ensure that reclamation efforts proceed in an
	environmentally sound manner and as contemporaneously as
	practicable with the surface coal mining operations;
	(17)  to ensure that the construction, maintenance, and
	postmining conditions of access roads into and across the site of
	operations will control or prevent:
	(A)  erosion and siltation;
	(B)  water pollution; and
	(C)  damage to:
	(i)  fish or wildlife or their habitat; or
	(ii)  public or private property;
	(18)  to refrain from constructing roads or other
	access ways up a stream bed or drainage channel or so near the
	channel as to seriously alter the normal flow of water;
	(19)  to establish on regraded areas and other affected
	land a diverse, effective, and permanent vegetative cover:
	(A)  of the seasonal variety native to the area of
	land to be affected;
	(B)  capable of self-regeneration and plant
	succession; and
	(C)  at least equal in extent of cover to the
	natural vegetation of the area;
	(20)  to assume responsibility for successful
	revegetation as required by Subdivision (19) for:
	(A)  five years after the last year of augmented
	seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure
	compliance with that subdivision, if the land is not previously
	mined land; or
	(B)  two years after the last year of augmented
	seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work in order to assure
	compliance with that subdivision, if the land is previously mined
	land [subsection];
	(21)  to protect off-site areas from slides or damage
	occurring during the surface coal mining and reclamation operations
	and to refrain from depositing spoil material or locating any part
	of the operations or waste accumulations outside the permit area;
	(22)  to place the excess spoil material resulting from
	surface coal mining and reclamation activities in accordance with
	Section 134.106;
	(23)  to meet other standards necessary to achieve
	reclamation in accordance with the purposes of this chapter,
	considering the physical, climatological, and other
	characteristics of the site;
	(24)  to the extent possible, using the best technology
	currently available, to minimize disturbance and adverse impacts of
	the operation on fish, wildlife, and related environmental values
	and to enhance those resources where practicable; and
	(25)  to provide an undisturbed natural barrier
	beginning at the elevation of the lowest coal seam to be mined and
	extending from the outslope for the distance the commission
	determines shall be retained in place as a barrier to slides and
	erosion.
	SECTION 4.  Section 134.104, Natural Resources Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 134.104.  RESPONSIBILITY FOR REVEGETATION: AREA OF LOW
	PRECIPITATION. Notwithstanding Section 134.092(a)(20), in areas
	or regions of the state where the annual average precipitation is 26
	inches or less, an operator's assumption of responsibility and
	liability extends for:
	(1)  10 years after the last year of augmented seeding,
	fertilizing, irrigation, or other work, if the land is not
	previously mined land; or
	(2)  five years after the last year of augmented
	seeding, fertilizing, irrigation, or other work, if the land is
	previously mined land.
	SECTION 5.  Subsection (a), Section 134.105, Natural
	Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The applicable [five-year or 10-year] period of
	responsibility for revegetation begins on the date of initial
	planting for long-term intensive agricultural postmining land use
	if the commission approves a long-term intensive agricultural
	postmining land use.
	SECTION 6.  Subsection (c), Section 134.069, Natural
	Resources Code, as added by this Act, applies to a permit
	application that is filed with the Railroad Commission of Texas on
	or after the effective date of this Act or that is pending as of the
	effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.