1. (a) When the approved postdisposal land use is cropland or as provided in subsection (c), the following apply:

   1. (1) The standards for successful revegetation shall be based upon crop productivity or yield.
   2. (2) The approved standard shall be the average yields per acre for the crop and soil type as specified in the soil surveys of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
   3. (3) The productivity or yield of the disposal area shall be equal to or greater than the approved standard for the last two consecutive growing seasons of the 5-year responsibility period established in this section. Productivity or yield shall be considered equal if production or yield is at least 90% of the approved standard.

2. (b) When the approved postdisposal land use is other than cropland, the following apply:

   1. (1) The standards for successful revegetation shall be determined by ground cover.

   2. (2) The approved standard shall be the percent ground cover of the vegetation which exists on the proposed area to be affected by coal refuse disposal activities. The Department will not approve less than a minimum of 70% ground cover of permanent plant species with not more than 1.0% of the area having less than 30% ground cover with no single or contiguous area having less than 30% ground cover exceeding 3,000 square feet. When woody species are planted in mixture with herbaceous species, the standards in this subsection shall be met and a minimum of 400 woody plants per acre shall be established, except:

      1. (i) On slopes greater than 20 degrees, the minimum number of woody plants shall be 600 per acre.
      2. (ii) When the approved postdisposal land use is commercial forest land, the minimum number of woody plants shall be 450 trees per acre with at least 75% commercial tree species.
      3. (iii) When the approved postdisposal land use is wildlife habitat, the requirements of § 90.155 (relating to revegetation: species) apply and the areas approved for the planting of woody species shall have a stocking equal to or greater than 90% of the stocking of woody plants of the same life form on the proposed area to be affected by coal refuse disposal activities. The Department will not approve stocking of less than 400 woody plants per acre.

   3. (3) The following shall apply for purposes of measuring the stocking standards for woody species:

      1. (i) Root crown or root sprouts over 1 foot in height shall count as one toward meeting the stocking requirements. When multiple stems occur, only the tallest stem shall be counted.
      2. (ii) A tree or shrub shall count as one toward meeting the stocking requirements if the tree or shrub has been in place at least two growing seasons and is alive and healthy with at least 1/3 of its length in live crown.
   4. (4) The percent ground cover of the permit area shall meet the standards of paragraph (2) for a minimum of the last 2 consecutive years of the 5-year period of responsibility, and the 5-year period of responsibility shall commence after the last year of augmented seeding and fertilizing.
   5. (5) For purposes of this section, herbaceous species means grasses, legumes, and nonleguminous forbs; woody plants means woody shrubs, trees, and vines; and ground cover means the area of ground covered by the combined aerial parts of the vegetation and the litter that is produced naturally onsite, expressed as a percentage of the total area of measurement.
3. (c) When the approved postdisposal land use is pastureland, the crop productivity standards of subsection (a) and the ground cover standards of subsection (b) shall be met.

Authority

The provisions of this § 90.159 amended under section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. § 691.5); sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § § 1396.4(a) and 1396.4b); section 3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P.S. § 30.53b); section 7(b) of The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (52 P.S. § 1406.7(b)); and section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 510-20).

Source

The provisions of this § 90.159 adopted December 19, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 4789, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended July 30, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2473, effective July 31, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 2382; amended June 25, 1993, effective June 26, 1993, 23 Pa.B. 3075; amended March 13, 2020, effective March 14, 2020, 50 Pa.B. 1508. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (207996) and (281267).

Cross References

This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 86.172 (relating to criteria for release of bond); 25 Pa. Code § 90.17 (relating to vegetation information); 25 Pa. Code § 90.33 (relating to reclamation plan); 25 Pa. Code § 90.100 (relating to nutrients and soil amendments); 25 Pa. Code § 90.105 (relating to stream channel diversions); 25 Pa. Code § 90.108 (relating to hydrologic balance: sedimentation ponds); 25 Pa. Code § 90.122 (relating to coal refuse disposal); 25 Pa. Code § 90.125 (relating to coal refuse disposal: construction requirements); 25 Pa. Code § 90.150 (relating to protection of fish, wildlife and related environmental values); 25 Pa. Code § 90.155 (relating to revegetation: species); 25 Pa. Code § 90.157 (relating to revegetation: mulching); 25 Pa. Code § 90.160 (relating to revegetation: techniques and frequency of measurement); 25 Pa. Code § 90.165 (relating to prime farmland: revegetation); and 25 Pa. Code § 90.305 (relating to application approval or denial).