A. Each application for a permit shall be accompanied by an operations plan that follows the form and contains the accompanying material that the Director requires. The operations plan shall describe the specifications for surface grading and restoration, including sketches delineating placement of spoil, stockpiles, and tailing ponds, to a surface that is suitable for the proposed subsequent use of the land after reclamation is completed.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 45.2-1206

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Mineral: means ore, rock, and any other solid homogeneous crystalline chemical element or compound that results from the inorganic processes of nature other than coal. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
  • Mining: means the breaking or disturbing of the surface soil or rock in order to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals or any activity constituting all or part of a process for the extraction or removal of minerals so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
  • Mining operation: means any area included in an approved plan of operation. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
  • Reclamation: means the restoration or conversion of disturbed land to a stable condition that minimizes or prevents adverse disruption and the injurious effects of such disruption and presents an opportunity for further productive use if such use is reasonable. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
  • Spoil: means any overburden or other material removed from its natural state in the process of mining. See Virginia Code 45.2-1200
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

B. The operations plan shall include a provision for reclamation of all land estimated to be affected by the mining operation for which the permit is sought. The reclamation provision shall follow the form and contain the accompanying material that the Director requires and shall state:

1. The planned use to which the affected land is to be returned through reclamation; and

2. The proposed actions to ensure suitable reclamation of the affected land for the planned use to be carried out by the applicant as an integral part of the proposed mining operation and to be conducted simultaneously insofar as practicable. The Director shall set schedules for the integration of reclamation with the mining operation according to the various individual mineral types.

C. It is the policy of the Director to encourage adoption of productive land use, such as use for pasture, agricultural purposes, recreational areas, sanitary landfills, forestry and timberland operations, and industrial and building sites, and to consider the general original contour in determining the particular reclamation program for the acreage. The Director may require an amendment to the operations plan to meet the exigencies of any unanticipated circumstance or event.

1977, c. 312, § 45.1-182.1; 1984, c. 590; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.

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