Wherever used or referred to in this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

1.    “Alluvial valley floors” means the unconsolidated stream-laid deposits holding streams where water availability is sufficient for subirrigation or flood irrigation agricultural activities but does not include upland areas which are generally overlain by a thin veneer of colluvial deposits composed chiefly of sediment from sheet erosion, deposits by unconcentrated runoff or slope wash, together with talus, other mass movement accumulation, and windblown deposits.

2.    “Approximate original contour” means that surface configuration achieved by backfilling and grading an area affected by surface coal mining operations so that the reclaimed area closely resembles the general surface configuration of the land prior to being affected by surface coal mining operations and blends into and complements the surrounding undisturbed land.

3.    “Coal” means a dark-colored compact and earthy organic rock with less than forty percent inorganic components, based on dry material, formed by the accumulation and decomposition of plant material. The term includes consolidated lignitic coal, in both oxidized and nonoxidized forms, having less than eight thousand three hundred British thermal units per pound [453.59 grams], moist and mineral matter free, whether or not the material is enriched in radioactive materials. The term does not include commercial leonardite.

     4.    “Commercial leonardite” means a dark-colored, soft, earthy organic rock formed from the oxidation of lignite coal, and is produced from a mine that has as its only function for supply for purposes other than gasification or combustion to generate electricity.

5.    “Commission” means the public service commission, or such other department, bureau, or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of that commission. The commission is the state regulatory authority for all purposes relating to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 [Pub. L. 95-87; 91 Stat.

445; 30 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq.].

6.    “Extended mining plan” means a written statement setting forth the matters specified in section 38-14.1-15 and covering the estimated life of the surface coal mining operation.

7.    “Final cut” means the last pit created in a surface mining pit sequence.

8.    “Highwall” and “endwall” mean those sides of the pit adjacent to unmined land.

9.    “Imminent danger to the health and safety of the public” means the existence of any condition or practice, or any violation of a permit or other requirement of this chapter in a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, which condition, practice, or violation could reasonably be expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit area before such condition, practice, or violation can be abated. A reasonable expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a rational person, subjected to the same conditions or practices giving rise to the peril, would not expose the person’s self to the danger during the time necessary for abatement.

10.    “Operator” means any individual, person, partnership, firm, association, society, joint stock company, company, cooperative, corporation, limited liability company, or other business organization, or any department, agency, or instrumentality of the state, local, or federal government, or any governmental subdivision thereof including any publicly owned utility or publicly owned corporation of the state, local, or federal government, engaged in or controlling a surface coal mining operation. Operator does not include those who remove or intend to remove two hundred fifty tons [226.80 metric tons] or less of coal or commercial leonardite from the earth by coal or commercial leonardite mining within twelve consecutive calendar months in any one location or who remove any coal or commercial leonardite pursuant to reclamation operations under chapter 38-14.2.

11.    “Other minerals” means clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous and nonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid material or substances of commercial value occurring within five hundred feet [152.4 meters] or less of the land surface and which are excavated in solid form from natural deposits on or in the earth, exclusive of coal or commercial leonardite and those minerals which occur naturally in liquid or gaseous form.

12.    “Other suitable strata” means those portions of the overburden determined by the commission to be suitable for meeting the requirements of subsections 2 and 17 of section 38-14.1-24 and based on data submitted by the permit applicant.

13.    “Overburden” means all of the earth and other materials, with the exception of suitable plant growth material, which lie above natural deposits of coal or commercial leonardite and also means such earth and other materials, with the exception of suitable plant growth material, disturbed from their natural state by surface coal or commercial leonardite mining operations.

14.    “Performance bond” means a surety bond, collateral bond, self-bond, deposit, a bond issued under the state surface mining and reclamation bond fund, any alternative form of security approved by the commission, or combination thereof, by which a permittee assures faithful performance of all requirements of this chapter.

15.    “Permit” means a permit to conduct surface coal mining and reclamation operations issued by the commission.

16.    “Permit applicant” means a person or operator applying for a permit.

17.    “Permit area” means the area of land approved by the commission for surface coal mining operations which shall be readily identifiable by appropriate markers on the site.

    18.    “Permit renewal” means the extension of the permit term for areas within the boundaries of the initial or existing permit, upon the expiration of the initial or existing permit term.

