PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the requirements for concurrent surface and underground mining pursuant to sections 444.810 and 444.855.2(12) and .2(16), RSMo.

1. (1) Responsibilities.

   1. (A) The commission or director shall review and grant or deny requests for variances from the requirement that reclamation efforts proceed as contemporaneously as practicable in accordance with 10 CSR 40- 6.060(7) and this rule.
   2. (B) The person who conducts combined surface and underground mining activities shall comply with the provisions of this rule.
2. (2) Applicability. A variance under this rule applies only to those specific areas within the permit areas that the person conducting combined surface and underground mining activities has shown to be necessary for implementing the proposed concurrent operations and that the commission or director has approved in the permit under 10 CSR 40- 6.060(7). The variance is effective for any particular portion of the permit area only for the time necessary to facilitate the authorized underground mining activities.

3. (3) Compliance With Variance Terms.

   1. (A) Each person who conducts operations under a variance issued under 10 CSR 40- 6.060(7) shall comply with all applicable requirements of this section and the regulatory program, except to the extent that—

      1. 1. A delay in compliance with these

requirements is specifically authorized by the variance issued under the permit; and

1. 2. The delay in compliance is necessary

to achieve the purposes for which the variance was granted.

1. (B) Each person who conducts activities under a variance issued under 10 CSR 40- 6.060(7) shall comply with each requirement of the variance as set forth in the permit.

1. (4) Additional Performance Standards. In addition to the requirements of 10 CSR 40-3, each person who conducts combined surface and underground mining activities shall comply with the following:

   1. (A) A five-hundred foot (500’) barrier pillar of coal shall be maintained between the surface and underground mining activities in any one (1) seam. The commission or director and the Mine Safety and Health Administration and Missouri Division of Labor Standards, however, may approve a lesser distance after finding in the permit and plan that mining at a lesser distance will result in—

      1. 1. Improved coal resources recovery;
      2. 2. Abatement of water pollution; or
      3. 3. Elimination of hazards to the health

and safety of the public;

1. (B) The vertical distance between combined surface and underground mining activities working separate seams shall be sufficient to provide for the health and safety of the workers and to prevent surface water from entering the underground workings; and
2. (C) No combined activities shall reduce the protection provided public health and safety below the level of protection required for those activities if conducted without a variance.

AUTHORITY: section 444.810, RSMo 1986.* Original rule filed May 12, 1980, effective Sept. 11, 1980. *Original authority 1979, amended 1983.