MONITORING:

1. A. An environmental monitoring system shall be installed, maintained and operated by the permittee on all alluvial valley floors during surface coal mining and reclamation operations and continued until all bonds are released in accordance with 19.8.14 NMAC. The monitoring system shall provide sufficient information to allow the director to determine that:

   (1) the agricultural utility and production of the alluvial valley floor not within the affected area is being preserved;

   (2) the potential agricultural utility and production on the alluvial valley floor within the affected area has been reestablished;

   (3) the important characteristics supporting the essential hydrologic functions of the alluvial valley floor in the affected area have been reestablished after mining; and

   (4) the important characteristics supporting the essential hydrologic functions of an alluvial valley floor in areas not affected are preserved during and after mining.

2. B. Monitoring shall be performed at adequate frequencies, to indicate long-term trends that could affect agricultural use of the alluvial valley floor.
3. C. Monitoring shall be performed during operations, to identify characteristics of the alluvial valley floor not identified in the permit application and to evaluate the importance of all characteristics.

4. D. All monitoring data collected and analyses thereof shall routinely be made available to the director.

   [11-29-97; 19.8.23.2303 NMAC- Rn, 19 NMAC 8.2.23.2303, 9-29-2000]

   HISTORY OF 19.8.23 NMAC:

   Pre-NMAC History:

   The material in Part 23 was derived from that previously filed with the State Records Center and Archives under:

   SB 73-1 Regulations of the State of New Mexico Coal Surfacemining Commission, filed 1-10-73 and its amendment filed 8-4-76

   SB 78-1 (Rule 78-1) Regulations of the State of New Mexico Coal Surfacemining Commission, filed 8-31-78

   SB 79-1 (Rule 79-1) New Mexico Coal Surfacemining Regulations, filed 7-11-79

   CSMC Rule 80-1 (Rule 80-1) Surface Coal Mining Regulations, filed 9-24-80; and all amendments to CSMC Rule 80-1, filed 7-29-82, 11-10-83, 3-5-84, 7-19-84, filed 8-6-84, 8-23-84, 3-28-89, 6-15-90, 9-18-90, 2-15-91, 5-8-91, 8-26-91, 10-4-91, 7-28-92, 1-25-93, 11-1-94, 3-10-95, 4-12-95, 12-21-95.

   Other History:

   Renumbered and reformatted CSMC Rule 80-1, Surface Coal Mining Regulations, filed 9-24-80 to 19 NMAC 8.2, Coal Surface Mining, filed 11-13-97.

   Renumbered 19 NMAC 8.2 Subpart 23 Special Performance Standards - Operations in Alluvial Valley Floors, filed 11-13-97, to 19.8.23 NMAC Special Performance Standards - Operations in Alluvial Valley Floors, effective 09-29-2000.