19.    “Permit revision” means the modification of permit provisions during the term of the permit and includes changes in the mining and reclamation plans, incidental boundary extensions, and the transfer, assignment, or sale of rights granted under the permit.

20.    “Permit term” means a period of time beginning with the date upon which a permit is given for surface coal mining and reclamation operations under the provisions of this chapter, and ending with the expiration of the next succeeding five years plus any renewal of the permit granted under this chapter.

21.    “Permittee” means a person or operator holding a permit.

22.    “Person” means an individual, partnership, firm, association, society, joint stock company, company, cooperative, corporation, limited liability company, or other business organization.

23.    “Pit” means a tract of land, from which overburden, coal, or commercial leonardite, or any combination of overburden, coal, or commercial leonardite has been or is being removed for the purpose of surface coal mining operations.

24.    “Prime farmland” means lands as prescribed by commission regulation that have the soil characteristics and moisture supply needed to produce sustained high yields of adapted crops economically when treated and managed, including management of water, according to modern farming methods. Furthermore, such lands historically have been used for intensive agricultural purposes and are large enough in size to constitute a viable economic unit.

25.    “Prime soils” means those soils that have the required soil characteristics (including slope and moisture supply) needed to produce sustained high yields of adapted crops, as determined by the state conservationist of the United States department of agriculture soil conservation service.

26.    “Reclaimed” or “reclaim” means conditioning areas affected by surface coal mining operations to make them capable of supporting the uses which they were capable of supporting prior to any mining, or higher or better uses, pursuant to subsection 2 of section 38-14.1-24.

27.    “Reclamation plan” means a plan submitted by an applicant for a permit which sets forth a plan for reclamation of the proposed surface coal mining operations pursuant to subsection 2 of section 38-14.1-14.

28.    “Refuse” means all waste material directly connected with the production of coal or commercial leonardite mined by surface coal mining operations.

29.    “Soil amendments” means those materials added by the operator to the replaced overburden or suitable plant growth material, or both, to improve the physical or chemical condition of the soil in its relation to plant growth capability.

30.    “Soil classifier” means a professional soil classifier as defined in subsection 4 of section 43-36-01.

31.    “Soil survey” means the identification and location of all suitable plant growth material within the proposed permit area and an accompanying report that describes, classifies, and interprets for use such materials.

32.    “State program” means the program established by the state of North Dakota in accordance with the requirements of section 503 of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 [Pub. L. 95-87; 91 Stat. 470; 30 U.S.C. § 1253] to regulate surface coal mining and reclamation operations on lands within the state of North Dakota.

33.    “Suitable plant growth material” means that soil material (normally the A, B, and portions of the C horizons) located within the proposed permit area which, based upon a soil survey, is found by the commission to be the most acceptable as a medium for plant growth when respread on the surface of regraded areas.

34.    “Surface coal mining and reclamation operations” means surface coal mining operations and all activities necessary and incidental to the reclamation of such operations after July 1, 1979.

35.    “Surface coal mining operations” means:

a.    Activities affecting the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal or commercial leonardite mine. Such activities include extraction of coal or commercial leonardite from coal or commercial leonardite refuse piles, excavation for the purpose of obtaining coal or commercial leonardite, including such common methods as contour, strip, auger, box cut, open pit, and area mining, the uses of explosives and blasting, and in situ distillation or retorting, leaching or other chemical or physical processing, and the cleaning, concentrating, or other processing or preparation, and loading of coal or commercial leonardite at or near the minesite, except that such activities do not include coal or commercial leonardite exploration subject to chapter 38-12.1, or the extraction of coal or commercial leonardite incidental to reclamation operations under chapter 38-14.2; and

b.    The areas upon which such activities occur or where such activities disturb the natural land surface. Such areas shall also include any adjacent land the use of which is incidental to any such activities, all adjacent lands affected by the construction of new roads or the improvement or use of existing roads to gain access to the site of such activities and for haulage, and excavations, workings, impoundments, dams, refuse banks, dumps, stockpiles, overburden piles, spoil banks, culm banks, tailings, holes or depressions, repair areas, storage areas, processing areas, shipping areas, and other areas upon which are sited structures, facilities, or other property or materials on the surface, resulting from or incident to such activities.

36. “Unwarranted failure to comply” means the failure of a permittee to prevent the occurrence of any violation of the permittee’s permit or any requirement of this chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care, or the failure to abate any violation of such permit or this chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care.