45.1-182.1 - Operations plan; reclamation; policy of Director. - Virginia Statutes

§ 45.1-182.1. Operations plan; reclamation; policy of Director.

A. The application for a permit shall be accompanied by an operations plan insuch form and with such accompanying material as the Director shall require.The operations plan shall describe the specifications for surface grading andrestoration, including sketches delineating placement of spoil, stockpiles,and tailing ponds, to a surface that is suitable for the proposed subsequentuse of the land after reclamation is completed.

B. The operations plan shall include a provision for reclamation of all landestimated to be affected by the mining operation for which the permit issought. The reclamation provision shall be in such form and contain suchaccompanying material as the Director shall require and shall state:

1. The planned use to which the affected land is to be returned throughreclamation;

2. Proposed actions to assure suitable reclamation of the affected land forthe planned use to be carried out by the applicant as an integral part of theproposed mining operation and to be conducted simultaneously insofar aspracticable. The Director shall set schedules for the integration ofreclamation with the mining operation according to the various individualmineral types.

C. It shall be the policy of the Director to encourage adoption of productiveland use, such as pasture, agricultural use, recreational areas, sanitarylandfills, forestry and timberland operations, industrial and building sites,and to consider the general original contour in determining the particularreclamation program for the acreage. The Director may require an amendment tothe operations plan to meet the exigencies of any unanticipated circumstanceor event.

(1977, c. 312; 1984, c. 590.)