1. (a) Continuous use; intermittent use of a material site. A miner shall reclaim a material site in accordance with AS 27.19.020, 11 AAC 97.200, 11 AAC 97.210, and this section as contemporaneously as practicable with the mining.

   1. (1) If site conditions permit, a miner shall proceed cell by cell so that reclamation can and will occur immediately after each cell is mined. Mining by cell means dividing the material site into separate units and mining them in an orderly sequence so that topsoil removed from a newly opened unit can be placed on a unit already mined.

   2. (2) If site conditions require that the entire material site be mined continuously, with the materials being removed layer by layer, a miner shall reclaim the site as soon as the mining is completed. However, the commissioner will allow the reclamation to be postponed if the commissioner finds that contemporaneous reclamation is impracticable, because the landowner plans to allow future intermittent mining of the material site by one or more miners over a period of more than one year. Before the commissioner allows such a postponement, the miner or landowner must

      1. (A) submit a reclamation plan for the entire material site, including stockpiles;
      2. (B) ensure that reclamation will occur no later than immediately after the material site is ultimately exhausted or to be abandoned; and
      3. (C) provide for a bond for all mined areas at all times until the reclamation is ultimately completed.
2. (b) Extraction of materials from river beds (gravel bailing operations). If a miner extracts materials from the bed of a watercourse, the miner shall reestablish a stable bed and bank profile as contemporaneously as practicable with the extraction. A stable bed and bank profile is one that will not substantially alter river currents or change erosion and deposition patterns downstream. In reviewing a reclamation plan for such an operation, the commissioner will use hydrologic information available to the department and other information the commissioner considers relevant.
3. (c) Peat and topsoil mines. A reclamation plan for a mine that produces peat, topsoil, or similar materials must provide that at least two inches of a suitable growing medium will be left or replaced on the mined land.
4. (d) Materials used for other mines. If the primary use of extracted materials is to assist another mining operation regulated under this chapter (such as gravel to build a road to a mining operation), the miner must include the reclamation plan or letter of intent for the material site operation as part of the reclamation plan or letter of intent for the primary mine.
5. (e) Exempt excavations. If materials are extracted primarily for a non-mining purpose and not part of a mining operation (such as when preparing a building site or highway cut, dredging a shipping channel, or drilling an access tunnel for a non-mining purpose), the requirements of this chapter do not apply even if the materials are sold commercially or used as fill.
6. (f) Stockpiles. The requirements of this chapter do not apply to materials stockpiled at a distribution point other than the mined area, nor to materials stockpiled at a mined area where no mining has taken place after October 14, 1991. A miner need not reclaim acreage on which materials are stockpiled at an active mine site until the stockpile is used up. However, a miner must locate the stockpile where it will not erode into a waterbody. A stockpile is a storage pile of materials segregated as a commercial product for sale or distribution elsewhere and does not include non-commercial waste rock, overburden, or tailings. A stockpile associated with a mining operation other than for materials is not exempt from this chapter.

7. (g) Material used for logging. After December 31, 1994, this subsection applies as follows to the reclamation of material sites that are subject to AS 41.17 and 11 AAC 95:

   1. (1) submission of a plan of operations under AS 41.17.090(c) and 11 AAC 95.220, or compliance with an adopted site-specific forest land use plan for an operation on state land, satisfies the requirement of AS 27.19.050(b) for a letter of intent, if

      1. (A) an individual material site operation is within the limits set out in AS 27.19.050(a)(2); and

      2. (B) the plan of operations or site-specific forest land use plan notifies the commissioner that

         1. (i) the total acreage and volume to be mined are within the limits set out in AS 27.19.050(a)(2);
         2. (ii) the miner will reclaim all acreage required to be rehabilitated under 11 AAC 95.325; and
         3. (iii) compliance with the rehabilitation measures required under 11 AAC 95.325 will constitute the reclamation measures to be used to reclaim the total acreage mined;

   2. (2) a plan of operations under AS 41.17.090(c) and 11 AAC 95.220, or a timber sale inspection report filed at the end of the operating season for an operation on state land, satisfies the requirement of AS 27.19.050(c) for an annual reclamation statement, if

      1. (A) the miner annually certifies that the material site operation is within the limits set out in AS 27.19.050(a)(2), and that the operation is in compliance with 11 AAC 95.325; and
      2. (B) inspection under AS 41.17 verifies that the miner is in compliance with 11 AAC 95.325;

   3. (3) submission of a plan of operations under AS 41.17.090(c) and 11 AAC 95.220, or compliance with an adopted site-specific forest land use plan for an operation on state land, satisfies the requirement of AS 27.19.030 for a reclamation plan, if

      1. (A) an individual material site operation exceeds the limits set out in AS 27.19.050(a)(2);
      2. (B) the miner complies with the bonding requirement of AS 27.19.040 in one of the ways set out in 11 AAC 97.400 - 11 AAC 97.450; and
      3. (C) the commissioner does not disapprove the use of the plan of operations or site-specific forest land use plan as a means of satisfying the requirement of AS 27.19.030 for a reclamation plan;
   4. (4) compliance with 11 AAC 95.325 fulfills all other requirements of AS 27.19 and this chapter.

(Eff. 7/30/92 Register 123; am 1/4/95, Register 133)