Definitions as used in this part unless the context otherwise requires:

1. (1) “Act” means The Arkansas Open-Cut Land Reclamation Act, Arkansas Code § 15-57-301 et seq.;
2. (2) “Affected land” means the area of land where open-cut mining has been or is taking place or upon which spoil has been deposited, or any other surface disturbance including haul roads, processing and loading facilities, or appurtenances related to the mining operations on or after July 1, 1977, until the land is reclaimed;
3. (3) “Commercial purposes” means the sale of material from an open-cut mine as either a cash transaction, part of a contractual agreement involving payment for materials provided, or use in another process to create a product with value;
4. (4) “Commission” means the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission or such commission or other entity as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission;

5. (5)

   1. (A) “Contemporaneous reclamation” means a mining method for a sand and gravel operation where the mining and reclamation of the mine site has been planned such that the reclamation of the mined areas takes place at intervals or stages as prescribed by the Division of Environmental Quality and defined in the permit.
   2. (B) This mining method reduces the amount of land affected by mining at any given point in time and reduces reclamation costs through efficient management of resources;
6. (6) “Division” means the Division of Environmental Quality or such department or other entity which may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of the Division of Environmental Quality;
7. (7) “Director” means the executive head and active administrator of the Division of Environmental Quality;
8. (8) “Final cut” means the last pit created in an open-cut mined area;
9. (9) “Highwall” means that side of the pit adjacent to unmined land;
10. (10) “Material” means any commodity or natural deposit mined or treated as spoil during open-cut mining operations;
11. (11) “Open-cut mining” means the surface extraction of clay, bauxite, sand, gravel, soil, shale, or other materials for commercial purposes;
12. (12) “Operator” means any person engaged in or controlling an open-cut mining or stream channel mining operation;
13. (13) “Ordinary high-water mark” means that line delimiting the bed from the bank and is found by ascertaining where the presence and actions of water are so usual and long, continuing in ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil of the bed a character distinct from that of the banks, with respect to vegetation and the nature of the soil;
14. (14) “Peak” means a projecting point of spoil created in the open-cut mining process;
15. (15) “Permit term” means the period of time beginning with the date upon which a permit is granted for open-cut mining of lands under the provisions of this part and ending on the date requested by the operator and specified by the Division of Environmental Quality, though not to exceed five (5) years;

16. (16) “Person” means any:

    1. (A) Individual;
    2. (B) Partnership;
    3. (C) Firm;
    4. (D) Company;
    5. (E) Public or private corporation;
    6. (F) Cooperative;
    7. (G) Association;
    8. (H) Joint-stock company;
    9. (I) Trust;
    10. (J) Estate;
    11. (K) Political subdivision or any agency, board, department, or bureau of the state; or
    12. (L) Any other legal entity whatever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties;
17. (17) “Pit” means a tract of land where open-cut mining is taking place;
18. (18) “Reclamation for productive use” means conditioning areas affected by open-cut mining to make them suitable for any uses or purposes consistent with those enumerated in the declaration of policy;
19. (19) “Ridge” means a lengthened elevation of spoil created in the open-cut mining process;
20. (20) “Right-of-way” means the portion of land over or under which certain facilities, including, but not limited to, roadways, pipelines, or power lines, are built;

21. (21) “Soil” means the unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of plants generally free of:

    1. (A) Boulders;
    2. (B) Cobbles; or
    3. (C) Other floating rock;
22. (22) “Spoil” means all waste material and debris connected with open-cut mining and with the mechanical removal, cleaning, and preparation of materials at the mine site;

23. (23)

    1. (A) “Streambed” or “stream channel” means that area that lies between the lines delimiting the bed from the bank on each side of a:

       1. (i) Creek;
       2. (ii) Branch; or
       3. (iii) River.

    2. (B) Due to the naturally high turbidity and flow rate of certain rivers, the provisions of this part do not apply to the following rivers:

       1. (i) Arkansas;
       2. (ii) Mississippi;
       3. (iii) Ouachita (Louisiana state line to Remmel Dam);
       4. (iv) Red;
       5. (v) Little River (not including Lake Millwood);
       6. (vi) White;
       7. (vii) North Fork of White (Norfork Dam to White);
       8. (viii) Black; and
       9. (ix) St. Francis (mouth to thirty-six degrees (36°) parallel); and

24. (24) “Waterway” means the natural channel of any perennial or intermittent:

    1. (A) River;
    2. (B) Creek; or
    3. (C) Stream.